In re O'Neill

17 Fla. Supp. 199
CourtCircuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Miami-Dade County
DecidedDecember 30, 1960
DocketNo. 1719-A
StatusPublished

This text of 17 Fla. Supp. 199 (In re O'Neill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Miami-Dade County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re O'Neill, 17 Fla. Supp. 199 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1960).

Opinion

GEORGE E. HOLT, Circuit Judge.

The facts of this cause are fully stated in previous reported decisions (In re O’Neill, 9 Fla. Supp. 153; Application of People of State of New York (Fla.), 100 So. 2d 149; People of the State of New York v. O’Neill, 359 U.S. 1, 79 S. Ct. 564, 3 L. Ed. 2d 585) and need not be repeated here. Suffice to say that the Supreme Court of the United States held that the so-called “Uniform Law for Interstate Extradition of Witnesses”, chapter 942, Florida Statutes 1955, did not abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States, and therefore, reversed the decision of the Supreme Court of Florida (Application of People of State of New York, 100 So. 2d 149) which had affirmed the earlier decision (In re O’Neill, 9 Fla. Supp. 153) of this court. Upon the mandate of the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Florida entered its order (See: Application of People of the State of New York v. O’Neill (Fla.), 112 So. 2d 837) as follows— “Upon reconsideration, therefore, the cause is remanded to the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit for further proceedings consistent with the law of the State of Florida and the mandate and opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, * * *”

[201]*201Pursuant to that order, this cause is now before this court for further proceedings, “consistent with the law of the State of Florida and the mandate and opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States”. Respondent, Joseph C. O’Neill, has filed a “Renewal of Motion to Quash” the rule issued to said respondent challenging the validity of section 942.02, Florida Statutes 1955, upon the grounds— (1) that same attempts to confer upon the courts of this state power to issue process running beyond the territorial limits of this state, and by reason of having incorporated all of the grounds of his motion to quash originally filed, and (2) that said section violates section 9, and section 12 of the Declaration of Rights of the constitution of Florida in failing to provide for bail.

The petitioner, the People of the State of New York, has filed a motion to dismiss the proceedings “on the grounds that the grand jury which has sought the appearance of the defendant [respondent] is no longer in existence; and the questions before the court are moot”, and has also filed a motion to tax costs incurred by petitioner in certiorari proceedings to the Supreme Court of the United States.

At the threshold of the case, petitioner’s motion to dismiss because the questions arising out of this cause are moot deserves consideration. A consideration of the nisi pruis decision in this cause (In re O’Neill, 9 Fla. Supp. 153) and the decision of the Supreme Court of Florida (Application of People of State of New York, 100 So. 2d 149) leads to the conclusion that the two questions urged by respondent in his renewal of his motion to quash deserve further consideration pursuant to the order of the Supreme Court of Florida, and that the questions raised involving as they do the validity of a statute, are matters “affected with a public interest”, and “are of moment to the profession”, and therefore, are proper for the court’s further consideration even if the cause were moot. Cf. Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Klaus, 130 N.Y.S. 713; Tau Alpha Holding Corp. v. Gainesville, 126 Fla. 885, 171 So. 819; Pace v. King (Fla.), 38 So. 2d 823; Bowden v. Carter (Fla.), 65 So. 2d 871; and Application of Bradshaw, 173 N.Y.S. 2d 406. Petitioner’s motion to dismiss because the cause is moot is therefore denied.

