City attorney

“ The scheme of the statutes, as I see it, is that the Attorney General may lay the venue in any district where he may properly serve one or more of his defendants. He may go ahead with his action against them, whether he is allowed to bring in others or not. Before he can bring in other parties than those properly served in the district, i.e., those 'inhabitant,' 'transacting business,' or 'found' there, it must be made to appear to the court that the ends of justice require that they be brought before the court, in which case they may be summoned from any district. ”

“ It is the desire of the District Attorney as speedily as possible to confine the operations of his office entirely to those duties ordinarily incumbent upon it. The next election for city officers takes place in November of this year, but the situation of the city government, and the material conditions obtaining in the city with regard to necessary public improvements, render it absolutely indispensable that we proceed with the utmost energy to obtain for the office of Mayor a man of unblemished integrity and great executive ability. ”

“ When, however, the civil business transacted in the new court house should need all of the court rooms, the city would probably feel the need of a separate criminal court building in some other part of the borough. It is unlikely that the county court will continue both its civil and criminal terms indefinitely. The tendency in all large cities is to separate civil and criminal trials both as to judges and location.
The new court house in this location would be near the Hall of Records, a comparatively new, sound and dignified building. ”

“ The notice of violation gave appellant 10 days within which to seek a variance; no criminal or civil sanctions could possibly have attached pending the outcome of that proceeding.
Though timely invocation of the administrative remedy would have had no effect on appellant's asserted rights, and would have inflicted no irreparable injury, the present availability of such relief under the city ordinance is less clear. But it is unrealistic to expect a municipality to hold open its administrative process for years after legal enforcement action has begun. ”

“ The inefficiency of the system of courts and judicial procedure is shown in the practical workings of the civil courts of New York City. The antiquated organization of all the courts is like a patchwork quilt where each additional one has been added or increased as New York has grown from a village below the Indian stockade at Wall Street to its present size. ”

“ To-night you’ve got to know that another man knows you through and through. To-night you have to go unmasked. Are you afraid of hearing me say who your client is? Are you afraid of having me name the politicians whose orders you execute and whose nod is your law? You have been ordered by the police to win this case. This case indeed! And you, the Assistant District Attorney, in the name of the People, will win it by fair means or foul. You have never investigated one fact, or asked one question, calculated to bring out the truth, but by trick and wile you stoop to serve your master’s purpose. ”

“ Whether, in case the mayor has resigned, and there is no presiding officer of the board of street commissioners, (a body which seems to take the place of the common council of the city for many purposes,) service of process on the city clerk, and on a conspicuous member of the board, is sufficient. If the common law (which is common reason in matters of justice) were permitted to prevail, there would be no difficulty. In the absence of any head officer, the court could direct service to be made on such official persons as it might deem sufficient. ”

“ City Courts often have jurisdiction over civil causes to which one residing in the city is a party, or growing out of a transaction occurring within the city, irrespective of the amount of the matter in demand. They frequently have a criminal side, before which convictions may be had for petty misdemeanors, and those charged with higher offenses bound over for trial in some court of general criminal jurisdiction. ”

“ As there is no contract, the plaintiff stands legally in the same position as if the Constitution had given express warning of what the city might do. It is left to depend upon the sense of justice that the city may show. ”

“ Which court shall be composed of the mayor or chief justice, and the aldermen as associate justices, and from the final judgment of the municipal court to the circuit court of Hancock county, in the same manner as appeals are taken from the judgments of justices of the peace: Provided, That the parties litigant shall have a right to trial by a jury of twelve men in all cases before the municipal court. The municipal court shall have power to grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases arising under the ordinances of the city council. ”

“ A common law jury is apt to lack the knowledge of real estate values and the experience in handling technical evidence which are important in the tribunal which is to ascertain the compensation in land damage cases, and therefore most condemnation codes provide a special tribunal. Some of the codes also see the necessity of a tribunal as far removed as possible from the influence of the parties to the suit and provide for its non-partisan appointment, usually by the court which has jurisdiction over the proceedings. ”

“ The Criminal Court of the District, as a court of general criminal jurisdiction, possessed the power to strike the name of the plaintiff from its rolls as a practicing attorney. This power of removal from the bar is possessed by all courts which have authority to admit attorneys to practice. It is a power which should only be exercised for the most weighty reasons, such as would render the continuance of the attorney in practice incompatible with a proper respect of the court for itself, or a proper regard for the integrity of the profession. ”

“ As former New York Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia once said, [NJ473] "When I make a mistake, it is sure to be a beaut." By any measure, the decision in Cogdell, for which I assume my full share of responsibility, meets the late Mayor's standard. Our job now is to correct it so that the judiciary, the bar, and our state's litigants can return to the business of resolving cases on their merits.
IV I join in the Court's disposition of this appeal, but not because I agree with its determination that the entire controversy doctrine should not apply to attorney-malpractice. ”

“ Similarly the excellent character of the complainant and his witnesses may not be shown, unless the defendant himself directly attacks it, so that it is probable that throughout the case the injured party and the wrong-doer appear to the jury to be of equal credibility. The district attorney is a "quasi-judicial" officer, who must be at one and the same time the friend and right arm of the court and the advocate of the public right. ”

“ It is true that in passages of the opinion subsequent to those just quoted there are forms of expression which, when separated from their context, might tend to justify the inference that the court thought city ordinances of the character of the one assailed could not, in any event, be treated as state action. ”

