People v. Burleigh

1 N.Y. Crim. 522
New York Supreme Court·Decided January 15, 1883·Published

Opinion

Bockes, J.

The arrest conviction and sentenco of the defendant in this case were in all respects strictly in accordance with section 17 of chapter 628 of the Laws of 1857, as amended by section 2 of chapter 856 of the Laws of 1869, except as to the alleged error of the magistrate in' refusing the demand for a jury trial before that officer.

Intoxication in a public place is, by the act referred to, declared an offense punishable by law, and provision is made for the arrest, trial, conviction and sentence of such offender. The mode of procedure is declared with particularity. The offender may be arrested without warrant, and the trial is made summary by and before the magistrate on whom jurisdiction is conferred. That officer is required, under penalty for refusal, forthwith to try the person charged with the offense, with no right of bail ' for his appearance at the Oyer and Terminer or Sessions, and sentence at once follows conviction. Thus it is seen that the entire proceeding for the punishment of the offense, is made [524]*524special and exceptional. The disgusting character of the act, and its immoral tendency, make it a very proper subject for summary disposition and speedy punishment without the usual formalities provided by law in dealing with ordinary but less repulsive matters of public offense. But it is insisted that the provisions of this law are superseded and repealed by the Oode of Criminal Procedure; that proceedings for the punishment of the offense of public intoxication must now be taken under and pursuant of the Code, and we are cited to subdivision 12 of section 56 and to sections 58 and 211 (amended by Laws of 1882, chap. 360) in support of this claim. On referring to these sections it will be seen that courts of special sessions are authorized with some exceptions, unnecessary here to notice, to hear and determine charges for “offenses against the laws relating to excise and the regulation of taverns, inns and hotels” (sub. 12, sec. 56); and that in the cases so designated, the person charged has the right to give bail for his appearance at the next succeeding court having authority to inquire, by the intervention of a grand jury, into the offense (sec. 58, 211). The inquiry now arises, do these or any other provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, supersede or repeal the act of 1857, as amended by the act of 1869, in so far as they relate to the offense of public intoxication? We are of the opinion that this question must be answered in the negative. We are not cited to any express provision of law declaring such repeal; nor have we been able to find any such repealing statute. If the provisions referred to be superseded or repealed, it must be by implication only. But a repeal by implication is not favored by the courts,

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People v. Burleigh, 1 N.Y. Crim. 522 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1883).

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