Conviction Quashed

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Mar 19, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 12.

Conviction Quashed

Conviction Quashed.—Some time ago certain Sabbath-keepers in Newfoundland were haled before the courts for hauling their fish-nets on Sunday. They were tried in the lower courts, and convicted, and then appealed to the Supreme Court. According to the St. Johns Evening Telegram of February 22, the court, while confirming the law, held that the prosecution was not brought within the limit of time provided by the statute, and further that according to prior court decisions "fishermen attending to their own property are not included in the act, and consequently that the work they did incidental to hauling their fish-trap is not within the statute's prohibition." For these reasons the conviction was quashed, and the costs of the appellants were placed upon the respondent. This prosecution was under an English medieval law, and all Sunday laws have a similar origin.