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TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 36. 1839.

Appointmentof clerks—howmade.

Pecuniary pe-nalties, &c.where sued forand recovered.

No suits, & c.to be maintain-ed for penalties,&c. unless com-menced withinfive years.

Proviso.

Certain pun-ishments abol-ished.

Penalties, forthe forfeiture ofrecognizance,&c. may be re-mitted.

Sec. 2 of aet of29th April 1802,ch. 31, repealed.

In suits and ac-tions in whichthe judges arein any way con-cerned, &c.

of or found within the district where the suit is brought or shall notvoluntarily appear thereto, it shall be lawful for the court to entertainjurisdiction, and proceed to the trial and adjudication of such suit,between the parties who may be properly before it; but the judgment ordecree rendered therein shall not conclude or prejudice other parties,not regularly served with process, or not voluntarily appearing to an-swer ; and the nonjoinder of parties who are not so inhabitants, or foundwithin the district, shall constitute no matter of abatement, or otherobjection to said suit.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all the circuit courts of theUnited States shall have the appointment of their own clerks; and incase of a disagreement between the judges the appointment shall be madeby the presiding judge of the court.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That all pecuniary penalties andforfeitures accruing under the laws of the United States may be sued forand recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction in the State or dis-trict where such penalties or forfeitures have accrued, or in which theoffender or offenders may be found.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That no suit or prosecution shallbe maintained, for any penalty or forfeiture, pecuniary or otherwise,accruing under the laws of the United States , unless the same suit orprosecution shall be commenced within five years from the time whenthe penalty or forfeiture accrued; Provided, The person of the offenderor the property liable for such penalty or forfeiture shall, within the sameperiod, be found within the United States ; so that the proper processmay be instituted and served against such person or property therefor.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the punishment of whippingand the punishment of standing in the pillory, so far as they now areprovided for by the laws of the United States , be, and the same are hereby,abolished.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That, in all cases of recognizancesin criminal causes taken for, or in, or returnable to, the courts of theUnited States , which shall be forfeited by a breach of the condition there-of, the said court for or in which the same shall be so taken, or to whichthe same shall be returnable, shall have authority in their discretion toremit the whole or a part of the penalty, whenever it shall appear to thecourt that there has been no wilful default of the parties, and that a trialcan notwithstanding be had in the cause, and that public justice does nototherwise require the same penalty to be exacted or enforced.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the second section of the actof Congress, passed the twenty-ninth day of April, one thousand eighthundred and two, which makes it the duty of the associate justice of theSupreme Court , resident in the fourth circuit, to attend in the city ofWashington , on the first Monday of August annually, to make ordersrespecting the business of the Supreme Court , be, and the same is, here-by, repealed.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That in all suits and actions in anycircuit court of the United States in which it shall appear that both thejudges thereof or the judge thereof, who is solely competent by law totry the same, shall be any ways concerned in interest therein, or shallhave been of counsel for either party, or is, or are so related to or con-nected with either party as to render it improper for him or them, in hisor their opinion, to sit in the trial of such suit or action, it shall be theduty of such judge or judges, on application of either party to cause thefact to be entered on the records of the court; and also to make an orderthat an authenticated copy thereof, with all the proceedings in such suitor action, shall be forthwith certified to the most convenient circuit courtin the next adjacent State, or in the next adjacent circuit; which circuitcourt shall, upon such record and order being filed with the clerk there-