Court Opinion

ID: 9810023
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 21:38:30.223268+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:39:20.110980
License: Public Domain

Stacy, C. J.,
concurring in result: Plaintiff sues to recover for injuries sustained in an automobile accident which occurred on Highway No. 70, in Orange County, 17 August, 1937. The action is transitory. It arose in this State. It is brought here. Hence, the ;law- of North Carolina is to govern, both in its substantive and adjective features. Farfour v. Fahad, 214 N. C., 281, 199 S. E., 521; Clodfelter v. Wells, 212 N. C., 823, 195 S. E., 11; Ingle v. Cassady, 208 N. C., 497, 181 S. E., 562; Wright v. Pettus, 209 N. C., 732, 184 S. E., 494; Wise v. Hollowell, 205 N. C., 286, 171 S. E., 82.
Plaintiff and defendant are residents of the State of Ohio. While not alleged in the complaint, it is stated in the case on appeal that they are husband and wife. Neither their nonresideney nor their relationship is a bar to the action in this State. Alberts v. Alberts, 217 N. C., 443, 8 S. E. (2d), 523; Steele v. Telegraph Co., 206 N. C., 220, 173 S. E., 583; Howard v. Howard, 200 N. C., 574, 158 S. E., 101. Here a wife may maintain an action against her husband for negligent injury. Roberts v. Roberts, 185 N. C., 566, 118 S. E., 9; Jernigan v. Jernigan, 207 N. C., 851, 175 S. E., 713; York v. York, 212 N. C., 695, 194 S. E., 486.
It is provided by ch. 13, Public Laws 1913 (Martin Act), now C. S., 2513, that a married woman, suing alone, can recover for personal injuries, and such recovery “shall be her sole and separate property” as fully as if she were unmarried. The changes wrought by this statute are substantive as well as remedial in character. They are not limited in their enjoyment to residents of the State. Indeed, such a limitation might import some constitutional difficulty. McDonald v. MacArthur, 154 N. C., 122, 69 S. E., 832; Steele v. Telegraph Co., supra. Under the Federal Constitution, Art. IV, sec. 2, the citizens of each State are “entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.”
The right to sue without the right to take the benefits of a recovery would be an empty privilege. The courts are not open for shadowboxing. The plaintiff is entitled to maintain her action in this jurisdiction.
There is no occasion to inquire whether a wife can sue her husband under the Ohio Law. The law of the forum is alone applicable to the case. Howard v. Howard, supra.
ScheNck, J., joins in this opinion.