Brown v. StateBrown v. State
- Reporters:
- , , ,
- Before:
- Owen
(after stating the facts as above). In the brief filed in this eаse counsel for plaintiff in error urges three reasons for the reversal of this case:
First, that the sixth amеndment to the Constitution of the Hnited States, guaranteеing trial by jury, is in force in this state, and that a jury composed of 13 men is guaranteed by this provision of the Constitution.
Second, that section 19, art. 3, of the Constitution, providing for a jury of six in the county court, is in conflict with the sixth amendment to the Constitution of the Hnited States.
Third, that the act оf the Legislature of the state of Oklahoma, enаcting the jury law which has been applied in this case, is not in its subject-matter effective to the peаce, health, or safety of the public, and cаnnot be of force until 90 days after the adjournment of the Legislature enacting it.
The questions raised under thе first and second reasons urged *477 by counsel have bеen settled by the uniform decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States in cases too numerous to quote here. In the ease of Spies v. Illinois, 123 U. S. 131, 8 Sup. Ct. 22, 31 L. Ed. 80, the court, in passing on this question, said:
“That the first ten articlеs of amendment were not intended to limit the powers of the state government in respect to their оwn people, but to operate on the national government only, was decided more than a half century ago, and that decision has been stеadily adhered to since” — citing the numerous decisions of that court on this question.
The question raised under the third proposition urged by counsel was settled by the Suрreme Court of this state in the case of Oklahoma City v. Shields, 22 Okla. 265, 100 Pac. 559. Justice Williаms, in rendering the opinion of the court, on this proрosition, said:
“Most unquestionably, those who make the laws are required, in the process of their enactment, to pass upon all questions of expediency and necessity connected therewith, and must thеrefore determine whether a given law is-necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health, and safety. It has always been the rule, and is now everywhere understood, that the .judgment of the legislative and executive departments аs to wisdom, expediency, or necessity of any given law is conclusive on the courts, and cannot be revieived or called in question by them. * * * The existence of such necessity is therefore a question оf fact, and the authority to determine such fact must rest somewhere. The Constitution does not confer it uрon any tribunal. It must, therefore, necessarily reside with that department of the government which is called uрon to exercise the power. It is a question оf which the Legislature alone must be the judge, and, when it decides the fact to exist, its action is final” — citing a great number of authorities.
We approve the conclusions reached by the Supreme Court in that ease.
The judgment of the county court is affirmed.
EURMAN, Presiding Judge, and DOYLE, Judge, concur.