George Mifflin Dallas
How Judge Dallas rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Dallas no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Dallas
George Mifflin Dallas was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Appointed by President Benjamin Harrison, Judge Dallas received a commission on March 17, 1892. Judge Dallas previously served on the United States Circuit Courts for the Third Circuit, commissioned there on March 17, 1892. Judge Dallas retired on May 24, 1909.
How Judge Dallas decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In O’Connell v. National Water Co., Dallas affirmed unfair-competition relief because a tendency to deceive sufficed without proof that customers had actually been deceived.
“it is not necessary that the public should be actually deceived in order to afford a right of action. All that is required is that the infringement should have a tendency to deceive,”
Distinguishes patentable invention from a change within ordinary mechanical skill.
“its omission-is well within- the réalm Of mere mechanical dexterity.”
Procedural preferences
Requires a fraud defense to be pleaded rather than introduced irregularly through cross-examination under a general denial.
“no error was committed in refusing to permit the defendant to irregularly introduce his supposed defense by cross-examining a witness of the plaintiff ‘with respect to the question of fraud, under the plea of general issue, which was the only plea of record.’”
Declines to add words to a statute to make a party's preferred construction plausible.
“The order of the Circuit Court, in the phrase ‘as smelted or refined by the said company,’ reads into the act the word ‘as’; and, if this interpolation were warranted, the contention of the appellee might be a plausible one. But, in our opinion, it is not warranted.”
Cautions
In Joseph Stelwagon Co. v. Childs, Dallas affirmed the lower-court decree and declined to repeat its analysis because doing so would serve no useful purpose.
“We might, of course, express the same views in different terms and at greater length, but no useful purpose would be subserved by doing so.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“upon that opinion the decree is .affirmed.”
“The decree of the circuit court for the Eastern district of Pennsylvania, affirming the decision of the board of general appraisers, is affirmed.”
“it is now here ordered, adjudged and decreed by this court that the appeal from the said District Court be and the same is hereby dismissed at the costs of the appellant.”
“Therefore the judgment to which the present writ of error relates is affirmed.”
“the order of the Circuit Court must be reversed, and the cause will be remanded to that court, with direction to enter a judgment affirming the decision of the Board of General Appraisers, by which the protests of the Guggenheim Smelting Company were overruled and the decision of the collector in each case was affirmed.”
“the decree of the Circuit Court sustaining that decision is therefore affirmed.”
A historical record
Judge Dallas no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.