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These series consist of judgment rolls that have been signed, filed, and docketed by the Supreme Court clerks. The judgment roll contains the record of pleadings and proceedings in a cause and was prepared by the attorney for the party who was awarded the judgment. The judgment in a case that went to trial consists of the following parts: caption (name of the court, term, names of justices and clerks); warrants of attorney (names of parties to the action and their attorneys); memorandum (summary of proceedings upon the writ of capias); plaintiffs plea (the substance of his declaration); defendant's plea (replication); any subsequent pleadings; joinder of issue; award of jury process (the writ of venire facias juratores) or, after 1829, an order that the issue be tried at a circuit court; continuances (postponements of trial from term to term); summary of trial proceedings and verdict, copied from the nisi prius record or, after 1829, from the circuit roll; and the award of judgment, signed in the margin by a Supreme Court clerk, Supreme Court commissioner, city recorder or, in rare instances, by one of the justices.
In the many cases in which there was no trial, the trial-related parts of the judgment were, of course, omitted and others were substituted. When the defendant admitted the
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Judgment Roll, 1818. this judgment roll in an action of debt contains the court's judgment, along with copies of the pleadings by plaintiff Charles Baldwin and defendant Trueworthy Cook. The signed judgment is found on the upper side of the sheet. The plaintiff's declaration and defendant's plea are found on the lower sheet, along with the common bail piece (at bottom). Printed forms for routine judgments and other court documents became common by the 1820s, saving law clerks much time, labor, and writer's cramp. (Series J0134 Judgment Rolls [Utica].) |
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debt or damages, his cognovit was entered on the roll. When the defendant defaulted through failure to plead or rejoin, an interlocutory judgment was granted to the plaintiff along with an order that a writ of inquiry issue to a sheriff to summon a jury to determine the damages due (this might also occur on a judgment awarded on demurrer). The jury's inquisition and award were entered on the roll. Reports of referees or court clerks as to the amount of a judgment award likewise became part of the judgment record.
The plaintiffs judgment award was damages and costs in cases of assumpsit, covenant, trespass, and trespass on the case; debt, damages, and costs in cases of debt; damages and costs in cases of replevin; and possession of and title to real property plus costs in actions of ejectment. The defendant's judgment award, in the few cases that went against the plaintiff, either by verdict or nonsuit, was usually costs only, although it might be possession of real or personal property in dispute. On the dorso of the judgment record are written the name of the court, the title of the cause, name of winning party's attorney, amount of judgment award, and date of filing.
Accompanying the judgment proper are copies of certain other case documents. These are the plaintiff's declaration (statement of cause of action with plea and "counts"); oyer (copy of the bond or other obligation sued upon); bail piece (either common bail or special bail); defendant's plea or cognovit; warrant of attorney (by which a defendant appoints an attorney to receive a declaration and confess liability for judgment); and the satisfaction piece (acknowledgment of satisfaction of judgment by both parties to the action). By the 1820s all these documents (except the satisfaction piece and warrant of attorney) are usually found on one printed form, along with the judgment itself. Until February 5, 1798, all judgments were required to be enrolled on parchment; Laws of 1798, Chap. 8, permitted use of paper after that date.
The three series of judgment rolls also include judgments affirming or reversing judgments of lower courts. Those judgments were removed to the Supreme Court by writ of error or writ of certiorari. In such cases the judgment record contains a copy of the writ and the return thereto by the inferior court. See J0147 Writs of Certiorari and J0031 Writs of Error (Utica) for a detailed discussion of these writs. Occasionally, but not always, the dorso of the judgment roll notes that the judgment was rendered on reversal or affirmance of a lower court's judgment. The judgment dockets, described later, give no indication of whether a judgment was awarded on a writ of error or certiorari or in an original proceeding.
The judgment rolls are arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by first letter of last name of losing party, then chronologically by filing date. (Some are out of order.) The major exception to this arrangement is ejectment cases. (The action of ejectment was commonly used to determine claims to real property.) Prior to 1830, judgment rolls in ejectment cases are filed under names of fictional plaintiffs or defendants. If the actual defendant won the judgment, it is always filed under the name of the fictional plaintiff "James Jackson." If the actual plaintiff won the judgment, the judgment roll may be filed either under the name of the fictional defendant "John Stiles" or under the name of the actual defendant. Starting in 1830 all judgment rolls in ejectment actions are filed under the name of the actual losing party. See Appendix A for further discussion of ejectment actions. The first general statute concerning the recording of judgments was Laws of 1813, Chap 50. The Revised Statutes of 1829, Part III, Chap. 6, Title 4, Art. 1, contains "general provisions concerning judgments."
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| J0140 |
Judgment Rolls (Albany), 1797-1847. 326.4 cu. ft.
The rolled parchments for 1797 and 1798 have been rearranged alphabetically by name of plaintiff. J0141 Docket of Judgments provides the only access to the complete series of Albany judgment rolls. J0142 Index to Dockets of Judgments covers the years 1829 to 1835.
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| J0134 |
Judgment Rolls (Utica), 1807-47. 208.1 cu. ft.
J0l35 Transcripts of Docket of Judgments provides the only access to the complete series of Utica judgment rolls. J0142 Index to Documents of Judgments covers the years 1829 to 1835. Some of the Utica judgment rolls for 1827 and 1828 were misfiled in J0l37 Judgment Rolls (Geneva).
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| J0137 |
Judgment Rolls (Geneva), 1827-47. 110.5 cu. ft.
J0138 Transcripts of Docket of Judgments provides the only access to the complete series of Geneva judgment rolls. J0142 Index to Dockets of Judgments covers the years 1829 to 1835. The judgment rolls labeled "Geneva" for the years 1827 to 1828 are evidently estrays from J0134 Judgment Rolls (Utica).
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