Ivy v. Western Union Telegraph Co.

Citations

• 165 F. 371
• 1908 U.S. App. LEXIS 5375

Syllabus

<p>1. Constitutional Law (§ 243*) — Equal Protection of Laws — Civil Remedies — Laws Affecting Telegraph Companies.</p> <p>Act Ark. March 7, 1903 (Acts 1903, p. 123, No. 68), Kirby’s Dig. Ark. § 7947, providing that “all telegraph companies doing business in tills state shall be liable in damages for mental anguish or suffering, even in the absence of bodily injury or pecuniary loss, for negligence in receiving, transmitting or delivering messages,” is based upon a reasonable, and not an arbitrary, classification, and is not unconstitutional as depriving telegraph companies of the equal protection of the laws.</p> <p>[Kd. Note. — For other cases, see Constitutional Law, Cent. Dig. § 702; Dec. Dig. § 243.*]</p> <p>2. Commerce (§ 59*) — Regulation—Method—1Telegraphs and Telephones.</p> <p>Nor is such statute unconstitutional as an interference with interstate commerce because it applies incidentally to contracts for the transmission of interstate messages.</p> <p>[Ed. Note. — Fer other cases, see Commerce, Cent. Dig. § 87; Dec. Dig. § 59.*</p> <p>Measure of damages in action against telegraph and telephone companies. see notes to Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Coggin, 35 O. C. A. 235; Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Morris, 28 C. C. A. 59.]</p> <p>3. States (§ 4*) — Status under Federal Constitution — Power to Enlarge Civil Remedies.</p> <p>There is nothing in the Constitution of the United States prohibiting a state from changing the common law by permitting the recovery of damages for injuries sustained, for which at common law there could be no recovery.</p> <p>[Ed. Note. — For other cases, see States, Cent. Dig. § 2; Dec. Dig. § 4.*]</p> <p>4. Constitutional Law (§ 130*) — Obligation of Contracts — Foreign Corporations — Subjection to Laws Governing Domestic Corporations.</p> <p>Under Const. Ark. art. 12, § 6, which provides that “corporations may be formed under general laws, which laws may from time to time be altered or repealed,” and section 11, which provides