The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-28
MUCH PETTY LITIGATION.
How Costs Pile Up in small Cases
Originating in Justice Courts.

II is astonishing 70 what extent some
people VIII 90 for principle. and one that
doesn't seem 10 amount to much, es-
pec-ally if the principle is one which in
wolves the payment Of a bill Few people
are aware of the number Of petty cases
with which courts have TO deal. and they
are cases in which the costs and ex-
penses 10 the litigants are sometimes
five and even ten times as much as the
amount involved
They are cases which are usually first
brought in a justice court. They 90
through the various stages Of trial by a
justice OF the peace. trial by jury in a
justice court, certiorari and trial in the
superior court. and in some Instances 10
the supreme court. and the lawyers Of
the Htigants viii go 10 Atlanta to appear
before the judicial triumvirate TO argue
the question Of the right and title OF one
party or another to the munlhcent sum
of s.. SO or SIS. as the case may be-.
There is a case now pending in the
courts in which the sum Of SO is involved.
The amount was claimed TO be due for
some gas fixtures which were left in
house by one party, and which is now Oc-
cupied by another The new occupant
denied that he was liable for the fixtures,
looking upon them as a part of the prop
erty which he had rented.
The matter went to a justice court, was
decided in favor of the former occupant,
and a certiorari was applied for. The
costs in the justice court, about 81. had TO
he paid first, and then the certiorari was
granted, the case going 10 the superior
court There a jury had the matter in
hand, costing the county $24. The case
was ordered back to the justice court for
a re-hearmg, but before going the costs
in the superior court were $l4D.
The cas- was heard again in the justice
applied for, the justice court
Of Of about 4 s.. TO this must must be added the
attorneys fees which would, perhaps,
bring the total costs to date up TO $50 or
$50 Now the case is to be heard again in
the superior court where there will be
more costs and more jury expenses, and
then. too, there is danger of the supreme
court getting Whack at It, ana all be-
cause one party doesn't think he owes
does
some time ago there was a similar case
on thetsuperiOr court docket, involving
only s.. II was brought up from the jus
tice court by cerJiorari, the costs there Of
So or - having been paid hrst In the SUI
periOr court the costs We're about double
that SUM, and the case itself was finally
dismissed for want of prosecution.
There is a case from Chatham county
now in the supreme court in which the gl-
gantic sum of SO is involved. This case
mas gone through the various stages OA
the Justice court and certiorari 10 the
superior court, and for the sake of prln-
Cple the three supreme court justices,
who, of course, have very little to 90,
must give perhaps a hundred dollars
worth of their time and attention to a
matter which might just as well be finally
settled by a judge of one Of the county
courts.
There ars lots and lots of just such
cases which originate in the justice
courts. They are first tried by the JUS
fq oil 81 IA f1aaa a n
appeal must first be taken to a jury OF
five in the justice court, or II may be
certioraried direct to the superior court
depending on the case. Sometimes these
cases are decided on trial in the superior
court, and sometimes they are sent back
to the justice courts for another hearing,
and frequently after a second hearing
they go up again to the superior court. II
would perhaps be a saving of money not
only to the people generally, but to the
litigants themselves, if, after a hearing
in a Justice court, these little questions
could be decided directly by the Judge or
the. superior court without further APP
peal or rehearing.