Turning now to a consideration of respondent’s “Renewal of Motion to Quash”, in the light of the mandate of the Supreme Court (People of the State of New York v. O’Neill (Fla.), 112 So. 2d 837) the first contention is that section 942.02, Florida Statutes, violates the constitution of Florida insofar as same attempts to confer upon any court of this state power or authority to issue any witness subpoena, summons, writ or order having [202]*202any effect or validity beyond the territorial limits of the state of Florida. Section 3 of article IV of the constitution of the United States provides for the admission of states into the union of states comprising the United States of America, and it is elementary that each of the fifty states comprising that union is a sovereign state, supreme within its own territorial boundaries. See 54 Am. Jur. “United States” 521-524, §3; 30 Fla. Jur. “State of Florida” 26-32, §2-6, and 8 Fla. Jur. “Courts” 355. A corollary of the proposition that each state is the supreme sovereign within its territorial limits, is the proposition that no state can issue process having any validity, force or effect beyond its own territorial limits. Thus, in Beckwith v. Bailey, 119 Fla. 316, 161 So. 576, the court (text 581) said— “* * * no state can issue process to be made effective beyond its own borders, although such process be sent beyond the borders of the state of the forum and there served.”

Authorities sustaining this proposition could be multipled almost without number, but a few are these — 4 Am. Jur. “Arrest” 14; 72 C.J.S. “Process” 997; Pennoyer v. Neff, 95 U.S. 714, 24 L. Ed. 565, text 568-569; Passett v. Chase, 91 Fla. 522, 107 So. 689; Kirkes v. Askew, 32 Fed. Supp. 802; McLean v. Mississippi (CA-5), 96 F. 2d 741, 119 A.L.R. 670, cert. den. 305 U.S. 623, 59 S. Ct. 84, 83 L. Ed. 399; Mandeville v. Guernsey, 51 Barb. (N.Y.) 99, aff’d. 50 N.Y. 699; and Collier v. Vaccaro (CA-4), 51 F. 2d 17. In American Fire Ins. Co. v. King Lumber Co., 74 Fla. 130, 77 So. 168, aff’d. 250 U.S. 2, 39 S. Ct. 431, 63 L. Ed. 810, the court held — “Neither the Legislature nor the courts of Florida can extend the operation of the laws of the state beyond its borders.”

The boundaries of the state of Florida are fixed by article I, constitution of Florida. There can be no doubt that both the summons provided for in section 942.02(2), Florida Statutes, and the order provided for in sub-section (3) of section 942.02, are both “process”. See: 72 C.J.S. “Process” 981-983; 1038-1039. No court is at liberty to ignore, or set aside these limitations upon the jurisdiction, power and authority of the courts of this state, and the provisions of section 942.02, Florida Statutes, providing for the issuance of a summons or witness subpoena returnable in another state, or entry of an order to authorize the forcible removal of a citizen to a distant state, beyond the borders and territorial limits of this state are, under the constitution of Florida, void and of no effect.

When the above-styled cause was first before this court (In re O’Neill, 9 Fla. Supp. 153) it was pointed out that sub-section 3 [203]*203of section.

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Related

Pennoyer v. Neff
95 U.S. 714 (Supreme Court, 1878)
New York v. O'NEILL
359 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1959)
McLean v. Mississippi Ex Rel. Roy
96 F.2d 741 (Fifth Circuit, 1938)
Collier v. Vaccaro
51 F.2d 17 (Fourth Circuit, 1931)
Application of People of State of New York
100 So. 2d 149 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1958)
Bowden v. Carter
65 So. 2d 871 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1953)
Passett v. Chase
107 So. 689 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1926)
Tau Alpha Holding Corp. v. Board of Adjustments
171 So. 819 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1937)
Pace v. King
38 So. 2d 823 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1949)
State v. Allen
172 So. 222 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1937)
Beckwith v. Bailey
161 So. 576 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1935)
In re New York
112 So. 2d 837 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1959)
In re O'Neill
9 Fla. Supp. 153 (Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, 1956)
American Fire Insurance v. King Lumber & Manufacturing Co.
77 So. 168 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1917)
Massachusetts v. Klaus
145 A.D. 798 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1911)
In re Bradshaw
5 A.D.2d 511 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1958)
In re Allen
49 Pa. D. & C. 631 (Philadelphia County Court of Quarter Sessions, 1940)

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Bluebook (online)
17 Fla. Supp. 199, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-oneill-flacirct11mia-1960.