Case Name: TARDY et al. v. CARRA et al.
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1920-02-02
Citations: 147 La. 98
Docket Number: No. 23814
Parties: TARDY et al. v. CARRA et al.
Judges: O’NIELL, J., concurs in the decree.
Reporter: Louisiana Reports
Volume: 147
Pages: 97–101

Head Matter:
(84 South. 508)
No. 23814.
TARDY et al. v. CARRA et al.
(Feb. 2, 1920.
On the Merits, March 1, 1920.
Rehearing Denied May 3, 1920.)
(Syllabus by Editorial Staff.)
1. Habeas corpus <&wkey;l 13(3) — Appeal lies in proceedings to recover custody of child.
Under Const, art. 85, giving right to appeal in all matters of the custody of a child, appeal lies from a judgment in habeas corpus proceedings to recover the custody of a minor child, though it does not lie in similar proceedings to secure a release from incarceration. ,
On the Merits.
2. Parent and child &wkey;>2(2) — Foundling cannot be taken by parents without process from custody of those who reared her.
Under Civ. Code, art. 213, providing that the foundling whom persons have received and brought up cannot be reclaimed by its parents without proof of taking by fraud or accident, or by any other relation without having first obtained the tutorship, a foundling cannot be taken, without process from those who have reared her for the past 7 years, even if it is for her welfare; the remedy being by proceedings in court if the child is neglected.
O’Niell, J., dissenting.
Appeal from Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans; Fred D. King, Judge.
Habeas corpus proceedings by Mrs. Emma Tardy, wife of Joseph Henry Luwisch, and' husband, against Rev. Father Raymond Carra, and another, to obtain custody of a child. Judgment for defendants, and relators ap peal.
Motion to dismiss appeal denied, and judgment reversed and rendered in favor of relators.
William V. Seeber, of New Orleans, for appellants.
Benjamin T. Waldo and Sumter D. Marks, Jr., both of New Orleans, for appellees. •

Opinion:
DAWKINS, J.
Appellees move to dismiss this appeal on the ground that this court has no appellate jurisdiction in habeas corpus proceedings.
This case is one involving the custody of a minor child. Plaintiffs claim the legal custody, and that defendants have forcibly taken and are now withholding said child without any color of lawful right or proceeding. It would seem that this court, under the circumstances, is specially vested with jurisdiction, under article 85 of the Constitution, giving the right to appeal to it in "all matters of adoption, emancipation, legitimacy, and custody of children."
Counsel for plaintiff in motion has cited authority to the point that all the courts of this state are empowered, as a matter of original jurisdiction, to issue the writ of habeas corpus, and that, this power being equal or concurrent in each tribunal, there exists no right of appeal. However, those were cases dealing with the writ in its strict or literal sense, where the applicants were confined under some criminal charge, and the effect of the writ was merely to test the legality or sufficiency of the authority under which the person restrained was held. For this reason, the matter was merely preliminary to the subsequent trial, and it was found that in those circumstances there was no right of appeal.
However, in cases of the kind now under consideration, the child is not incarcerated, but the proceeding is invoked for the purpose of determining the question of its custody; the judgment is final, and, unless appealed from, may become res adjudicata as to the rights of the relators. The matter partakes of the nature of a civil action, and is therefore clearly distinguishable from the cases in which the applicants were held under a criminal prosecution. Prieto v. St. Alphonsus Convent of Mercy, 52 La. Ann. 681, 27 South. 153, 47 L. R. A. 656; State ex rel. Lasserre v. Michel, 105 La. 741, 30 South. 122, 54 L. R. A. 927; Ex parte Ryan, 124 La. 286, 50 South. 161.
For the reasons assigned, the motion to dismiss is denied.
O'NIELL, J., concurs in the decree.