State Ex Rel. Zugravu v. O'Brien

196 N.E. 664, 130 Ohio St. 23, 130 Ohio St. (N.S.) 23, 3 Ohio Op. 74, 1935 Ohio LEXIS 278
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedJune 19, 1935
Docket25198
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 196 N.E. 664 (State Ex Rel. Zugravu v. O'Brien) 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
State Ex Rel. Zugravu v. O'Brien, 196 N.E. 664, 130 Ohio St. 23, 130 Ohio St. (N.S.) 23, 3 Ohio Op. 74, 1935 Ohio LEXIS 278 (Ohio 1935).

Opinion

Williams, J.

It is the contention of relator that the provisions of the Liquor Control Act, Section 6064-1 et seq., General Code, in so far as they relate to the revocation of permits are unconstitutional and contravene Article I, Section 16 of the Ohio Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment of the federal Constitution, in two respects: First, that the right to sell intpxicating liquors in Ohio is a franchise and therefore a property right and that relator is deprived of that right without due process of law by the revocation of the permits; and, second, that no recourse to the courts by appeal or error is provided and lack of provision for a review amounts to a denial of due process of law.

A license is a permission granted by some competent authority to do some act which, without such permission, would be illegal. State v. Hipp, 38 Ohio St., 199. The Liquor Control Act provides for the granting of permits, but an examination of the statutes in various states and of reported cases construing such statutory enactments reveals that the terms “license” and “permit” are in general used interchangeably.

The right of property is always subject to the valid *26 exercise of the police power. It subsists in the state As an attribute of sovereignty without any constitutional provision conferring it; in fact, it is essential to the existence of government and is asserted to protect the well-being of society and maintain the security of the social order. It is invoked by the courts to sustain legislative enactments which are passed to provide for the public health, morals, safety or welfare and which do not contravene any constitutional provision. The objective of the exercise of the police power is the promotion of the public good.

Prior to the constitutional prohibition of the liquor traffic the Legislature of this state had power to limit and restrict by regulation the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor, in the exercise of the police power. Bloomfield v. State, 86 Ohio St., 253, 99 N. E., 309, 41 L. R. A. (N. S.), 726, Ann. Cas., 1913D, 629.

Since the repeal of constitutional prohibition in the state and nation the same legislative power exists and by its exercise the Liquor Control Act was passed. Under its statutory provisions, natural and artificial persons may engage in the liquor traffic only to the extent to which they are permitted to do so.

Section 6064-20, General Code, which is a part of the act referred to, contains the following: “Each class and kind of permit issued under authority of this act shall authorize the person therein named to carry on the business therein specified at the place or in the boat, vessel or classes of dining car equipment therein described, for a period of one year commencing on the day after the date of its issuance, and no longer, subject to suspension, revocation or cancellation as authorized or required by this act * #

The permits of relator were by the terms of the statute issued expressly subject to termination in the way provided. She had therefore mere' revocable licenses and no more. Such a permit is not a property right in the .constitutional sense and, if it may be con *27 sidered in the nature of property at all, it is limited in its scope by the same legislative act which gives it existence, and the reservation of the power of termination enters into and becomes a part of the grant of permission to carry on the specified business. It fol- . lows that if the permit is terminated in a lawful manner under the provisions of the act creating it, the licensee cannot complain as his license to operate was issued to him subject to that contingency. The holdings are uniformly to the effect that such a license does not create a property right within the constitutional meaning of that term, nor even a contract, and that it constitutes a mere permission to engage in the liquor business, which may be revoked in the prescribed legislative manner. La Croix v. County Commissioners, 49 Conn., 591, 50 Conn., 321; Sprayberry v. City of Atlanta, 87 Ga., 120, 13 S. E., 197; Martin v. State, 23 Neb., 371, 36 N. W., 554; Metropolitan Board of Excise v. Barrie, 34 N. Y., 657; Gubin v. City of New York, 150 Misc., 182, 269 N. Y. S., 46; People, ex rel. Reuther, v. Sisson, 101 Misc., 429, 167 N. Y. S., 134. Practically the same rule has been applied to fishing licenses: State v. Pulsifer, 129 Me., 563, 152 A., 711; State v. Cote, 122 Me., 450, 120 A., 538; to boxing licenses: State, ex rel. Orleans Athletic Club, v. Louisiana State Boxing Commission, 163 La., 418, 112 So., 31; to soft drink licenses: Appeal of Bornstein, 126 Me., 532, 140 A., 194; to milk licenses: People, ex rel. Lodes, v. Dept. of Health, 189 N. Y., 187, 82 N. E., 187; to hack or carrier licenses: Sylvania Busses, Inc., v. City of Toledo, 118 Ohio St., 187, 160 N. E., 674; Burges v. Mayor and Aldermen of Brockton, 235 Mass., 95, 126 N. E., 456; Child v. Bemus, 17 R. I., 230, 21 A., 539; to pool table licenses: Commonwealth v. Kinsley, 133 Mass., 578; and to teachers licenses: Stone, Supt., v. Fritts, 169 Ind., 361, 82 N. E., 792, 15 L. R. A. (N. S.), 1147. As appears in these cases, the rule in many states is that such revocation *28 may take place without notice or hearing, unless, of course, the statute provides otherwise.

