State v. Dolan

92 P. 995, 13 Idaho 693, 1907 Ida. LEXIS 87
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 10, 1907
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 92 P. 995 (State v. Dolan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Dolan, 92 P. 995, 13 Idaho 693, 1907 Ida. LEXIS 87 (Idaho 1907).

Opinion

STEWART, J.

The defendant was convicted in the district court of Ada county for violating the provisions of section 2 of an act approved March 12, 1907 (Laws 1907, p. 223). The facts before the district court were stipulated by the parties to the effect, first, that on the twelfth day of May, 1907 (being Sunday, the first day of the week), at Boise City, Ada county, state of Idaho, the defendant was engaged in the business of selling in a store building, rented by said defendant, goods, wares and merchandise, to wit: ice, bread, butter, cheese, crackers, candies, oysters, fish, oranges, lemons, pickles, berries, cherries, apples, cider, lunch goods, eggs, spices, condiments, canned meats, jams, jellies, coffee in packages, tea in packages, and vegetables; that he kept his store open on said twelfth day of May, 1907, for the purpose of conducting and carrying on said business and selling any and all of the aforesaid goods and articles, and on said day did sell to certain citizens of Boise, bread, ice, fruit, candies, butter, fish and oysters; second, that the defendant on each and every day of the week sells and delivers from said store, ice to a large number of customers, and receives by express oysters and fish of different kinds from points on the Pacific Coast, every evening of the week, which, like fruits, berries and butter, are of a perishable nature and go to waste during the summer months if kept in stock longer than twenty hours; third, that all of such goods, except candies, are used as necessaries of life by mankind; fourth, that part of the defendant’s business is to sell and supply on Sunday to hotels [699]*699and places where food and meals are furnished and sold, all of the aforementioned articles except candy, and that a number of customers of said defendant furnish meals to the general public and necessarily use the aforesaid mentioned goods, and that it is impossible for them with safety and profit to determine the amount of such goods which they may need on Sunday.

The defendant appeals to this court from the judgment of conviction.

The defendant assigns as error the decision of the trial court, holding the complaint stated facts sufficient to constitute a public offense, for the reason that the act approved March 12, 1907 (Laws 1907, p. 223), is unconstitutional. • The contention of defendant is, that said act does not comply with the provisions of section 16 of article 3 of the constitution of Idaho, in that the same and the title thereto embrace more than one subject and matters properly connected therewith; that the title is deceptive and misleading; that section 2 violates article 14 of the amendment .to the constitution of the United States, in that it deprives the defendant of property without due process of law; in that it denies the defendant the equal protection of the law, and abridges the privileges and immunities of citizens and of the defendant; and violates section 1 of article 1 of the constitution of the state of Idaho, in that it deprives the defendant of the right of acquiring, possessing and protecting his property, and the equal protection of the law; and violates article 3, section 19, in that the legislature shall not pass local or special laws in any of the following enumerated cases; that is to say, for the punishment of crimes and misdemeanors, and is in contravention of the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of Idaho, in that the same is class legislation; that said section discriminates between citizens engaged in the sale of goods, wares and merchandise and in lawful business, and those engaged in other classes of lawful business, sale of goods, wares and merchandise, which are not of necessity or charity; that said section is void and unreasonable, in that it permits citizens to keep open any store, shop or place of [700]*700business for the purpose of sale and delivery of daily newspapers, magazines, nonintoxieating refreshments, candies and cigars, and the performance of certain kinds of labor and the conduct of certain kinds of business which are not of necessity or charity, and denies the right to sell the necessaries of life; that said section is invalid, void and unreasonable, in that it does not apply to nor operate alike upon every person or persons of the same class engaged in lawful business, under like circumstances and conditions.

As to the title of the act: This act may be found on page 223 of the Laws of 1907. The title reads as follows: “An act to set apart Sunday as a day of public rest; to provide for the closing of saloons and other places of business on Sunday; to prohibit the selling, giving away or disposing of any spirituous, vinous, malt or intoxicating liquors on Sunday ; to provide for the closing of places of public amusement and prohibiting horseracing on Sunday; and to provide for the punishment of those guilty of violating the provisions of this act, and providing for the disposal of all fines collected under the terms of this act.”

This court has had occasion to construe this provision of the constitution, and has determined its demands. In the case of State v. Doherty, 3 Idaho, 384, 29 Pac. 855, this court quotes with approval from Judge Cooley’s work on Constitutional Limitations (6th ed., pp. 171, 172) as to the requirements of this constitutional provision, as follows: “It may therefore be assumed as settled that the purpose of these provisions was, first, to prevent hodgepodge or ‘log-rolling’ legislation; second, to prevent surprise or fraud upon the legislature by means of provisions in bills of which the title gave no intimation and which might therefore be overlooked and carelessly and unintentionally adopted; and third, to fairly apprise the people through such publications of legislative proceedings as is usually made of tlie subjects of legislation that are being considered in order that they may have the opportunity of being heard thereon by a petition or otherwise, if they shall so desire.” And further, that “The purpose of these provisions is accomplished when a law has but one general object [701]*701which is fairly indicated by the title. To require every end and means necessary and convenient for the accomplishment of this general object to be provided for by a separate act relating to that alone, would not only be unreasonable, but would actually render legislation impossible.”

This text from Judge Cooley is recognized by all the leading cases as a correct statement of the purpose and object of this provision of the constitution. “If all parts of the act have a natural connection and reasonably relate, directly or indirectly, to one general, legitimate subject of legislation, the act is not open to the objection of plurality of subjects.” (26 Ency. of Law, 2d ed., 575.) This court in State v. Doherty, supra, said: “It is sufficient if the act treats of but one general subject and that subject expressed in the title. To hold that each subdivision of the subject and each and every of the ends and means necessary for the accomplishment of the object of the act must be specifically mentioned in the title, would greatly embarrass legislation and accomplish no legitimate purpose.”

In the case of Pioneer Irr. Dist. v. Bradley, 8 Idaho, 310, 101 Am. St. Rep. 201, 68 Pac. 295, this court treated this question very exhaustively, and the authorities dealing with this specific question were reviewed in extenso,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
92 P. 995, 13 Idaho 693, 1907 Ida. LEXIS 87, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dolan-idaho-1907.