Marasso v. Van Pelt

81 So. 529, 77 Fla. 432
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedApril 19, 1919
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 81 So. 529 (Marasso v. Van Pelt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marasso v. Van Pelt, 81 So. 529, 77 Fla. 432 (Fla. 1919).

Opinions

Whitfield, J.

— The plaintiff in error was taken into custody by the sheriff on a warrant issued under an informa,ti on which in effect charges in one count that on [433]*433January 14, 1919, he and two others unlawfully held in their possession more than four quarts of alcoholic liquors each, to-wit, thirty-six gallons, and in a second count tli at on the same day they unlawfully held in their possession more than four quarts of alcoholic beverages each, to-wit, twenty-three gallons of wine. The information is predicated upon a portion of Chapter 7736 Acts of Special Session of 1918.

Marasso sought a discharge from custody in habeas corpus proceedings upon the ground that the statute upon which the information is predicated violates Section 1 of the Declaration of Rights and Article XIX of the Statf Constitution as amended.

The Circuit Judge remanded the petitioner and allowed him a writ of error to this court, which was taken under the statute, Section 2257, General Statutes, 1906, Florida Compiled Laws, 1914.

The constitution contains the following provisions.

“All men are equal before the law, and have certain inajenable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing happiness and' obtaining safety.’’

“Section 1. The manufacture, sale, barter or exchange of all alcoholic or intoxicating liquors and beverages, whether spiritual, vinous or malt, are hereby forever prohibited in the State of Florida, except alcohol for medical, scientific or mechanical purposes, and wine for sacramental purposes; the sale of which alcohol and wine for the purposes aforesaid', shall be regulated by law.

[434]*434“Sec. 2. The Legislature shall enact suitable laws for the enforcement of the provisions of this article.

“Sec. 3. This article shall go into effect on the first day of January, A. D¡., 1919.” Article XIX State Constitution as amended at the election held November 5, 1918. See pages 323 and 324 Volume 1, Laws of 1917. This article qualifies the provisions of Section 1 of the Dclaration of Rights in so far as the provisions of the two may conflict.

Chapter 7736, Laws of Florida, approved December 7, 1918, to become effective January 1,1919, makes 'it unlawful “for any person * * to have in his * * possession, custody or control in this State any alcoholic or intoxicating liquors or beverages, except (that) nothing contained in this Act should be construed to make it unlawful for any person over the age of twenty-one years to possess, have in custody or control, in such person’s bona fide residence, for the personal use of himself or herself, and family, and not to be disposed of to any other person in any way, not exceeding four quarts of distilled alcoholic or intoxicating liquors or beverages and twenty quarts of malt or fermented alcoholic or intoxicating liquors or beverages, either or both.” Punishments are prescribed' for violations of the statute.

It is in effect contended that the quoted provision of the statute violates Article XIX as amended, in that the provision of the article prohibiting the manufacture, sale, barter or exchange of alcoholic or intoxicating liquors and beverages, with stated exceptions, by implication wtihholds from the legislature the power to regulate the possession of such liquors and beverages under the rule of expression unius est exclusio alterms; and that the stat[435]*435ote violates the organic right to acquire, possess and protect property secured by Section 1 of the Declaration of Rights.

The principle of the rule contained in the maxim expression uwhis est exelusio alterius can properly be applied only to effectuate the intent of the law-making power. It should never be applied' to defeat the manifest purpose and intent of a provision of law. Article XIX as amended is an exercise of the police power of the State by the people themselves, prohibiting “the manufacture, sale, barter or exchange of all alcoholic or intoxicating liquors and beverages, whether spirituous, vinous or malt, * * * except alcohol for medical, scientific or mechanical pveposes, and wine for sacramental purposes;” and it commands the legislative duties to regulate by law such limited sales of alcohol and wine as are permitted and to “enact suitable laws for the enforcement of the provisions of this article.” As it expressly commands the enactment of suitable laws to enforce its provisions, obviously the article has not “exhausted' the police powers of the State ” in the premises. An express command to exercise one power does not by impliicafr'on abrogate other police powers, particularly when the exercise of the other pc-wers accords with the one commanded. See State v. Kane, 15 R. I. 395, 6 Atl. Rep. 783.

Organic limitations upon the authority of the legislatrre to exercise the police power of the State, in the enactment of statutory regulations of property rights in the interest of the general welfare, should not be implied by invoking the rule of construction easpressio unkis est ea-clusio alterius or otherwise, unless it is necessary to do so in order to effectuate some express provision of the constitution. An implied limitation upon the legisla[436]*436live power to regulate the possession of intoxicating liquors would tend to defeat rather than to effectuate, the express provisions of Article XIX. The command for the enactment of suitable laws to enforce the Article excludes implied limitations upon the legislative power in the piemises.

Article XIX ordains stated prohibitions and permits stated sales with express commands for legislative action to enforce the Article. The statute prescribes no prohibitions, but enacts regulations suitable to enforce the organic prohibitions as expressly commanded by the Article itself. Therefore, the rule, expressio unius est exolusio alterius is not applicable, and the courts should not by construction imply a limitation upon the legislative power of regulation where manifestly none was intended. See State v. Weiss, 84 Kan. 165, 113 Pac. Rep. 388, 36 L. R. A. (N. S.) 73; State v. Durien, 70 Kan. 13, 80 Pac. Rep. 987, 15 L. R. A. (N. S.) 925. A contrary decision in State v. Gilman, 33 W. Va. 146, 10 S. E. Rep. 283, has been qualified and explained in State v. Sixo, 77 W. Va. 243, 87 S. E. Rep. 267. See also State v. Tincher, 81 W. Va. 441, 94 S. E. Rep. 503; Pine v. Com. — Va. —, 93 S. E. Rep. 652.

The sovereign police power of the State extends to all matters that affect the individual and collective welfare of the people; and being universal, it is potentially applicable to all the environments and' activities of human life in the family home as well as in the business and public places. The manner and extent of the exertion of the soveieign power of the State are determined and regulated by constitutional provisions and by legislative enactments not in conflict with organic law. The exercise of the police power necessarily curtails the free use and enjoyment [437]*437of personal and property rights; hut this is essential in regulations to conserve and promote the general welfare; and reasonable and appropriate exertions of the police power do not violate personal or property rights secured by the constitution, such rights being subject to the fair exercise of the police power of the State. This principle is consistent with Section 1, Declaration of Rights above quoted.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bush v. Holmes
919 So. 2d 392 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2006)
Mumme v. Marrs
40 S.W.2d 31 (Texas Supreme Court, 1931)
State v. Moore
212 P. 349 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1922)
Johnson v. State
89 So. 114 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1921)
Hall v. Moran
89 So. 104 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1921)
Licata v. State
86 So. 427 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1920)
In re Seizure of 7 Barrels of Wine
83 So. 627 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1920)
Neisel v. Moran
85 So. 346 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1919)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
81 So. 529, 77 Fla. 432, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marasso-v-van-pelt-fla-1919.