Ex Parte Johnson

1921 OK CR 202, 201 P. 533, 20 Okla. Crim. 66, 1921 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 142
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 29, 1921
DocketNo. A-4076.
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 1921 OK CR 202 (Ex Parte Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex Parte Johnson, 1921 OK CR 202, 201 P. 533, 20 Okla. Crim. 66, 1921 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 142 (Okla. Ct. App. 1921).

Opinion

BESSEY, J.

William Johnson, the petitioner, was ©n the 4th day of September, 1921 (Sunday), arrested for violating certain ordinances of the city of Bartlesville, by operating and ¡maintaining a moving picture show in said city on Sunday. On the 6th day of September, 1921, the petitioner was tried on this charge and found guilty, and his punishment was fixed at a fine ,of $50 and costs, amounting to $6.75, in default of the payment of which the petitioner was committed to and incarcerated in the city jail until such fine and costs should be paid.

At the trial the petitioner pleaded not guilty and demanded a trial by jury, which was by the court denied. Application was made to the district court of Washington county for *68 petitioner’s release on a writ of habeas corpus, which application was by that court denied. Whereupon a like application was lodged in this court, which is now under consideration.

The grounds alleged in the application may be summarized as follows:

(1). That the ordinances under which the petitioner was tried and convicted, being ordinance No. 580, and No. 882, amendatory thereto, are void for the reason that the city of Bartlesville, under the law and the provisions of its charter,is without authority to enact an ordinance regulating or prohibiting the operation of moving picture shows in Bartles-ville on Sunday.

(2). That the ordinance, as amended, provides for a penalty in excess of the maximum ^penalty prescribed by statute for work and labor done and performed on Sunday and is therefore void.

(3). That the ordinance is class legislation, unconstitutional and against common rights, and its enforcement is calculated to and has deprived this petitioner of his liberty without due process of law.

(4). That the petitioner was deprived of his right of a trial by jury.

The ordinance complained of, as amended, is as follows:

“An ordinance prohibiting the operation and running of moving picture shows, inclusive of any vaudeville acts, and likewise the staging and producing of theatrical entertainments on Sunday, providing penalties for violation, repealing all conflicting ordinances, and declaring an emergency.
“Be it ordained by the board! of commissioners of the city of Bartlesville, Oklahoma:
‘' Section 1. It is hereby declared unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to operate or conduct or to cause to be ope *69 rated or conducted within the limits of this city, any moving picture show, or to exhibit for hire or otherwise any moving pictures, inclusive of any so-called vaudeville acts or performance on the Sabbath day, or the first day of the week, commonly known and designated as Sunday.
“Section 2. It is hereby declared unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to stage, exhibit or produce or to cause to be staged, exhibited or produced, any form of theatrical entertainment for hire, or otherwise, within the limits of this city on the Sabbath day or the first day of the week, commonly known and designated as Sunday.
‘ ‘ Section 3. Any person assisting in any fashion as servant, agent, laborer or employee, or otherwise, in a violation of the provisions of sections 1 and 2 of this ordinance shall likewise foe deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished as provided by the terms of this ordinance.
“Section 4. Any person, firm or corporation adjudged guilty of the violation of any of the provisions of this ordinance, upon conviction shall be fined in a sum of not more than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor less than five dollars ($5.00), together with the costs of the action.
“Section 5. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.
“Section 6. Owing to the fact that at the present time there is no adequate ordinance in force in this city covering the subject of this ordinance, and to the further fact that certain persons, firms and corporations are about to stage, exhibit and produce certain theatrical entertainments and moving pictures on the Sabbath day,
“Now, therefore, for the preservation of the public peace, an emergency is hereby declared to exist by reason whereof this ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its due passage, approval and publication as required by law. ’ ’

Section 3, art. 18, of our Constitution provides that any city containing more than 2,000 inhabitants may frame a charter for its own government, consistent with and subject to the laws of this state, which when approved shall be the organic law of the city.

*70 Section 4, art. 1, of the charter of the city of Bartles-' ville is, in part, as follows:

“The city shall have all the powers conferred upon cities' of the first class by the Constitution of the state of Oklahoma and by the laws of the state not rendered inoperative by the adoption of this charter, and shall have all such legislative, executive, and judicial power as is necessarily incident to or proper in the conduct of its business and affairs and such as ■will promote the interests and secure the rights of its inhabitants, as fully as if specifically enumerated herein. The enumeration of any particular powers shall in no wise limit the plenary powers above provided for said city.”

Section 1, art. 5, of said charter is as follows:

“The board of commissioners shall consist of three members, elected in the manner prescribed by this charter, and, except as otherwise provided herein, shall be vested with all legislative powers of the city.”

Within the limitations prescribed by the Constitution, it' was clearly the intent of the framers of the Constitution to delegate local self-government to cities under a charter form of government in a larger measure and to a greater extent than is accorded cities existing under general law. Under the general laws of this state municipal corporations are vested with local police powers delegated to them by statute, speeifi-. cally expressed or necessarily implied. Cities may make and enforce within their limits all such local police, sanitary, and other regulations as are calculated to promote the health, sanitation, comfort, convenience, and welfare of the community, not in conflict with the Constitution and general laws. If cities existing under general laws have these powers, cities existing under special charters may have all these and more, depending upon he provisions of the charter.

It is practically impossible to define with precision the term “police power” because of the vast variety of conditions and circumstances governing its application. Chief Justice Shaw states:

*71 “It is the power to make, ordain, and establish all manner of wholesome and reasonable laws, statutes, and ordinances, either with penalties or without, not repugnant to the Constitution.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1921 OK CR 202, 201 P. 533, 20 Okla. Crim. 66, 1921 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-johnson-oklacrimapp-1921.