“ If the District Court in this case were to rule for appellants on the merits of their constitutional attack on New York City's federally funded programs, that decision would cast sufficient doubt on similar programs elsewhere as to cause confusion approaching paralysis to surround the challenged statute. Therefore, even if the injunction which might issue in this case were narrower than that sought by appellants, we are satisfied that the legislative policy underlying § 2282 was served by the convening of a three-judge court, despite appellants' focus on New York City's programs. ”

“ Spano v. People of State of New York, 360 U.S. 315, 324, 79 S.Ct. 1202, 1207, 3 L.Ed.2d 1265 (concurring opinion) . [1] That principle is that any accused-whether rich or poor-has the right to consult a lawyer before talking with the police; and if he makes the request for a lawyer and it is refused, he is denied 'the Assistance of Counsel for his defence' guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments.
The police first descended on petitioner on a Saturday afternoon. By ten that night-at the latest-he was in 'custody.' He asked to see an attorney. ”

“ The thing to be done by the defendant in error was 'to prepare the necessary plans and specifications for the erection of the new city hall and court-house,' and to superintend the erection of the building when the exterior design had been agreed upon by himself, the board of public works of the city, and the county commissioners. ”

“ Los Angeles, Cal., has recently introduced an admirable measure to secure a nearer approach to justice in the courts for the poor man, by the appointment of a regular district attorney for the defence of accused persons who are unable to pay for a competent lawyer. This appointment of a public defender has been made solely with the aim of securing justice for the poor and for the ignorant foreigner; it is a most encouraging step in the right direction, and seems a hopeful means of exterminating the sweat-box system. ”

“ Exhaustion avoids interruption of the administrative process and allows application of an agency's specialized experience and the broad discretion granted to local entities, such as zoning boards. Indeed, judicial review may be seriously hampered if the appropriate agency has no chance to apply its experience, exercise its discretion, or make a factual record reflecting all aspects of the problem.
Most important, if administrative remedies are pursued, the citizen may win complete relief without needlessly invoking judicial process. ”

“ The legislature of New York subsequently passed a statute authorizing an appeal from the order of confirmation to be taken by the city at any time within four months, and made it a duty or the court to which such application should be made that, if it should appear that there was any error, mistake, or irregulatity at any stage of the proceedings, or that the assessments or awards had been unfair and unjust, to vacate the order of confirmation, and refer the matter back to new commissioners, who should proceed to amend and correct the report. ”

“ But the question, what expenditures are proper and necessary for the municipal administration, is not judicial; it is confided by law to the discretion of the municipal authorities. No court has the right to control that discretion, much less to usurp and supersede it. ”

“ He was a member of the bar of Michigan, and acting as one of the attorneys of the company. He favored legal proceedings, but expressed a want of confidence in the local tribunals of the state by reason of the then excited condition of the public mind; he desired to get into the federal court, and so he resolved in object to a suit in the state courts. A meeting of the directors was thereupon improvised in his office to carry out the course resolved upon. ”

“ This court held that 'whether the plaintiff has any rights that the city is bound to respect can be decided only by taking jurisdiction of the case,' and that it was necessary for the District Court to deal with the merits. ”

“ This double jeopardy argument has long been settled contrary to the claims of the petitioner. We see no reason to recede from our established precedent on the subject. Long ago it was decided that an act committed within municipal limits may be punished by city ordinance even though the same act is also proscribed as a crime by a state statute. An offender may be tried for the municipal offense in the city court and for the crime in the proper state court. Conviction or acquittal in either does not bar prosecution in the other. ”

“ As a basis for his argument he assumes that under the statute of the State relating to the opening and improvement of streets in the city of New York, passed in 1813, and which is one of the laws referred to in the act of 1869, and made applicable to the improvement authorized, the proceedings of the commissioners, when their report was confirmed by the Supreme Court, were so far final and conclusive of the right of the city to the property and of the plaintiff to the award, that neither were subject to any legislative or judicial interference. ”

“ The requirement that a claim or demand against the city should be presented to the common council and be disallowed, in whole or in part, before the city can be subjected to suit upon it, is a reasonable regulation for the protection of the city against the cost of unnecessary litigation. It does not affect the substance of the creditor's right, without being unreasonably delayed, to institute an action against the city. ”

“ Much the same thing may be said for the state procedure in prohibition as it has been followed in this case. Indeed, in all but name the two procedures are substantially identical, for the purposes of our jurisdiction and function in review. Here relief is neiter sought nor needed beyond adjudication of the jurisdictional issue. The suit seeks only, in substance, a judicial declaration that jurisdiction does not exist in the Municipal Court. ”

“ All that is necessary to uphold the ordinance is that there is a difference, and that existing it is for the city council to determine whether separate regulations shall be applied to the two. It is not strange that one witness differs from another in respect to the comparative danger of the two roads. One jury might also disagree with another in respect to the same matter. ”

“ New York City is the moving party now, in reopening the decree. The interests of municipality and state are no more separate in the case of New York than of Philadelphia. Both cities have home-rule powers and vital interests in this litigation. New York City is the real party in interest in the current application for a modification of an existing decree and it is in a position to present its own claims. We would allow Philadelphia's motion to present any proper evidence that it deems protective of its interest. ”