The Courthouse Confrontation
A $10,000 slander suit between a judge and a bidder at a tax sale is resolved with a public apology.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The $10,000 damage suit of Peter David against Judge W. H. Harris has been settled. Judge Harris made a public apology to Mr. David, in which he stated that he 'had no intention of calling Mr. David a thief or intimating that he had been guilty of theft in any way.' Judge Harris claims that he was excited and felt that he was being wrongfully deprived of his property, upon which he had simply neglected paying taxes. The occasion which brought on the suit took place at the street door of the courthouse last August at a tax sale. Both parties were bidding on a certain piece of property which Judge Harris claimed as his. When Mr. David continued to bid, Mr. Harris is said to have exclaimed: 'Neither you nor any other thief will ever get that property.' Upon the public apology of Mr. Harris, Mr. David agreed to dismiss the suit.
“Neither you nor any other thief will ever get that property.”
A public official losing their temper at a tax auction provides a rare glimpse into the personal stakes behind routine municipal property matters. It serves as a reminder that civic administration has always been subject to the human failings of its leaders.
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