New York State Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors Minutes

Chronological by date of court session.

This series is the official daily record of court proceedings. Recorded in the minutes are the date and the names of court members in attendance for each court session and the location for each term. The parties' names and what occurred are recorded for each case heard in a session. Entries vary in content and length depending on the case's stage and complexity. Along with a summary of what occured, entries may include the text of a resolution, decree, or judgment, the results of a roll call vote, or the substance of an oral motion, argument, or discussion. Some entries concern court procedures and administration such as the establishment of court rules, setting of dates and locations for court sessions, and the appointment of court officials.

The series contains information on the progress of cases through the court, the court's method of operation, and the final determination of cases. It does not contain much information on the details of each case. This information is found in Records of Appeals and Cases in Error and the appropriate series of the court of original jurisdiction. This series does not cover the last few months of the court's existence (January-May 1847). Information on the proceedings of the court during those months can be found in Rough Minutes.

The contents and format of this series reflect the court's unique composition (entire State Senate, Lieutenant Governor, Chancellor, and Supreme Court Justices) and its parliamentary procedures. Proposed actions were brought before the court on a motion of one member and presented in the form of a resolution. The resolution was debated, sometimes amended, and then voted upon. Because of these procedures, many part of the series read like the minutes of a legislature rather than a court.

At the end of the final volume of minutes, December 1846, is a note stating that the "Residue of judgments and decrees will be found in the Book of Common Rules in the back part." The court's common rule books are not in the State Archives and are presumed to be lost. However, the court's determinations during the final six months of its existence, January-June 1847, are available in the Rough Minutes, series J0162.

Microform is available at the New York State Archives through interlibrary loan.

J0157Series J0157, New York State Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors Records of Appeals and Cases in Error, contains detailed information on the cases referenced in Series J0159 and

J0162Series J0162, New York State Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors Rough Minutes, contains information on the last few months of the court's existence.

The Court of Appeals placed these records on deposit at the Historical Documents Collection, Queens College, from 1973-1982.

Volume 2 of this series is extremely fragile. Microfilm copy should be used instead.