In the case of Jewell v. McCann, 95 Ohio St., 191, 116 N. E., 42, it was held that a law which provided for the revocation of a physician’s certificate but made no provision for requiring the attendance of witnesses nor for other procedure to protect and safeguard the rights of such a certificate holder, was invalid in that it denied due process of law. -The Liquor Control Act (Section 6064-3, General Code) provides for compulsory attendance of witnesses and accords full procedural safeguards and protection in any hearing or investigation. Thus the requirements specified in Jewell v. McCann, supra, have been met; and certainly a liquor license stands on no higher basis than a certificate of admission to the practice of a profession.

The fact that the permittee paid the required fees does not alter the position in which she finds herself, and the nature of the licenses was not changed by such payment. The claim that the money paid is property, if well founded, can only bear on the right to have a portion of the fee refunded after revocation and with that question we are not concerned in this case.

It is further contended that the revocation of a permit by the Department of Liquor Control involved the exercise of judicial power, and that as the statutes provide no recourse to the courts the relator has been denied due process of law.

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

Related

State ex rel. CannAscend Ohio, L.L.C. v. Williams
2020 Ohio 359 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)
WCI, Inc. v. Ohio Liquor Control Commission
116 Ohio St. 3d 547 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2008)
BPNC, Inc. v. Taft
147 F. App'x 525 (Sixth Circuit, 2005)
Sansea, Inc. v. Mahoning County Board of Elections
680 N.E.2d 1264 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1996)
State v. Penrod
611 N.E.2d 996 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1992)
Brookpark Entertainment, Inc. v. Taft
951 F.2d 710 (Sixth Circuit, 1991)
Brookpark Entertainment, Inc. v. Brown
750 F. Supp. 856 (S.D. Ohio, 1990)
In Re Terwilliger's Catering Plus, Inc., Debtor
911 F.2d 1168 (Sixth Circuit, 1990)
Rickard v. Ohio Department of Liquor Control
491 N.E.2d 388 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1985)
In Re American Saloons, Inc.
39 B.R. 941 (N.D. Ohio, 1984)
Scioto Trails Co. v. Ohio Department of Liquor Control
462 N.E.2d 1386 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1983)
City of Cleveland Heights v. Lindsay
417 N.E.2d 1019 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1979)
Joseph Bros. v. Brown
415 N.E.2d 987 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1979)
Lee v. North Dakota Park Service
262 N.W.2d 467 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1977)
Salem v. Liquor Control Commission
298 N.E.2d 138 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1973)
A. B. Jac, Inc. v. Liquor Control Commission
285 N.E.2d 763 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1972)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
196 N.E. 664, 130 Ohio St. 23, 130 Ohio St. (N.S.) 23, 3 Ohio Op. 74, 1935 Ohio LEXIS 278, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-zugravu-v-obrien-ohio-1935.