71 Tenn. 376 | Tenn. | 1879
delivered the opinion of the court.
On the 31st of March, 1879, the Legislature passed an act entitled “An act to prohibit speculation in witness fees and other fees originating in courts.” The
The plaintiff in error was indicted for a violation -of the provisions of this statute. He moved- to quash, the indictment, which motion was overruled. He was then tried upon the plea of not guilty, convicted, and sentenced to pay a fine and the costs. He has appealed in error.
The defense is rested upon the unconstitutionality -of the act, and the argument submitted in support thereof is made to turn on general principles, rather' than on any specific provisions of the Constitution. The right of the citizen to freely dispose of his property, and the absence of substantial evil .to , be met by the legislation, have been more discussed ihan the inherent power of the Legislature. It is the settled rule in this State, as in the United States generally, that the Legislature has unlimited power of legislation, except so far as it is restrained by the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Tennessee. Hope v. Deaderick, 8 Hum., 8; Bell v. Bank of Nashville, Peck, 269. The legislative department is not made a special agency for the exer-
The only citation from the Constitution made in the argument is the 8th section of the Bill of Bights, that no man shall be deprived of his liberty or property but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land. And it is argued that the act in question, although in form a prohibition against , the purchase of the fees of witnesses, is in fact a restraint upon the free disposition by the witness of the fees as property,, and pro tanto a deprivation of an important element of property. But the claim of a witness for the fees allowed him by law is only a chose in action, not assignable by the common law. The Legislature has made such claims assignable, and it is clearly within its competency to take away that quality. "With either the wisdom or policy of such legislation the courts-have nothing to do.
It is also argued, upon the same general principle, that the act in question, by reason of its proviso,.
If there is any provision of the Constitution which can be considered as contravened by the act in question, it is art. 11 sec. 8: “The Legislature shall have no power to suspend any general law for the benefit of any particular individuals, nor to pass any law for the benefit of individuals inconsistent with the general law of the land, nor to pass any law granting any individual or individuals rights, privileges, immunities, or exemptions other than such as may be, by the same law, extended to any member of the community who may be able to bring himself within the provisions of such lawn” But it is obvious that this clause of the Constitution only prohibits the suspension of a
The judgment must be affirmed.