Mahoning Valley Railway Co. v. Santoro

93 Ohio St. (N.S.) 53
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 16, 1915
DocketNo. 14804
StatusPublished

This text of 93 Ohio St. (N.S.) 53 (Mahoning Valley Railway Co. v. Santoro) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mahoning Valley Railway Co. v. Santoro, 93 Ohio St. (N.S.) 53 (Ohio 1915).

Opinions

Wanamaker, J.

The questions involved in this case pivot on Section 11577, General Code, which reads as follows:

“The same court shall not grant more than one new trial on the weight of the evidence against the same party in the same case, nor shall the same court grant more than one judgment of reversal on the weight of the evidence against the same party in the same case.”

The first contention made by plaintiff in error is that this statute is repealed by force of the new constitution, especially judicial Article IV, Section 6.

To be in clear conflict with any provision of the constitution that clear conflict must be between the statute and some specific provision of the constitution. It is not enough that there be a conflict between said statute and the general spirit of the constitution. Clearly the only language of the judicial article that in anywise affects or relates to matter akin to the statute in question, is the following from Section 6, Article IV:

“The courts of appeals shall have original jurisdiction in quo warranto, mandamus, habeas corpus, prohibition and procedendo, and appellate jurisdiction in the trial of chancery cases, and, to review, affirm, modify, or reverse the judgments of the courts of common pleas, superior courts and other courts of record within the district as may be pro[56]*56vided by law, and judgments of the courts of appeals shall be final in all cases, except * * * No judgment of a court of common pleas, a superior court or other court of record shall be reversed except by the concurrence of all the judges of the court of appeals on the weight of the evidence, and by a majority of such court of appeals upon other questions.”

We can be much aided in determining this question if we will clearly keep in mind the distinction between .jurisdiction and practice or procedure.

“Jurisdiction has been defined as: The power to hear and determine a cause; * * * the authority by which judicial officers take cognizance of and decide them; * * * the power of a court or a judge to entertain an action, petition, or other proceeding; * * * a power constitutionally conferred upon a judge or magistrate to take cognizance of and determine causes according to law, and to carry his sentence into execution.” 11 Cyc., 659 et seq.

While practice or procedure is: “The mode of proceeding by which a legal right is enforced; that which regulates the formal steps in an action or other judicial proceeding; the course of procedure in courts; the form, manner, and order in which proceedings have been and are accustomed to be had; the form, manner, and order of conducting and carrying on suits or prosecutions in the courts through their various stages, according to the principles of law, and the rules laid down by the respective courts.” 31 Cyc., 1153.

[57]*57From the above it is obvious that jurisdiction relates to the forum, the court or judge that may hear and determine a legal cause or controversy, while practice or procedure relates to the form or manner of conducting the suit.

This court has held in the case of The Cincinnati Polyclinic v. Balch, 92 Ohio St., 415, that the jurisdiction of the court of appeals is conferred by the constitution, but it has not held that the practice or procedure under such jurisdiction is conferred and prescribed by the constitution, except in certain specific cases where the constitution has expressly and specifically so provided. Under the old constitution the jurisdiction of the appellate court rested in the discretion of the general assembly; also the practice and procedure under such jurisdiction rested in the discretion of the general assembly. The new constitution changed the former by removing it generally from the general assembly to the constitution. It did not, however, change the latter, to-wit, the practice and procedure, except in certain specific cases.

For more than seven years Section 11577, General Code, had been a part of the practice and procedure of our Ohio courts, and there is nothing whatsoever in the new constitution that undertakes to withdraw generally from the general assembly the power and right to legislate upon matters that are peculiarly and exclusively questions of practice and procedure.

Indeed, to do so would require almost a volume of the constitution to take the place of the statutes that deal wholly with matters of this nature.

[58]*58There are exceptions to this general rule, one of which appears in the language of the constitution last quoted, which was evidently intended to modify the rule of practice occurring in old Section 1515, General Code, which read:

“A majority of the judges of the circuit court, competent to sit, shall be necessary to form a quorum, or to make or render any order, judgment, or decree,” etc.

The last sentence of the judicial article above quoted is clearly in conflict with said Section 1515, General Code, and repeals that section so far as it relates to a judgment or decree on the weight of the evidence. But Section 11577, General Code, the statute in question, does not undertake to fix the number of judges for a quorum to enter any judgment by any court. Its sole and éxclusive purpose is to limit the number of reversals on the weight of the evidence by the same reviewing court.

But it is urged that the language “to review, affirm, modify, or reverse the judgments of the courts of common pleas, superior courts and other courts of record,” etc., is ad infinitum, without limit or restriction, and that, therefore, the legislature is powerless to limit the number of reviews, reversals and modifications.

Now, it would hardly be claimed that Section 11576, General Code, providing the grounds upon which a new trial may be granted, relates to a matter of jurisdiction. Upon the contrary, it clearly relates to a matter of practice and procedure, and one of the grounds therein specified for the granting of a new trial is “that the verdict, report, or [59]*59decision is not sustained by sufficient evidence, or is contrary to law,” which in effect is a verdict against the weight of the evidence, as it is sometimes paraphrased.

Now, the general schedule of the constitution, adopted by the people at the same time as the various amendments, contains this language:

“The several amendments passed and submitted by this convention when adopted at the election shall take effect on the first day of January, 1913, except as otherwise specifically provided by the schedule attached to any of said amendments. All laws then in force, not inconsistent therewith shall continue in force until amended or repealed.”

This schedule bears a striking resemblance to the schedule attached to our former constitution, adopted in 1851.

At an early date that provision was before the supreme court of Ohio for interpretation on the question as to whether or not certain statutes were or were not repealed by the new constitution.

In Ohio, ex rel. Evans, v. Dudley, 1 Ohio St., 437, Judge Ranney, speaking for the court, used this language:

“In short, their position is, that the law erecting the county is inconsistent with the present constitution, and was repealed by it when it took effect.

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Bluebook (online)
93 Ohio St. (N.S.) 53, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mahoning-valley-railway-co-v-santoro-ohio-1915.