Hitchcock v. Aicken. county of Dutchess, in the state of New York, as described by the plaintiffs in their writ, but an inhabitant of Frederickstown, in the said county. The plaintiffs demurred generally, and the court having considered the plea insufficient, the defendant afterwards pleaded non assumpsit; upon which a verdict was found. for the plaintiffs, and judgment duly entered. Upon the judgment, thus rendered by the court in Vermont, this action was brought, and it was submitted to the court to determine whether it was competent for the defendant to go into evidence as to the merits of the judgment obtained in Vermont; or, in other words, whether this judgment was to be considered as a foreign judgment and only prima facie evidence of the debt? if so, the verdict found in this court to be set a side, and a new trial granted; otherwise to stand. THOMPSON J. The question now submitted to the court is, whether it was competent for the defendant, on the trial to go into evidence as to the merits of the judgment obtained in Vermont; or, in other words, whether this judg ment is to be considered as a foreign judgment, and only prima facie evidence of the debt? This case was submitted without argument, and the only point, I conceive, presented for consideration is, whether it was competent for the defendant, on the trial, to open the judgment, and go into an inquiry into the original merits of the action tried in the state of Vermont. I shall assume, in the examination of this question, as points conceded, and which I think, the case will fully authorize me to take for granted, that there was a fair and [*462] impartial trial had between these parties in the state of Vermont, and that by the laws and usage of that state, the judgment would be conclusive between the parties there. If such was not the case, it was incumbent on the defendant either to disclose it by pleading, or set it up as a defence, under a general plea. Nothing is here set Hitchcock v. Aicken. forth in any way impeaching the justice of this judgment, nor any allegation that it was irregularly or unduly obtained. If I am correct, then, as to the true question presented by the case, and the object of the defendant was to go into an examination of the cause on his part, as if it had never been before tried, I should say it was not competent for him to go into such an examination, but that the judgment was conclusive between the parties. As a general rule on this subject, I should consider judgments in neigh. boring states prima facie evidence of the demand, but liable to be opened and examined in the same manner only as they would be in the state where they were rendered. This I think a plain and simple rule, calculated to promote the ends of justice, and the one necessarily resulting from the political connection between the states; imposed by the constitution and law of the united government relating to this subject. To say that every action of slander, assault and battery, &c. or for a fraud, as was the case before us, and which had been fairly tried, and fully examined in a neighboring state, and judgment rendered, should be again opened, as if no trial had been had, would be manifestly unjust, and tending to oppression. To say that the judg ment shall be conclusive between the parties would, in many instances, be giving it a more binding force than it has in the state where rendered; and to put it on the footing of foreign judgments altogether, would be considering that part of the constitution relative to the records and judical proceedings of other states as a dead letter; and, besides, to say this judgment is to be considered in the light of a foreign judgment only, might perhaps, leave the question doubtful and unsettled how far it was examinable. In the case of Walker v. Witter, Doug. Rep. 4, it is decided that a foreign judgment is prima facie evidence of the debt, by which I understand the court to mean, that it is [*463] *not incumbent upon the plaintiff, in the first instance, to prove the ground, nature and extent of the demand on which the judgment had been obtained. Hitchcock v. Aicken. Thus far, I think, judgments obtained in sister states ought to be considered analogous to foreign judgments; and in the case of Sinclair v. Fraser, Doug. 5, in note, decided in the House of Lords, on an appeal from the court of sessions in Scotland, the same principle was adopted as to a foreign judgment being prima facie evidence of the debt; but the court there said, that it was competent to the defendant to impeach the justice of it, or to show it to have been irregularly or unduly obtained. These would appear to be terms sufficiently broad to authorize the opening the judgment in every possible case; for it would be impossible to decide whether injustice had been done by the original judgment, without examining the whole merits of the action. Independent, however, of this consideration, I cannot view the judgment obtained in the state of Vermont in the light of a foreign judgment only, without disregarding the conștitution of the United States, and the act of congress, as having no relation to the subject. The 4th article of the constitution declares, "That full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other