Ex Parte Tindall

1924 OK 669, 229 P. 125, 102 Okla. 192, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 169
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 9, 1924
Docket14674
StatusPublished
Cited by73 cases

This text of 1924 OK 669 (Ex Parte Tindall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court 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 Tindall, 1924 OK 669, 229 P. 125, 102 Okla. 192, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 169 (Okla. 1924).

Opinion

HARRISON, J.

This is an application of A. L. Tindall for writ of habeas corpus and involves the constitutionality of chapter li3> Sess. Laws 1923, page 188, known as the “Motor Vehicle Act.”

Petitioner alleges that he is unlawfully distrained of his liberty by the sheriff of Osage county upon a warrant issued out of the county court of said county and based upon a prosecution pending in said county wherein petitioner is charged with violation of said act.

Petitioner does not deny that he has vio-\ lated said statute, but bases his right to a I discharge upon the ground that said act is I unconstitutional and void.

The statute in question is an act entitled:

“An Act providing for the supervision, regulation and conduct of the transportation of persons, freight and property for compensation over the public highways of the state of Oklahoma by motor vehicles, conferring jurisdiction upon the Corporation Commission, providing for the enforcement of the provisions of this act and for the punishment for violations thereof, repealing all acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act, and declaring an emergency.”

Petitioner contends that such act is void for sundry reasons, to wit:

That it is violative of the Fourteenth! Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and violative of section 7, section 23, and section 32 of art. 2, and of section 51, art. 5, of the Constitution of Oklahoma, and void for the reason that it is an un lawful delegation of legislative power to the Corporation Commission of the state and an unlawful attempt to confer upor such commission powers in excess of those granted by the Constitution; that it is void because not general in its character and purports to grant arbitrary powers to *195 the Corporation Commission; void because it purports to grant to the Corporation Commission the power to create a monopoly ini violation of the Constitution of the United States; void because it purports to grant to such commission the right to make penal rules and regulations; void because it requires operators of motor vehicles to make a bond and deprives such operators of the right to deposit cash or Liberty Bonds or} to have freeholders of the state to sign such * bond; void because .it contains matters notj set forth in its title; and void because it imposes a tax upon the business instead of a regulation charge, said tax to be paid to the Highway Commission to be used for the maintenance and upkeep of its highways. Petitioner further alleges that the Corporation Commission in exercising the powers given by the provisions of said act, as construed by such commission, has been granting franchises to one person to operate motor vehicles over given highways and denying such privileges to other persons over the same highways thereby granting exclusive privileges and creating monopolies; that the Corporation Commission has made unjust rules and regulations and rates of fare to be charged hy persons operating such vehicles; that the rules and regulations prescribed by the Corporation Commission are discriminatory between persons of the same class. Petitioner further alleges that he has applied to the district court of Osage county for a writ of habeas corpus and been denied, wherefore he prays this court for such a writ.

The grounds alleged in the petition are not presented in the briefs in the order in which they are alleged in the petition, yet the constitutional questions are presented in a general way, which, if true, and authorities are cited which if applicable, might sustain petitioner’s grounds as a whole. But at the threshold of this controversy we are confronted with the proposition that this act is no more nor less than an act to regulate “common carriers” doing a transportation business for hire and profit over the public highways of the state.

That the state may exercise a supervisory control over the public highways is too clear to be seriously questioned, and that the state may exercise such control over “common carriers” is equally clear, and that the business sought to be regulated by the act in question is that of a “public service corporation” for hire and profit is also clear. See section 34, art. 9, of the Constitution. That the Corporation Commission has power to regulate “public service corporations” is also clear.' See art. 9 of the Constitution. That the Legislature is empowered to vest the Corporation Commission with additional powers and to charge it with additional duties, other than those specifically enumerated and conferred in the Constitution, is also clear. See section 19, art. 9, of the Constitution.

Therefore we must conclude that the general character of the act is within all constitutional limitations and that the general purpose of the act is clearly within the purview of the Constitution. This being true, the act is not wholly void and the petitioner is not entitled to the relief sought, unless by the enforcement of some specific provision of the act he has been deprived of a constitutional right. It appears that petitioner has not endeavored to avail himself of the privileges granted by the act in question, by applying to the Corporation Commission for a license to engage in the business of “common carrier” over the public highways, as required by the act, and that the Corporation Commission by the enforcement of an invalid and arbitrary rule has denied him of a constitutional right, but it appears from the petition and record that petitioner has sought to conduct the business of a “common carrier” along the public highways of the state in willful disregard of the law of the state, and in open defiance of the express provisions of the Constitution, as well as the provisions of the act in question. Petitioner has also overlooked the fact that in seeking to do a public service business he does not stand before the law in the capacity of a private citizen, as such, seeking a private right of citizenship, but comes as a “public service” entity, seeking to render a service to the public of the state for hire and profit. In such capacity, in order to avail himself of the privilege of conducting such business, he must subject himself to the Constitution and laws governing -public service enterprises. •

Section 34, art. 9, of the Constitution contains the following definition:

* * The term ‘public service corporation’ shall include- all transportation and transmission companies, all gas, electric light, heat and power companies, and all persons authorized to exercise the right of eminent domain, or to use or occupy.' any right of way, street, alley, or public highway, whether along, over, or under the same, in a manner not permitted to the general public; the term ‘person,’ as used in this article, shall include individuals, partner *196 ships and corporations, in the singular as well as plural number.”

‘‘Public service concerns” of the state are subject to regulation and control by the state. Sections 18-34, art. 9, of the Constitution.

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Bluebook (online)
1924 OK 669, 229 P. 125, 102 Okla. 192, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 169, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-tindall-okla-1924.