Justice Detail

St. Louis, Alton and Rock Island R. R. Co. et al. v. Hawk's Admr's.

The defendants initiated debt actions against the railroad company based on a conditional instrument. The declarations claimed damages not paid by the company. Although the instrument acknowledged several obligees with individual interests, the declarations didn't specify the extent of these interests. The court considered the instrument as several, allowing each obligee to sue separately, but no one could recover more than their share. The lack of clarity in the declarations led to the reversal of judgments.

Nelson (a mulatto) v. People

Nelson, a mulatto, was arrested for immigrating into Illinois in 1862, violating 1853 Black exclusion act. Before a justice of the peace, Nelson was fined $50 and imprisoned until payment or sold into servitude. Nelson appealed to the circuit court, he argued the law's unconstitutionality. The court upheld the verdict, citing legislative authority to prevent Black migration into Illinois. Nelson appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, which affirmed the judgment, enforcing law's provisions as constitutional, noting that serving a punishment by being sold into servitude did not equate to slavery.