Scotland County, Missouri Genealogy Trails

Newspaper Articles

JUDGES GOING TO JAIL

The judges of the county court of Scotland county, Mo., are in St. Louis, waiting to be sent to jail by Judge Treat for contempt in refusing to order an assessment upon the property of their people to pay a judgment of about $4,000, rendered against the county of Scotland by the court. The judges are between two fires, and are certain to get scorched, no matter in what direction they may turn. If they obey the order of the United States circuit they will be indicted for violating a law of the state. If they disobey they are liable to be sent to jail for contempt of court and kept in durance vile for an indefinite period. The whole trouble grows out of different constructions of the law given by the federal and state courts. The supreme court of Missouri decided that the bonds sued on in this case were invalid, and the Cotty Law makes it a felony for any official to pay an obligation in such a case. The United States circuit court, however, decided that the bonds were valid, and issued a peremptory writ of mandamus, commanding the county judges to levy an assessment to pay the amount due. The amount involved being less than $5,000, the case could not be appealed to the United States supreme court. It is expected that on being locked up they will apply to the United States supreme court for a writ of habeas corpus, and in that way the validity of the bonds in question may be finally determined. The judges are B. F. Bourn, Riley Gale and Ephraim E. Sparks. They are all clever gentlemen, anxious to obey the law and ready to do what is right. One of them is a republican.

Messrs. Brown, Gale and Sparks, judges of the county court of Scotland county, Mo., appeared voluntarily in the United States circuit court room at St. Louis on Saturday, knowing that their case would be called The case was that of Julia Knapp vs. The County Cort of Scotland county, and the present proceeding was an attachment for contempt in failing to obey the order of the court, which commanded them to levy an assessment to raise money to pay the judgment of Julia Knapp. Judge Treat committed them all or contempt in refusing to obey his order to levy the tax. In doing so he remarked that a case of this kind involved a serious question The United States supreme court has passed on every question involved in this matter. Efforts have been made to evade the process of the United States courts. The authority of the federal courts must be sustained. He would sentence the defendants to three month' imprisonment in jail, but they will be released whenever they file in court an agreement to obey the order of the court. The question is whether the United States is superior to the local authorities. The partied here stand in disobedience to the direct order of this court.
The Quincy Whig, Thursday, May 26, 1881, Page 8 [transcribed by Debbie Gibson]