194 N.E. 537 | Ill. | 1935
The appellant (hereinafter called the defendant) was charged in the municipal court of the city of Chicago with the violation of section 4215 of the revised Chicago code of 1931. That section provides as follows: "Every common, ill-governed or disorderly house, room or other premises, kept for the encouragement of idleness, gaming, drinking, fornication or other misbehavior, is hereby declared to be a public nuisance, and the keeper and all persons connected with the maintenance thereof, and all persons patronizing or frequenting the same, shall be fined not exceeding $200 for each offense." The defendant waived a jury and was tried by the court. The court found him guilty of being the keeper of a disorderly house and imposed a fine of $200 and costs. From that judgment an appeal has been prosecuted directly to this court, the trial court certifying that the validity of an ordinance was involved *376 and that the public interest required a direct appeal to this court.
The city is not limited in its power to pass the ordinance upon the subject of disorderly houses to any one section of article 5 of the Cities and Villages act but can consistently derive its authority from two or more sections. (Consumers Co.
v. City of Chicago,
Where the legislature has committed to municipalities the power to legislate upon a certain subject matter, the councils of such municipalities have full authority to pass ordinances pertinent to such subject matter, restrained only by the condition that such ordinance must be reasonable. (City of LakeView v. Tate,
It is earnestly urged that because the legislature has passed a statute upon the subject of disorderly houses and provided for a fine or imprisonment, or both, for the violation of such statute, the city is without authority to legislate upon the same subject matter. This court has expressly held to the contrary. A municipal ordinance is not void by reason of prohibiting and penalizing acts already prohibited by the statute. (City of Decatur v. Schlick,
The defendant contends that under the ordinance in question due process of law was not afforded the defendant. The record shows a written complaint, verified by a police officer, charging the defendant with violating the city ordinance, the issuance of a warrant which was served upon the defendant, and a trial before a court of competent jurisdiction before judgment was pronounced against him. The guaranty of due process of law under the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States requires that every man shall have protection of his day in court and the benefit of the general law — a law which hears before it condemns and which proceeds only upon inquiry and renders judgment after trial. (Hurtado v. People of California,
Complaint is justly made that the guilt of the defendant of the offense charged by the complaint was not proved. The complaint charged the defendant, in substance, to be the keeper of a disorderly house located at 3130 Indiana avenue. The evidence as to a disorderly house was confined to a house located at 3010 Indiana avenue. There was not a scintilla of evidence tending to prove that there was a disorderly house located at 3130. The locus in quo was a material averment made by the complaint. Proof of the description as laid was of the substance of the offense and was necessary to authorize a conviction. (Wisconsin Central Railroad Co. v. Wieczorek,
Other errors are assigned and argued in the defendant's brief, but in view of our holding that the judgment cannot stand it will be unnecessary to pass upon such other alleged errors.
The judgment is reversed.
Judgment reversed.