state, and the congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof." This article, I think, manifestly presents two subjects for legislative provision; 1st. To prescribe the manner of proving such acts, records and proceedings; and 2dly. Their effect. In pursuance of this power we find congress, by an act passed 26th May, 1790, (Laws U. S. vol. 1, 159,) after prescribing the mode of proof, declaring, "That the said records and judicial proceedings, authenticated as aforesaid, shall have such faith and credit given to them, in every court within the United States, as they have by law or usage in the courts of the state from whence the said records, are or shall be taken. The framers of this constitution, doubtless, well understood the light in which foreign judgments were viewed in courts of justice, and must have intended, by this article, to place the states upon a different footing with VOL. I. 73 Hitchcock v. Aicken. respect to each other than that on which they stood [*464] *in relation to foreign nations; had not this been their intention, they would have beeen silent on the subject. I am aware that the old confederation contained a similar article, (4th article,) declaring that "Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these states to the records, acts and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other state." The construction to be given to this article, came, in some measure, under consid. eration in several of the state courts prior to the adoption of the constitution, but in no case, as far as my researches have extended, under circumstances analogous to the present; and, so far as the cases that I have examined look to the present question, I think we shall find principles recognized which are in perfect unison with those I have adopted. In the case of James v. Allen, 1 Dall. 188, decided in Pennsylvania, in the court of common pleas, in Philadelphia county, in the year 1786, the question directly before the court was, whether the defendant's discharge from imprisonment, by virtue of an insolvent act of the state of New Jersey, would entitle him to a like discharge in Pennsylvania, and the court determined not. But the decision was founded on the nature and terms of the New Jersey insolvent act, saying it was a private act, local in its nature and local in its terms, and went no farther than to discharge him from imprisonment in the jail of Essex county, in the state of New Jersey. And the case of Phelps v. Holker, 1 Dall. 261, decided in the supreme court of Pennsylvania, in the year 1788, was an action of debt, brought on a judgment obtained in Massachusetts, under their foreign attachment act, and the court decided that it was not conclusive, on the ground that it was a proceeding in rem, and ought not to be extended farther than the property attached, the act declaring that the judgment and execution in a foreign attachment shall only go against the goods attached. The case of Kibbe v. Kibbe, Kirby's Rep. 119, decided in the superior court of the state of Connecticut, in the year 1786, was an Hitchcock v. Aicken. action of debt upon a judgment obtained in Massachusetts, and the court refused to sustain the action, on the ground that the defendant had not been personally served with process to appear in the original cause. The court saying, full credence ought to be given to the judg- [*465] ments of the courts in any of the United States, where both parties are within the jurisdiction of such courts at the time of commencing the suit, and are duly served with the process, and have, or might have had, a fair trial of the cause. Thus, we see, in these cases that the court examined into the law of the state where the proceedings were had, in order to determine their operation and effect. But, as far as any decision in the circuit court of the United States ought to have weight in giving a construction to the constitution and act of congress, we have the question settled in the case of Armstrong v. Carsons, 2 Dall. 302, decided in Pennsylvania, in the year 1794. The question before the court was, whether nil debet was a good plea to an action of debt on a judgment obtained in the superior court of New Jersey; and Wilson, Justice, said if the plea would be bad in the courts of New Jersey, it is bad here; for whatever doubts there might be on the words of the constitution, the act of congress effectually removes them, declaring, in direct terms, that the record shall have the same effect in this court as in the court from which it was taken. The rule intended by the court to be prescribed here, clearly was the one which would have been adopted by the court in the state where the judgment was rendered. Although the act of congress does not adopt the term effect, as stated by the judge, yet, if it means any thing, it means to declare the effect. It says, "The said records and judicial proceed ings, authenticated as aforesaid, shall have such faith and credit given to them, in every court within the United States, as they have, by law or usage, in the courts of the state from whence the said records are, or shall be taken." If the constitution, instead of saying the records &c. shall have full faith and credit given them, had adopted the pre |