Reclamation

“ The secretary for signing, and the clerk for writing your commission; the cashier for delivering it, and the messenger for informing you of it, have all their fixed prices. Have you a lawsuit, the judge announces to you that so much has been offered by your opponent, and so much is expected from you, if you desire to win your cause. When you are the defendant against the Crown, the attorney or solicitor-general lets you know that such a douceur is requisite to procure such an issue. Even in criminal proceedings, not only honour, but life, may be saved by pecuniary sacrifices. ”

“ The words 'until appeal shall have been duly made,' appear to us to imply an adverse decision by the collector, at least a compelled payment, or official demand for payment, from which the appeal is taken. ”

“ In testing the sufficiency of the complaint on a motion to dismiss, all reasonable inferences must be resolved in favor of the complaint, and the pleadings are to be liberally construed. Id. Our rules require fact pleading, and a complaint must state facts, not mere conclusions, in order to entitle the pleader to relief. ”

“ The first step towards what we should call bringing an action against a person, is to present a petition to the judge, who writes on the margin of it an order for bringing before him the party against whom complaint is made. ”

“ It contains some vigorous declamation, but is wanting in the averment of facts, which are indispensable to give it sufficiency as a pleading, for the purpose intended. The complaint to which it refers does not help it. ”

“ The complainant’s account of a transaction makes things look black for the defendant, and certainly justifies his being sent for, even if a hundred miles away, but on his arrival one frequently finds that, though containing no direct lies, the complainant’s story will bear a different interpretation. ”

“ In this view, it is unnecessary to consider the questions raised as to the right of the complainant to relief in equity upon the allegations of the bill of complaint, or as to the justiciability of the controversy, if it were assumed that the requirements invoked by the complainant are still in effect. ”

“ Material allegations in the bill of complaint ought to be answered and admitted, or denied, if the facts are within the knowledge of the respondent; and if not, be ought to state what his belief is upon the subject, if he has any, and if he has none, and cannot form any, he ought to say so, and call on the complainant for proof of the alleged facts, or waive that branch of the controversy ”

“ It is true that the court of appeals asks us to assume the bill of complaint to be 'in other respects sufficient,' that is, sufficient to entitle complainant to relief, if the fraud alleged were available. ”

“ It says, 'but he (the slave) shall be delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.' Now, we think it exceedingly difficult, if not impracticable, to read this language, and not to feel, that it contemplated some further remedial redress than that which might be administered at the hands of the owner himself. A claim is to be made! What is a claim? It is, in a just jurisdical sense, a demand of some matter, as of right, made by one person upon another, to do or to forbear to do some act or thing as a matter of duty. ”

“ When gentlemen complain of the subscription as matter of grievance, the complaint arises from confounding private judgment, whose rights are anterior to law, and the qualifications, which the law creates for its own magistracies, whether civil or religious. ”

“ Whenever such a plea is presented, we can, if it comes to us, pass intelligently on its validity. If issue is taken, the facts can be embodied in a bill of exceptions or some other form, and we can say whether those facts render the contract void. ”

“ We therefore repeat, we regard the answer as a reply to the complaint and as alleging the invalidity of the order of the Commission because it required a service that the rates did not compensate, and necessarily this involves a consideration of all of the elements which are involved in that service, and determine its effect. It is to be remembered that we are dealing with a pleading. What the evidence may show we can neither know nor anticipate. ”

“ Any person who shall, directly or indirectly, solicit, contract for, charge, or receive, or who shall attempt to solicit, contract for, charge, or receive, any fee or compensation, except as herein provided, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and for each and every offense shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500 or by imprisonment at hard labor for not more than two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.' 43 Stat. ”

“ As to so much of the complainants' bill as seeks relief against their assignors, in the event of not obtaining satisfaction from the land, we are of opinion that these assignors are under no such liability as is asserted by the complainants. The complainants purchased a negotiable note which was overdue. The assignors did not indorse it, but simply assigned it by deed. ”

“ It is true, as a rule of equity pleading, that none should be made parties, either as complainants or defendants, who have no interest in the matters in controversy, or which can be affected by the decree of the court. ”

“ And the bill of complaint charges that the respondent, combining and confederating with persons unknown, refuses to perform his part of the agreement, and at times falsely pretends that he is entitled to more than the sum stipulated between the parties ”

“ Looking at the case as exhibited to us by the record, it appears to be an appeal by respondents from a decree dismissing the complainant's bill with costs. It often happens that a court may decree in favor of a complainant, but not to the extent prayed for in his bill, and he may have just cause of appeal on that account. ”

“ In disposing of the case we are not assisted by any findings or opinion by the court below, and we are left to conjecture the grounds upon which that court proceeded in dismissing the bill of complaint. ”

“ For this unjustifiable procedure in the defender, the petitioner is confident every good magistrate will feel it their duty to give him reparation; and it is their business to check these infamous proceedings, be they followed by whatsoever person they may; for, the greater the man is, and the weightier his purse, the more is he the object of justice and example; and the lower the man is in rank or station, who suffers by such, the louder is the cry and more the demand for redress. ”

“ The first point that naturally arises in the presentation of the defense of our client is that which concerns the plea that has been made to the jurisdiction of the commission to try her—a plea which by no means implies anything against the intelligence, fairness, or integrity of the brilliant and distinguished officers who compose the court, but merely touches the question of the right of this tribunal, under the authority by which it is convoked. ”

