TO ASSESS

Legal Dictionary -> TO ASSESS

TO ASSESS


TO ASSESS. 1. To rate or to fix the proportion which every person has to pay of any particular tax. 2. To assess damages is to ascertain what damages aredue to the plaintiff; in actions founded on writings, in many cases afterinterlocutory judgment, the prothonotary is directed to assess the damages;in cases sounding in tort the damages are frequently assessed on a writ ofinquiry by the sheriff and a jury. 2. In actions for damages, the jury are required to fix the amount orto assess the damages. In the exercise of this power or duty, the jury mustbe guided by sound discretion, and, when the circumstances will warrant it,may give high damages. Const. Rep. 500. The jury must, in the assessment ofdamages be guided by their own judgment, nd not by a blind chance. Theycannot lawfully, therefore, in making up their verdict, each one put down asum, add the sums together, divide the aggregate by the number of jurors,and adopt the quotient for their verdict. 1 Cowen, 238.

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