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18 Wis. 604

Shannon v. State

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Decided June 15, 1864

Wisconsin Supreme Court · decided 1864-06-15

On tbe 5th of December, 1859, Peter Grover filed bis affidavit in said court, stating that a judgment was rendered therein at tbe November term, 1858, in an action wherein* affiant and one Bancroft were plaintiffs, and A. M. Shannon and Seth Thompson (the defendants in this action) were defendants; that by said judgment defendants were perpetually enjoined from maintaining a certain dam across 'Waupacca river, in such a manner and at such a height as to flow back the waters…

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1864-06-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 8 later decisions — most recently October 1924

8 state decisions

301864187018801890190019101920decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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¶1By the Court,

Cole, J.

¶2It is very manifest that the case of Grover et al. v. Shannon et al., was a suit on the equity side of the court. It was an action brought by the plaintiffs to enjoin and restrain the defendants from keeping up and maintaining a dam in such a manner and height as to obstruct the plaintiffs in the use and enjoyment of their mill. The cause was one of equitable cognizance, and called fot the remedial interposition of a court of equity. An injunction, it appears, was granted in the case. And this is a proceeding against the defendants in that suit for violating such injunction.

¶3The plaintiffs made an application for an attachment against the defendants, and, after various proceedings therein, which it is not necessary to notice, the court adjudged the defendants to be guilty of the contempt charged against them for a breach of the injunction granted in the cause, and ordered them to pay one hundred dollars to the plaintiffs, for their damages sustained for violating the injunction, together with costs, within sixty days, and in default of such payment that they be imprisoned in the county jail. until such payment was made. And a writ of error has been sued out for the purpose of bringing this order and commitment before us for review. The question which first presents itself is, whether a writ of error lies in such a case? We have been referred to no case which sanctions the practice here adopted. If a review of the regularity of the order adjudging the defendants guilty of a contempt for violating the injunction in the chancery suit, could be had, it must be by an appeal from that order. A writ of error did not lie to bring up for review a decree or order in a chancery suit under the former practice, and this court has decided that the code does not enlarge the functions of a writ *608of error. Delaplaine et al. v. The City of Madison, 7 Wis., 407; Hawes et al. v. Buckingham et al., 13 id., 442. The usual course is to appeal in such cases, and we suppose this to be the correct practice. See People v. Sturtevant, 5 Selden, 264; The People v. Compton et al., 1 Duer, 512-570; McCredie v. Senior, 4 Paige, 378; Buel v. Street, 9 Johns., 442.

¶4The writ of error must be dismissed.

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