Ex Parte Simmons

1911 OK CR 99, 115 P. 380, 5 Okla. Crim. 399, 1911 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 175
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 28, 1911
DocketNo. A-975.
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 1911 OK CR 99 (Ex Parte Simmons) 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 Simmons, 1911 OK CR 99, 115 P. 380, 5 Okla. Crim. 399, 1911 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 175 (Okla. Ct. App. 1911).

Opinion

FURMAN, PRESIDING Judge.

It is earnestly contended by

the attorneys for the petitioner that the original opinion of this court, published in 4 Okla. Cr. 662, 112 Pac. 951, is in conflict with the statutes and Constitution of Oklahoma and with controlling decisions, but of what courts they ,do not say.

But two propositions are presented in their petition for a rehearing and in the brief filed in support thereof. The first is that the charter of the city of Tulsa does not expressly grant the power to prohibit within said city the unlawful possession of liquor for the purpose of sale. The second is that the petitioner was entitled to a trial by jury in the municipal court in the city of Tulsa. As all of the questions involved in this case are of great importance and are of first impression in this court, we have decided to re-examine and go over again the entire ground covered by our former decision. In fact, the two questions presented in the petition for a rehearing are so intimately and directly connected with, and necessarily incidental to, the ground upon which the entire decision rests that we could not consider them properly without again going over the entire case.

The charter of the^city of Tulsa is not a delegation of law *401 making authority from the Legislature of the state, as the charters of cities in other states usually are. This fact is important and should be constantly borne in mind when we attempt to apply the decisions of other states to municipal corporations in this state. The charter of the city of Tulsa was adopted by the people of Tulsa under and by virtue of authority, and, in pursuance of, section 3, art. 18, of the Constitution of this state. For this constitutional provision in full, see Simmons v. State, 4 Okla. Cr. 668, 112 Pac. 951. Under the express terms of the Constitution, when this charter was approved by the Governor, it became the organic law of the city of Tulsa. The Constitution of the state has clothed the city of Tulsa with full powers of municipal government and local legislation. The city of Tulsa is not exercising legislative powers delegated to it by some other legislative body; but it derives all of its powers by grant of authority directly from the sovereignty itself. It stands, therefore, upon a very different footing from those municipalities which possess only a delegation of delegated power. This is a part of the general theory upon which the entire government, state, county, and municipal, of Oklahoma is based, and that is the absolute sovereignty of the people and their capacity for self-government. Section 2, art. 2, of the charter of the city of Tulsa, among other things, provides:

“That the specifications of particular powers herein authorized shall never he construed as a limitation upon the general powers herein granted, it being intended by this charter to-igrant to and bestow upon the inhabitants of the city of Tulsa full power of self-government, and it shall have and exercise all powers of municipal government not prohibited to it by this charter or by some general law of the state of Oklahoma, or by the provisions of the Constitution of the state of Oklahoma.”

Counsel for petitioner make no attempt to show wherein this provision is in conflict with the Constitution or statutes of this state.

Subdivision 3 of section 2 of said charter, in part, provides:

“The city of Tulsa shall have power, by ordinance duly passed *402 to prohibit dramshops, drinking saloons and other places where intoxicating liquors are sold.”

No effort has been made to show that this is in conflict with the Constitution or laws of the state. The express declaration contained in the charter, granting to the city of Tulsa authority to exercise all powers of a municipal government, not prohibited to it by the Constitution or by provisions of the statutes of Oklahoma, was doubtless inserted for the purpose of giving the city full power of municipal self-government and authority to legislate for all local purposes, in the event it should be found that the specifications. of particular powers granted did not include some necessary powers of municipal self-government.

Counsel for petitioner, in their brief, say:

“Subdivision 3 of article 2 of the charter of Tulsa, Oklahoma, expressly grants the power To prohibit dramshops, drinking saloons and other places where intoxicating liquors are sold/ but this is- not an express grant of power to prohibit the unlawful possession of liquor for the purpose of sale.”

This is equivalent to -assuming the position that a municipal corporation in Oklahoma, organized by virtue of our Constitution, cannot enact an ordinance upon any subject, unless the charter of such corporation, by express grant of power, authorizes the city •»to adopt such ordinance. Counsel fail, however, to cite any authorities or to make any argument in support of this position. They have assumed the proposition in controversy and have substituted assertion for authority and argument. If a city could'" not adopt an ordinance, unless authorized to do so by express grant of power, the very purposes of municipal government would be defeated, for no one could foresee and anticipate, and no charter could provide for, every ordinance which might become necessary on account of,the exigencies of municipal government. If counsel had said that a municipal corporation could not adopt an ordinance, unless its charter clearly granted the power to do so, then they would have been more nearly correct; but in making this statement they would have taken their case out of court, because *403 no one could maintain a dramshop, drinking saloon, or other place where intoxicating liquors are sold, unless he also has in-his possession intoxicating liquors for the purpose of selling the same. To prohibit the possession of such liquors for the purpose' of sale is the most effective means of prohibiting and suppressing dramshops, drinking saloons, and other places where intoxicating liquors are sold. It goes directly to the root of the evil, and is necessarily involved in the express grant of power contained in the charter of the city of Tulsa, and is therefore clearly granted by such charter. An express grant of power to do a certain thing clearly and necessarily carries with it the grant of power to do all other things which are included in such express grant of power, and which will aid and assist in the accomplishment of the purpose for which the express grant of power was made. This, to our minds, is the only tenable position to assume upon this question.

This court is irrevocably committed to the position that the common-law doctrine of a strict construction of penal statutes has no place in the criminal jurisprudence of Oklahoma. We propose to construe all statutes, charters, and ordinances liberally, to effect the purposes for which they were adopted or enacted, and in furtherance of justice; and whenever we can reasonably do so we will give them that construction which will enable them to reach and destroy the evils at which they are aimed. We are fully determined that, so far as criminal cases are concerned, the courts of Oklahoma shall be courts of justice, as well as courts of law. We will not allow any finespun, artificial distinctions to defeat the enforcement of law.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1911 OK CR 99, 115 P. 380, 5 Okla. Crim. 399, 1911 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-simmons-oklacrimapp-1911.