Whittaker v. Sandford

110 Me. 77, 85 A. 399 (1912)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
W
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Whittaker v. Sandford

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
110 Me. 77, 85 A. 399 (1912)

Play video

Facts

Whittaker (plaintiff) and her husband were members of a religious sect with a colony in Maine and overseas. Whittaker joined the sect located overseas but decided to abandon the sect and return to America on a steam ship. Sandford (defendant), the sect leader, offered to take Whittaker back to America on his yacht. Whittaker told Sandford that she was afraid he would not let her off the yacht until she returned to the religious sect. Sandford assured her she would not be detained, and she sailed to America on the yacht. Once the yacht arrived in port, Sandford refused to supply Whittaker with a row boat to leave the yacht. He told her it was up to her husband and her husband in turn said it was up to Sandford. Whittaker was on the yacht for nearly a month during which time she was only allowed to go ashore with her husband, but not by herself. Whittaker finally got her release with the help of the sheriff and a writ of habeas corpus. Whittaker sued Sandford for false imprisonment and won a judgment against Sandford. Sandford appealed the judgment to the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Savage, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 810,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Torts

Key Terms