Rawlings v. People

Citations

• 102 Ill. 475
• 1882 Ill. LEXIS 57

Syllabus

<p>1. Appeae—in bastardy case—to what court. An appeal lies from the county court to the circuit court in a bastardy case, and not being a common law or criminal ease, no appeal lies from the county court to the Appellate Court.</p> <p>2. The sum which a defendant is condemned to pay in a bastardy case, is so much in the nature of a penalty as not to be included in the class of cases not appealable from the Appellate Court to this court, where the amount involved is less than $1000.</p> <p>3. Bastardy—a civil, not a criminal proceeding. A prosecution under the Bastardy act is a civil and not a criminal proceeding. Though in form criminal, it is essentially of the nature of a civil action, the object being, not the imposition of a penalty, for an immoral act, but merely to compel the putative father to contribute to the support of his illegitimate child.</p>