Ex Parte Park & Tilford

Citations

• 245 U.S. 82
• 38 S. Ct. 15
• 62 L. Ed. 164
• 1917 U.S. LEXIS 665

Syllabus

<p>Mandamus will not issue from this court to compel a subordinate court to make a particular decision. The jurisdiction of this court in that regard is no greater in a case in which the lower court’s decision is by law made final than in those in which decisions are reviewable in the ordinary ways.</p> <p>The Court of Customs Appeals decided that under the last clause of paragraph I, § 3, of the Tariff Act of 1913, c. 16, 38 Stat. 114, 184, the collector was required to assess certain goods upon their entered value, unless directed otherwise by the Secretary of the Treasury; and that the Secretary’s refusal to give a contrary direction was discretionary and not reviewable by the Board of General Appraisers or by the Court of Customs Appeals; and, upon these grounds, affirmed the Board’s decision. Held, that the court had taken' jurisdiction and decided the case upon its merits and that mandamus would not lie to compel it to inquire into and pass upon the Secretary’s refusal.</p>