State ex rel. Lucero v. Marron

128 P. 485, 17 N.M. 304
CourtNew Mexico Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 24, 1912
DocketNo. 1511
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 128 P. 485 (State ex rel. Lucero v. Marron) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Lucero v. Marron, 128 P. 485, 17 N.M. 304 (N.M. 1912).

Opinion

OPINION OP THE COURT.

ROBERTS, C. J.

Section 22 of Chapter 83 of the acts of the First Legislative Assembly makes appropriations for the payment of deficiencies in the revenue of the 61st, 62nd and 63rd fiscal years of the Territory of New Mexico, the major portion of such deficiencies being due to the change from a territorial to a state government and as no question is raised as to the inclusion of any of these items in the -general appropriation bill, it will not be necessary to incorporate the section in', this opinion.

Section 23, of'the same act, appropriates the sum of $50,000 for the purpose of paying for the construction oí Lea ITall, an academic school building situated on the grounds of the New Mexico Military Institute, which was a building used and occupied as apart of the New Mexico Military Institute at Roswell and which was destroyed by fire. Further provision is made for the expenditure of this money by the Board of Regents. The sum of $30,000 is appropriated to be expended under the direction of the Regents of the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic, Arts, near Las Cruces, for the purpose of constructing a fire proof building in place of the old administration building recently destroyed by fire, and for a heating plant for the same. The sum of $25,000 is likewise appropriated for the Institute for the Blind at Alamogordo, for the purpose of constructing a dormitory and providing it with a heating plant and furniture.

Section 24 of the act provides for the issuance of certificates of indebtedness, for the purpose of providing funds for the payment of the appropriations made by sections 22 and 23. The rate of interest, form,of the certificates, etc., are provided for by the section.

The certificates were provided for by the legislature under authority conferred by section 7 of article IX of the constitution which reads as follows:

“Sec. 7. The State may borrow money not exceeding •the sum of two hundred thousand dollars in the aggregate to meet casual deficits or failure in revenue, or for neces>essary expenses. The State may also contract debts to suppress insurrections and to provide for the public defense.”- ■ .

The amount authorized does not exceed the constitutional limitation.

The first objection set .up in the answer of respondent is that the authority .for the issuance of the certificates is invalid because the Constitution provides that, general •appropriation bills shall embrace nothing but appropriations for the expense of the executive, legislative and judiciary departments, interest, sinking fund, payment on the public debt, public schools, and other expenses required by existing laws; the section of the Constitution in question, is section 16 of article IV, which reads as follows

“Sec. 16. The subject of every bill shall be clearly expressed in its title, and no bill embracing more than one subject shall be passed except general appropriation bills •and bills for the codification or revision of the laws; but if any subject is embraced in any act which is not expressed in its title, only so much of the act as is not so expressed shall be void. General appropriation bills shall ■embrace nothing but appropriations for the expense of the executive, legislative and judiciary departments, interest, sinking fund, payments on the public debt, public schools, and other expenses required by existing laws; but if any such bill contain any other matter, only so much thereof as is hereby forbidden to be placed therein shall be void. All other appropriations shall be made by separate bills.

1 Before proceeding to discuss the question of the constitutionality of the section of the general appropriation bill, in question, it is perhaps proper to inquire as to the cii■cumstances under which an act of the legislature, a coordinate branch of the State government, will be pronounced invalid by the judiciary, because of supposed conflict between the provisions of the act and the organic law ■of the state. The law making power is independent of the judiciary, and when its acts are within the limits of the authority given it by the people, by their will expressed through their constitution, it is supreme. The legislature lias the power to determine in what manner its acts shall be drawn, so long as it keeps within the limits fixed by the Constitution, and if it remains within those limits, it is the duty of the courts to give efficacy to its acts, whatever the views of the members of the court may be as to the wisdom of such legislative action. The legislative branch of the government, being a co-ordinate branch' of the government, it is the duty of the courts, in a doubtful case, to resolve the doubt in favor of the validity of the legislative enactment. The members of the legislature and the governor are presumed to be familiar with the limitations and restrictions imposed upon the legislative department by the organic law, and it is not to be assumed that inhibitions upon their power will be disregarded. Chief Justice Marshal, in the case of Fletcher v. Peck, 6 Cranch 87, in discussing the duty of courts, in approaching the consideration of the question as to the constitutionality of an act of the legislative department, says:

“The question whether a law be void for its repugnancy to the Constitution is at all times a question of much delicacy, which ought, seldom, if ever, be decided in the affirmative in a doubtful case. The court, when impelled by duty to render such a judgment, would be unworthy of its station could it be unmindful of the solemn obligation which that station imposes; but it is not on slight implication and vague conjecture that the legislature' is to be pronounced to have transcended its power and its acts to be considered void. The opposition between the constitution and the law should be such that the judge feels a clear and strong conviction of their incompatibility with each other.”

And Mr. Justice Washington, in the case of Ogden v. Sanders, 12 Wheat. 213, gives the reason for the rule, in the following clear and concise language: “But if I could rest my opinion in favor of the constitutionality of the law on which the question arises, on no other ground than this doubt so felt and acknowledged, that alone would, in my estimation be a satisfactory vindication of it. It is but a decent respect due to the wisdom, the integrity, and the patriotism of the legislative body by which.-any law is passed, to presume in favor of its validity, until its violation of the constitution is proved beyond all reasonable doubt.” And Judge Cooley, in his work on Constitutional Limitations (7th ed.) p. 254, after discussing the views of these eminent jurists, says: “The constitutionality of a law, then, is to be presumed, because the legislature which was first required to pass upon the question, acting, as they must be deemed to have acted, with integrity, and with a just desire to keep within the restrictions laid by the constitution upon their action, have adjudged that it is so.” Countless other similar expressions of the rule by courts could be quoted, but it is useless to multiply authorities in support of a rule so well settled and so consistently adhered to by the courts. It is disregard of this rule and an apparent presumption against the validity of an act of the legislature, in doubtful eases, which brings upon the courts, at times, adverse criticism.

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Bluebook (online)
128 P. 485, 17 N.M. 304, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-lucero-v-marron-nm-1912.