Division of opinion

DIVISION OF OPINION. When, in a company or society, the parties having a right to vote are so divided that there is not a plurality of the whole in favor of any particular proposition, or when the voters are equally divided, it is said there. is division of opinion.
     2. In such a case, the Roman law, which seems founded in reason and common sense, directs, that when the division relates to the quantity of things included, as in the case of a judgment, if one of three judges votes for condemning a man to a fine of one hundred dollars, another, to one of fifty dollars, and the third to twenty-five, the opinion or vote of; the last shall be the rule for the judgment; because the votes of all the others include that of the lowest; this is the case when unanimity is required. But when the division of opinions does not relate to the quantity of things, then it is always to be in favor of the defendant. It was a rule among the Romans that when the judges were equal in number, and they were divided into two opinions in cases of liberty, that opinion which favored it should prevail; and in other cases, it should be in favor of the defendant. Poth. Pand. liv. L. n. MDLXXIV.
     3. When the judges of a court are divided into three classes, each holding a different opinion, that class which has the greatest number shall give the judgment; for example, on a habeas corpus, when a court is composed of four judges, and one is for remanding the prisoner, another is for discharging him on his own recognizance, and two others for discharging him absolutely, the judgment will be, that he be discharged. Rudyard's Case, Bac. Ab. Habeas Corpus, B 10, Court 5.
     4. It is provided, by the Act of Congress of April 29, 1802, s. 6, that whenever any question shall occur before a circuit court, upon which the opinions of the judges shall be opposed, the point upon which the disagreement shall happen shall, during the same term, upon the request of either party, or their counsel, be stated, under the direction of the judges, and certified, under the seal of the court, to the supreme court, at their next session to be hold thereafter, and shall, by the said court, be finally decided. And the decision of the supreme court, and their order in the premises, shall be, remitted to the circuit court, and be there entered *of record and shall have effect according to the nature of the said judgment and order: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall prevent the cause from proceeding, if, in the opinion of the court, further proceedings can be had without prejudice to the merits: And Provided, also, That imprisonment shall not be allowed, nor punishment in any case be inflicted, where the judges of the said court are divided in opinion upon the question touching the said imprisonment or punishment. See 5 N. S. 407.

References in periodicals archive ?
He said: "There's clearly a division of opinion in all political parties at the moment and you always get this sort of talk.
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By framing the apparent division of opinion and favor as intentional team masking, the author gives Francesco the credit of Mantua.
There's still a division of opinion on that in the sense that there are some people who say this is not our government so we have no business participating in it or voting in a federal election.
That division of opinion is essentially the same among the second group, which was asked about a federal "no disparate impact" policy.
The UK coalition Government is tearing itself apart on a number of fronts, one being the division of opinion on wind farms with the Energy Minister set against Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
This division of opinion and stance is extremely harmful.
Given such a sharp division of opinion both within and outside the government and scientific community, the blind support for GM crops expressed by the government counsel in SC is surprising.
There are increasing fears that Lebanon is at the gateway of sectarian strife, and signs of that are clear in the tension arising from the division of opinion over the Syrian crisis," the report said.
Otherwise, expect a sharp division of opinion over whether Grands Crus should go for gold.

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