District of Columbia v. Gannon

Citations

• 130 U.S. 227
• 9 S. Ct. 508
• 32 L. Ed. 922
• 1889 U.S. LEXIS 1740

Syllabus

<p>The amount necessary to give this court jurisdiction to re-examine a judgment or decree against a defendant in the court below (whether rendered in the trial court or in the appellate court) is to be determined by the amount of the judgment in the trial court without adding interest, unless interest is part of the claim litigated, or forms part of the judgment in the trial court and runs from a period antecedent to that judgment.</p> <p>At the trial of an action against the District of Columbia to recover for personal injuries received by reason of a defect in the streets of Washington, the refusal to charge that the District cannot be held responsible for the negligence of a government which is imposed upon it by Congress; or that no such action can be maintained against it because it derives no profit from the duty of maintaining the streets, does not draw in question the validity of the statutes of the United States creating the government of the District, so as to give this .court appellate jurisdiction of the cause, independently of the amount of the judgment in the trial court.</p>