Autobiography of Charles Clinton Nourse: Prepared for use of Members of the FamilyNourse, Charles Clinton
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Autobiography of Charles Clinton Nourse: Prepared for use of Members of the Family
Nourse, Charles Clinton
Iowa -- Politics and government; Lawyers -- Iowa -- Biography; Nourse, Charles Clinton, 1829-
possible excuse for the wrong committed by the railroad company.
One great benefit to the public of these suits against the Chicago &
Northwestern Railroad Company was to arouse public attention to the
necessity of further legislation by congress in order to carry out the
design of the original act for the protection of the public. Congress
had already by amendment to the act provided for penalties against any
parties violating its provisions, but the suits that I brought were
simply for actual damages and injuries, and not for any penalty
whatever under the law. The penal clause in the act as amended March 2,
1889, reads as follows: "That any common carrier subject to the
provisions of this act, or, wherever such common carrier is a
corporation, any director or other officer thereof, or any receiver,
trustee, lessee, agent, or person, acting for or employed by such
corporation, who, alone or with any other corporation, company, person,
or party, shall willfully do or cause to be done, or shall willfully
suffer or permit to be done, any act, matter, or thing in this act
prohibited or declared to be unlawful, or who shall aid or abet
therein, or shall willfully omit or fail to do any act, matter, or
thing in this act required to be done, or shall cause or willfully
suffer or permit any act, matter or thing so directed or required by
this act to be done not to be so done, or shall aid or abet in such
omission or failure, or shall be guilty of any infraction of this act,
or shall aid or abet therein, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor,
and shall, upon conviction thereof in any district court of the United
States within the jurisdiction of which such offense was committed, be
subject to a fine of not to exceed five thousand dollars for each
offense: Provided, that if the offense for which any person shall be
convicted as aforesaid shall be an unlawful discrimination in rates,
fares, charges, for transportation of passengers or property, such
person shall, in addition to the fine herein provided for, be liable to
imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term of not exceeding two years,
or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court."
The charge of Judge Shiras to the jury in the two cases tried before
the United States circuit court, before referred to, will be found in
full in volume 48 of the _Federal Reporter_, commencing on page 50,
and the opinion of Justice Brewer, presiding in the circuit court of
appeals, before referred to, in which he reverses these judgments,
will be found in the 10 U.S. court of appeals on page 430.
It may be interesting to any law student and to anyone who desires to
determine where right and justice should have prevailed, to compare the
charge of Judge Shiras to the jury and the principles of law recognized
by Judge Shiras, with the opinion of Justice Brewer. It is not within
my purpose to re-argue any of my causes in this paper.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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