The Portland gazette. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1818-1824, 1822-12-03
O. T3gffE.
PORTLAND. TUESDAY, DEC. 3, 1922.
GAOL-YARD.

lhlS eou'iN- pd'seu dD OTUOT- m KING the HInltS
of the Gaol-Yard co-equal with those of the
county. As it has been doubted by LAWYERS.
whether the court have not exceeded their iuris-
diction in passing this order, and as it has excl
ted considerable uneasness 10 the minds OF
creditors, propose TO make few remarks
upon the subject.
The first act in favour of Debtors in the then
province Of Massachusetts, was passed in I748 :
BY this, it was provided that debtors should be
separated from criminals, and have liberty of the
yard, in the day time, s bnt not TO pass without
the limits Of the prison." Before this, they
we're kept within the walls Of the prison, until
they took the poor debtors oath. or were dis
charged by the creditor. The substance of this
statute, was re-enacted by the Legislature of
Massachusetts,, IN 1875, and as respects the linn
ITS. the same language is used this statute also
authorised the court of sessions 10 fix and de-
termne the boundaries of the gaol- yards, apper-
tanning TO the several gaols in their respective
counties" In pursuance of this statute the
sessions established in their respective iurisdc-
tons, limits of the yard at their discretion
In this county, the limits were made TO extend
over the whole of this town, exclusive of the
islands, By an order passed in 1898. The first
case an which the question came up, on the con-
structon the statute, under which these courts
had acted, was Baaer and 7Iaber. 4th .Massa-
cbusetts Reports, 36l, decided in this coun-
ty. The facts IN that case, were as follows !;
A debtor, enjoying the liberty of the ward, was
suddenly seized with Sickness in public street
of this town, and was conveyed to an adjoining
house. more than one hundred rods from the
prison the bond was sued on this alleged breach:
and the principal point taken by the Plaintiff
was that the court of sessions had exceeded their
authority, in making the order referred to !:
because the private property Of all the inhabit-
ants Of the town, was included in the limits Of
the yard. The court observed, Judge Parsons,
pronouncng the opinion, that the sessions" had
no power to make the closes or houses of 9TH
ers, part Of the yard appurtenant to the county
ga2l." The clause Of the statute, which gives
the sessions jurisdiction Of the subject is thus
explained By the Judge. as the county might
own more land adjoining on the prison, than
might be thought necessary for a yard and
which it might be convenient to appropriate TO
some other use, doubts might exist as to the
limits Of the yard. which the sessions were en-
joined seasonabIy to remove by ascertaininr
those limits" And he further says, . no opin-
ion could have less foundation, than that the
sessions may extend the limits of the gaol-yard,
al its pleasure, including within its limits,
whole town, and making every mans house and
land, part of the prison, of which the sheriff
has the custody"
This decision. excited considerable alarm in
the state, and tue Legislature al its next session.
March A, 1909, passed an act making " legal
and valid the 9 boundaries of the caol-vards."
as then &c determined and assigned :" and in June
of the same year, another act, BY which debtors
under bond, had Liberty to pass over any high
way, or into any houses, lands or tenements,
within thu limits IF Tho RI ~c1 nj 40
ternined by the court Of sessions" provided no
trespass was committed.
These statutes were nearly remedial, they
confirmed what the sessions had done, but gave
them no new power their authority over the
subject remained the same as il had been when
the decision in Taber's case took place
that is, it did not extend to establishing
the limits of the gaol-yard beyond the land be-
lonTing TO the county, appurcnant TO the prison.
In Walter, y. Bacon s. al Mass. Rep. debt on
bail-bond, the Plf contended that the debtor
bad broken his bond By going into dwellinr-
house in the day time, which house was not on the
county land, although within the exterior limits
Of the yard this being justified By the statute
on the part Of the defendant the question arose,
whether the Iegislaturein passing the statute of
March, above referred to- had not exceeded
their constitutional powers the court held that
they had not, and observed, g the statute was
well hkened by the defendants, counsel to laws
frequently made to confirm the acts and doinrs
of towns and other corporations, which have
been void for some informality, such acts hav-
ing never been questioned on constitutional
grounds
By this decision, il appears that the acts last
mentioned of the Legislature, were nothing
more than confirmation of the proceedings of
the courts Of sessions, previously had and this
was done IN order TO prevent great nconven-
fence and mischief TO principals and sureties, by
a misapprehension of the sessions as to the ex-
tent Of their authority. That no new powers
were granted by them is evident from the total
silence of the statutes, and from their referring
throughout, TO past events The language OF
the statute OF March 1909, is this, (" Be il cnac-
ted, &c. that all boundaries Of the raol-vards to
the several gaols, heretofore determined ard as
signed by the court of General Sessions of the
Peace, in the several counties 10 this Common
wealth, shall be, and hereby are rendered legal
and valid, TO all intents and purposes y that il,
that what the courts have done, shall not now
be disturbed ii is not, that they NAV go on
spreading the limits TO the Interior bounds of the
county. And the Legislature by the statute SO
far from recognizing such power in the sessions,
declare in effect, what the eupreme Court had
before decided, that they had done wrong. .
I;iis was the situation of the law, at the time
OF separation. We shall pursue the subject in
our next and endeayour TO show what the law
now vs.. and also to arrive a; satisfactory an
swer to the question, whetftsr'the court of ses-
sions have, or have not, passed The limits of their
jurisdiction IN the order of September last
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