In re Szubert

The petition for habeas corpus upon which we issued a writ shows that petitioner is under a sentence of five days in jail for contempt of court. The charged offense consisted of the violation of a preliminary injunction which restrained petitioner from removing from real property that was in litigation any buildings that were permanently affixed to the realty. The petition alleges the issuance of the temporary injunction, that it was served upon him and that thereafter he removed some chicken houses, which he claimed were not attached to the soil, and which were under chattel mortgage to the Federal Housing Administration. As we shall see, the court found that he had removed permanent fixtures.

The injunction should have identified the buildings that must remain on the ground in order to retain the status quo. Petitioner was claiming no right to remove buildings that were permanently affixed, and no claim was made by the plaintiff that petitioner could not remove buildings that were personalty. Restraining the removal of any buildings that belonged to the realty, without describing them, fell far short of reaching the desired objective of the restraint. When petitioner,…