UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
ARANT V. LANE, 249 U. S. 367 (1919)
249 U. S. 367U.S. Supreme Court
Arant v. Lane, 249 U.S. 367 (1919)
Arant v. Lane
No. 41
Argued March 6, 7, 1919
Decided March 31, 1919
249 U.S. 367
Syllabus
Under the Code of the District of Columbia, as on general principle, the allowance of the writ of mandamus is a matter of sound judicial discretion, and applications therefor are limited as to time by the equitable doctrine of laches, and are not within the general statutes of limitations. P. 249 U. S. 371.
After his removal from office and forcible ejection from a government office building, relator waited 20 months before applying for mandamus against his superior, the Secretary of the Interior, to compel reinstatement. In the absence of a satisfactory explanation, held clubjuris
that the delay amounted to laches, it appearing that another appointee had meantime been filling the office, performing it duties, and drawing the salary.
47 App.D.C. 336, affirmed.
The case is stated in the opinion. clubjuris