After Judgment
If a plaintiff was successful before the court, the plaintiff could obtain a warrant of execution against the defendant's goods and chattels (called fieri facias). This in effect allowed the provost-marshall to seize the defendant’s goods and sell them, subsequently paying the proceeds to the plaintiff. Alternatively, the defendant could be imprisoned until the debt and costs were satisfied. As in English law, the plaintiff was required to maintain the debtor in prison by paying what was called groats. The defendant could say on oath that he had no means of maintaining himself in prison. If this occurred, the plaintiff had to provide maintenance for him in prison according to the order of the Court. If the amount ordered by the court was not paid for one week, the debtor could be discharged from prison and also discharged from the debt.
Read more about this topic: Court Of Civil Jurisdiction
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—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
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—Tennessee Claflin (1846–1923)