United States v. Sirianni

140 Misc. 124, 250 N.Y.S. 77, 1931 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1299
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedApril 25, 1931
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 140 Misc. 124 (United States v. Sirianni) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Sirianni, 140 Misc. 124, 250 N.Y.S. 77, 1931 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1299 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1931).

Opinion

Harris, J.

These are all actions on the equity side of this court, brought by the United States of America, as plaintiff, against the various defendants, to restrain the maintenance of places which, by virtue of the acts of the United States, are declared to be public nuisances. The prayer for judgment in each action asks that the defendant therein be restrained from the further commission of nuisance on the property described in the complaint and that the occupation and use of such premises be prevented for a period of one year.

Each of these actions is brought under the National Prohibition Act (U. S. Code, tit. 27, § 34; 41 U. S. Stat. at Large, 314), commonly known as the Volstead Act, which provisions read as follows: “An action to enjoin any nuisance defined in this chapter may be brought in the name of the United States by the Attorney-General of the United States or by any United States attorney or any prosecuting attorney of any State or any subdivision thereof or by the commissioner or his deputies or assistants. Such action shall be brought and tried as an action in equity and may be brought in any court having jurisdiction to hear and determine equity cases. If it is made to appear by affidavits or otherwise, to the satisfaction of the court, or judge in vacation, that such nuisance exists, a temporary writ of injunction shall forthwith issue, restraining the defendant from conducting or permitting the continuance of such nuisance until the conclusion of the trial. If a temporary injunction is prayed for, the court may issue an order restraining the defendant and all other persons from removing or in any way interfering with the liquor or fixtures, or other things used in connection with the violation of this chapter constituting such nuisance. No bond shall be required in instituting such [126]*126proceedings. It shall not be necessary for the court to find the property involved was being unlawfully used as aforesaid at the time of the hearing, but on finding that the material allegations of the petition are true, the court shall order that no liquors shall be manufactured, sold, bartered, or stored in such room, house, building, boat, vehicle, structure, or place, or any part thereof. And upon judgment of the court ordering such nuisance to be abated, the court may order that the room, house, building, structure, boat, vehicle, or place shall not be occupied or used for one year thereafter; but the court may, in its discretion, permit it to be occupied or used if the owner, lessee, tenant or occupant thereof shall give bond with sufficient surety, to be approved by the court making the order, in the penal and liquidated sum of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 payable to the United States, and conditioned that intoxicating liquor will not thereafter be manufactured, sold, bartered, kept or otherwise disposed of therein or thereon, and that he will pay all fines, costs, and damages that may be assessed for any violation of this chapter upon said property.”

Each of the complaints herein alleges facts sufficient to constitute a violation of the provisions forbidding such public nuisance, and in place of trying these actions the parties thereto have stipulated that the allegations of the complaints may be considered as having been proven to the satisfaction of the court, and that the decision of the court may be rendered as if such facts had been proven.

The defendants herein each claim that, despite the truth of the matters alleged in the complaint, this court has no jurisdiction to pronounce judgment in favor of the plaintiff and rest their claims on the contention that the Congress of the United States has no authority to confer jurisdiction on State courts or to obligate such State courts to assume jurisdiction in the enforcement of any statutes enacted by the Congress.

The plaintiff claims (and cites as authority for this viewpoint, United States v. Sumner, 125 Misc. 658) that on the prayer of the United States as a party plaintiff, the State courts are bound to take jurisdiction in cases brought under section 34 of title 27 of the United States Code.

The laws of the United States are binding on the States and all the citizens of such States but this does not necessarily mean that jurisdiction to enforce such laws may be forced on the State courts by the Congress.

The statute in question itself does not, by its language, compel the State courts to take jurisdiction of actions brought under such [127]*127statute. It is permissive in language and should be read as conferring but not compelling jurisdiction so far as State courts are concerned.

Authorities consistent and wide-spread hold: (1) That the State courts may take jurisdiction of actions based on a statute of the Congress, provided that originally such State courts have jurisdiction sufficient to take cognizance of the type of action provided for in such statute; (2) that the State, by provisions in its Constitution or by appropriate legislation, may limit the jurisdiction of the courts so that the courts shall not take cognizance of actions brought under a Federal statute. (Second Employers’ Liability Cases, - U. S. -; Robertson v. Baldwin, 165 id. 275; Prigg v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 16 Peters, 539, 622; Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee, 1 Wheat. 304, 330; Murnan v. Wabash Railway Co., 246 N. Y. 244; U. S. v. Lathrop, 17 Johns. 4; Ex Parte Gounis, 304 Mo. 428; 263 S. W. 988; Ely v. Peck, 7 Conn. 239, 242; Rushworth v. The Judges, 58 N. J. Law, 97; 1 Kent Comm, part 2, 399, 402, 403.)

But if the courts of the State have jurisdiction in a certain type of action, then the State courts should be open to all litigants seeking relief in actions of a nature similar to that type. This rule is with the limitation that the taking of jurisdiction by the courts should primarily be compatible with the obligations owed to the State and its citizens and their rights to have their litigations disposed of according to law. (Murnan v. Wabash Railway Co., supra; 1 Kent Comm, part 2, 401.)

The equity branch of our courts has, long before the enactment of the National Prohibition or Volstead Act, taken cognizance of the abatement of nuisances, and so this court has jurisdiction to restrain the commission of a public nuisance.

The violation of the National Prohibition Act is a public nuisance. (U. S. v. Sumner, supra.)

So this court may take jurisdiction of an action brought to restrain violations of the National Prohibition Act. In view of this and in view of the fact that no one is denied entrance to our courts to restrain the commission of a nuisance, there is no reason why our courts should deny to the United States of America, the right to bring such actions. It may be that in the transaction of other business, the district attorney or the courts may be so occupied that the orderly and ordinary administration of justice in the courts would be seriously handicapped by our courts taking cognizance of the types of suits similar to these at bar and, if so, I am of the opinion that such district attorneys may refuse to prosecute such actions and the courts so burdened have the right [128]*128to refuse to take jurisdiction of such actions.

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Bluebook (online)
140 Misc. 124, 250 N.Y.S. 77, 1931 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1299, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-sirianni-nysupct-1931.