“ It is an old rule of pleading, which, in the modern progress of simplifying pleadings, has not lost its virtue, that whenever one justifies in a special plea an act which in itself constitutes at common law a wrong, upon the process, order, or authority of another, he must set forth substantially and in a traversable form the process, order, or authority relied upon, and that no mere averment of its legal effect, without other statement, will answer. ”

“ If any individual bring complaint or charges against the governor, and the Audiencia shall see that the matter is of such nature that it is of importance to know the truth concerning it, in such case they shall send one person to obtain the necessary information. The complainant or accuser must give bonds that he will pay the costs and the penalty which will be assessed against him in case the accusation proves false. ”

“ When my solicitors heard that we two had lunched together, they threw up their hands in amazement.
“The two principals in a libel action! And the one who alleges libel allows the other to pay for his lunch! The case collapses!” ”

“ By logical extension, a complaint, containing as it does both factual allegations and legal conclusions, is frivolous where it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. As the Courts of Appeals have recognized, § 1915 (d) 's term "frivolous," when applied to a complaint, embraces not only the inarguable legal conclusion, but also the fanciful factual allegation. ”

“ Though, in many respects, necessarily special in their character, they do not furnish just ground of complaint if they operate alike upon all persons and property under the same circumstances and conditions. ”

“ If the complaint, as in the present instance, sets forth two or more grounds for relief, either of which is sufficient to support a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, a finding upon one of such issues is sufficient, and a failure to find upon the other does not constitute a mistrial, or render the decision against law.' Brison v. ”

“ The decision of the only question before us depends upon whether the allegations contained in the bill of complaint show the matter in dispute to be of sufficient value to give the circuit court jurisdiction. ”

“ In the ecclesiastical courts the statements of the parties are called generally pleas. The statement of the plaintiff in civil Ecclesiastical suits is called a libel; of the promoter in criminal suits articles. Every subsequent plea is called an allegation. To the responsive allegation of the defendant the promoter may plead a counter-allegation. The cause is concluded when the parties renounce any further allegation. ”

“ And the court having heard the arguments of counsel, and being fully advised in the premises, and being satisfied that the complainant is entitled to the relief prayed for in its bill of complaint for full relief, it is thereupon finally ordered, adjudged, and decreed: First. ”

“ Look at this absurd quantity.175
"Such a procurement may be, either by direct means, as by hire, counsel, or command, or indirect, by evincing an express liking, approbation, or assent." Thus the mere casual expression, "I wish Burns would escape, or I wish somebody would let him out," is a "Misdemeanor;" it is "evincing an express liking." Nodding to any other man's similar wish is a misdemeanor. It is "approbation." Even smiling at the nod is a crime—it is "assent." ”

“ We may observe a mildness in the plaintiff's oath, and severity in the defendant's, as well as something foolishly wanton. There appears also no reason why one should be accepted, and the other disregarded. ”

“ This plea, by setting out the warrant at large, adopts and asserts all the facts therein set forth, and must be taken as alleging, that a statement of facts had been made by the proper officer, and transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, and is, therefore, an averment of that fact. It is not, to be sure, a formal, but is a substantial, averment; which is nothing more than a positive statement of facts, in opposition to argument or inference. ”

“ If anyone refuses to come to court or to do what the rachinburgii have commanded, that is, to give pledge for payment, or for the ordeal, or for anything which the law requires, then the complainant is to summon him to the presence of the king. ”

“ Having invited judgment on the bare bones of the pleadings which merely raise the validity of the tying clauses, the Government is not entitled to remedies which go beyond the justification of the pleadings. ”

“ Without adverting to others, which are open to serious objections on account of the looseness and generality of their texture, we are of opinion that the fifth plea is a complete answer to the action. ”

“ But if those decisions are to stand, it is inconceivable to me that we can deny leave to file the complaints in the present cases. To deny these motions we must hold that the issues tendered are frivolous and insubstantial. ”

“ That the complainants in the suit and their grantors from whom they claimed and from whom they had deeds of conveyance were in the adverse possession of the land as alleged, and that as a consequence thereof complainants were entitled to the relief for which they prayed. ”

“ And now pursue the action of the law, and see how little ground it leaves upon which to hang a complaint. Everybody's rights are secured. Whatever be the event, first of all the presentee cannot complain, if he is rejected only for proved insufficiency. ”

“ Secondly, that 'all the forms of pleading heretofore existing are abolished.' The act proceeds to declare that the first pleading on the part of the plaintiff is the complaint, which shall contain, amongst other things, 'a plain and concise statement of the facts constituting a cause of action without unnecessary repetition.' Rev. Stat. 721. It provides that the defendant may demur for certain causes, but that other defences must be taken by answer. ”

“ In this world, it is necessary to adopt the principle pursued by the plaintiff in an action for damages, and to demand ten times more than you are ready to accept. If you can feel satisfied with a hundred, begin by insisting on a thousand ”

“ But it is not necessary to rest the case entirely upon the State rule of decision, as it is clear that the matters alleged in the bill of complaint are not sufficient to support any such theory, nor is that the true theory of the claim made by the complainants. ”

“ If a pleading, motion, or other paper is signed in violation of this rule, the court, upon motion or upon its own initiative, shall impose upon the person who signed it, a represented party, or both, an appropriate sanction, which may include an order to pay to the other party or parties the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred because of the filing of the pleading, motion, or other paper, including a reasonable attorney's fee. ”