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to decide similar cases. the bar, and make up the largest portion of a lawyer's library. A learned judge has said, that "the first and greatest lesson a judge has to learn is to abide by precedents." The reports of decisions in the Supreme Court of the United States have acquired an immense authority, both from its being the tribunal of ultimate resort, and from the learning and ability of its judges. § 694. Of Process. 1 Process is the method taken by the law to compel a compliance with its demands: as such it comprehends all the written orders of the courts, from the commencement of a suit till its termination by execution of the judgment.

They are constantly cited at

§ 695. Process is of two kinds; Mesne and Final. Mesne Process is all that process which is issued prior to the judgment, such as writs to bring the parties before the courts, summon juries, witnesses, &c. Final Process is all that process necessary to carry the judgment of the court into execution, as the writ of capias ad satisfaciendum, to take the body for satisfaction, and the writ levari facias, to levy on lands. The distinction between mesne and final process being made by the judgment, all before that being Mesne, and all after Final Process.

§ 696. The terms writ and process are in the American practice nearly confounded, but in England the writ means what is called the original, or the writ issued to commence, or found an action at law. Here a writ is a mandatory letter from the court, directing parties and persons to be brought before it, and things to be done.

§ 697. By the act of May, 1792,2 all writs and processes issuing from the Supreme or Circuit Court shall bear teste, that is, be signed and issued as of the chief justice; and all writs and process issuing from the District Court, shall bear teste of the judge of such court 13 Blacks. Comm. 269. 21 Story's Laws of the United States, 257.

which writs and process shall be under the seal of the court, and signed by the clerk thereof.

§ 698. The forms of writs, and executions, except their style, and that of other process, in suits at Cominon Law, are the same as are used in the Supreme Court of each state respectively.

§ 699. 3d. Of the mode in which the decisions of courts are carried into effect. Much of this has already been explained under the head of Process, but the executive part is yet to be explained.

§700. The judgments of a court may have two general objects; 1st, to punish for crimes and misdemeanors; or, 2dly, to obtain a debt.

§ 701. 1st. The punishment of crimes may be either by imprisonment, or death. Both are executed under the order of the court, by the marshal, who confines the prisoners in the place assigned them, or executes them according to the sentence. In each county is erected a public jail, for the purpose of confining prisoners. Almost every state, also, has a Penitentiary, which is a general jail for the state.

Contempts against the authority of the court are misdemeanors, and are punishable at the discretion of the court, by fine and imprisonment.

§ 702. 2d. A judgment, whose object is to obtain a debt, may be carried into effect in three different modes. 1. By a levy upon goods and chattels. This writ is directed to the proper officer, whether marshal or sheriff, and is immediately levied upon the goods and chattels of the defendant. These goods are then advertised for sale, at a given day, and sold for the benefit of the plaintiff, who, after deducting costs, receives the proceeds to the amount of his debt, and if there is not enough, execution is issued against other property. 2. Another writ is issued upon lands and tenements, which is executed in the same manner by the proper officer, and the lands are then appraised according to

the laws of the state in which they lie, and sold at public auction. The process of the United States Courts is the same as that of the state in which the court is held. 3. Another writ is the capias ad satisfaciendum,1 which is levied upon the body. Under this writ, the marshal or sheriff takes the debtor to jail, and there confines him till the debt is paid, or he is relieved by the insolvent laws of the states.

§ 703. These are the principal modes in which courts carry their decisions into effect. In the Court of Chancery or Equity, there are also some others peculiar to those courts. For example, a Court of Chancery, having ascertained that a conveyance ought to be made by one party to another, may decree that it be made, and give it the same effect as if it had been done. In general, however, the remedies above mentioned are the principal ones upon which reliance is placed in the punishment of wrongs, or the attainment of rights.

1 The writ of Capias ad Satisfaciendum commands the sheriff to take the body until satisfaction is made.

BOOK II.

CHAPTER II.

PRACTICAL OPERATION OF THE STATE GOVERNMENTS.

§ 704. To understand the difference between the operations of the State and United States governments, we must remember that the latter has for its objects national concerns,—the former municipal; the latter chiefly external, the former wholly internal affairs. In this difference of objects consists the chief difference of operation. In the mode of operating, there is very little difference. State governments, like the National, act through the great channels of Legislative, Executive, and Judicial functions.

1. The Legislative Functions of State Governments.

§ 705. We have already seen what powers are held by the state legislatures in relation to the laws and institutions of the states. Here we must consider principally the mode of their action. The legislatures of the states are organized in the same manner, as the national legislature, and are governed by the same rules of precedence: indeed they are all derived from the rules of the British Parliament, except in cases where the peculiar circumstances of our government render them inadmissible.

286

§706. There is a Speaker, Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, and Doorkeeper, who have the same powers and duties as those of the national legislature.

§ 707. In the same manner, the chief business of the legislatures is performed by the committees, who are likewise constituted in the same manner, being generally appointed by the speaker; in the legislatures of the states, there can, of course, be no committee of foreign affairs; for the states have no foreign affairs to transact.

§ 708. In some of the states, as in Pennsylvania, the governor has the same veto upon the passage of bills as is vested in the President of the United States; and in others, as in Ohio, the majority of the legislature can pass a law without the governor's assent. In fact, in Ohio, bills are not even signed by the governor, but only by the Speaker of the House and the Speaker of the Senate.

2. THE STATE JUDICIARY.

§ 709. The operations of the State Judiciary vary but little from those of the National Courts. In respect to their officers, there is a slight difference. Instead of a Marshal, the ministerial officer of the state courts is the Sheriff of the county.

The Sheriff is the ancient Common Law officer of the the court. His office is a Saxon institution. He was originally the deputy of the earl who had the command of the county, and is now the chief officer of the county. They were originally, in most cases, chosen by the people, and in most of the states are still so chosen.

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§ 710. The Sheriff is first a conservator of the peace, and is bound to apprehend and commit to prison all persons who break, or attempt to break the peace. is also bound to apprehend persons who have committed crimes, and for these purposes he is vested with power to call to his assistance the posse comitatus, i. e. the 11 Blackstone, 339.

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