161 Ga. 537 | Ga. | 1926
The legislature of Georgia passed an act which was approved August 8, 1925, and is as follows:
“An act to prohibit dancing at any public place in Georgia on the Lord’s day, commonly known as Sunday.
Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, that dancing at any public place in the State of Georgia, on the Lord’s day, commonly known as Sunday, be and the same is hereby prohibited.
Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, that the owner, proprietor, manager, agent, lessee, or tenant of any public place in Georgia, who shall permit dancing at such public place on the Lord’s day, commonly known as Sunday, shall be guilty of a miádemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be punishable under the terms and provisions of § 1065 of the Penal Code of Georgia.
Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, that all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act be and the same are hereby repealed.”
W. D. Durden was accused in six counts, as the owner, proprietor, manager, lessee, agent, or tenant of the Durden-Powell Pavilion, a public place upon the island of Tybee, of permitting dancing upon such pavilion on Sunday, August 9, 1925, in violation of the act above set out. To this accusation the defendant filed his demurrer on the following grounds:
The court overruled the demurrer, and the defendant excepted.
We are of the opinion that the court did not err in overruling the demurrer on each and all of the grounds thereof. This act refers to but one subject-matter, viz., the prohibiting of dancing at a public place on the Lord’s day, commonly known as Sunday. There is no reference in the caption or in the body of the act to any other subject except the prevention of dancing at a public place on .the Lord’s day, commonly known as Sunday. See Welborne v. State, 114 Ga. 794 (6), 820 (40 S. E. 857).
In Stanley v. State, 135 Ga. 859, 864 (70 S. E. 591), it was held:
It will be observed, that, by the first section of the' act under review, dancing is prohibited at any public place on the Lord’s day, commonly known as Sunday, and that by the second section of the act any owner, proprietor, etc., of any public place who “shall permit dancing at said public place on the Lord’s day, commonly known as Sunday, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall he punishable under the terms and provisions of § 1065 of the Penal Code of Georgia.” We are of the opinion that an act providing punishment for one in control of a public place, for permitting dancing there, is within the purpose expressed in the caption of the act “to prohibit dancing,” etc. If, therefore, the section of the act which prohibits dancing can be enforced, then it follows that the punishment for such violation of the act can also be enforced. The legislature might have provided for punishing
The contention of the plaintiff in error that the caption of the act does not refer in terms to the penal clause is immaterial. James v. State, 124 Ga. 73, 74 (52 S. E. 295); Stanley v. State, 135 Ga. 859 (2), 864 (70 S. E. 591). Nor would the omission of the words “and for other purposes,” which are sometimes used in the caption of an act, render the second section of the act null and void. In the present case such words are not only unnecessary, but it would be illogical to use such words. The only purpose expressed in the caption of the act is “to prohibit dancing at any public place in Georgia on the Lord’s day, commonly known as Sunday;” and to carry out the purpose of that intention, which is sufficient to put everybody on notice, the legislature provided a penalty in the second section of the act; and we are of the opinion that the addition of the words “and for other purposes” would be unnecessary and meaningless, because there was no other purpose expressed by the legislature than to prohibit dancing, and the punishing of any person who as owner, proprietor, etc., should permit dancing at such a place as named in the act. See, in this connection, Sessions v. State, 115 Ga. 18, 22 (41 S. E. 259).
In Nolan v. Central Georgia Power Co., 134 Ga. 201, 205 (67 S. E. 656), after holding that the act of December 7, 1897, under review in that case, was not unconstitutional, for the reason that the act contained matter in the body of the act different from what is expressed in the title, this court, through Mr. Justice Beck, said: “So construed, is the act unconstitutional as containing matter not covered by its title? ‘It is not essential that the title to the act should recite in minute detail all of its provisions; otherwise the act itself would be but a copy of the title.’ Banks v. State, 124 Ga. 16 [52 S. E. 74, 2 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1007]. ‘A substantial, not a literal, conformity of a law to its title is required by the constitution.’ Macon & Birmingham R. Co. v. Gibson, 85 Ga. 1 [11 S. E. 442, 21 Am. St. R. 135]. ‘This correspondence is to be determined in view of the subject-matter to which the legis
Tested by the foregoing rule we are of the opinion that-in the instant case the omission of the words “and for other purposes,” in the caption of the act under review, is immaterial.
The demurrer to the accusation in the present case also raises the question as to whether the act of 1925, under consideration, is in violation of the Penal Code of 1910, § 31, which provides that “A crime or misdemeanor shall consist in a violation of a public law, in the commission of which there shall be a union or joint operation of act and intention, or criminal negligence.” This contention is without merit. As was said in the case of Loeb v. State, 75 Ga. 258, Mr. Justice Hall speaking for the court: “It is insisted that such a construction ignores the essential elements that go to make up the definition of a crime or offense, viz., the union or joint operation of act and intention in its commission, or criminal negligence. Code [1882], § 4292. That such is generally a correct definition will not be denied; but that is not the question before us, which, accurately stated, is, has the legislature done away with, or modified to any extent, the application of the principle to this particular case — not whether it has the authority so to do. No one will contend that it has not such authority. There is nothing in the fundamental law that forbids or restrains the exercise of such power. The enactment in hand is by no means exceptional or singular in this respect. There are other instances to be found in our code where proprietors and others in authority are held criminally liable for the acts or negligence of those in their employment, or acting under them; as, for instance, in the running of freight-trains on railways on Sunday, the superintendent of transportation of the company, or the officer having charge of the business of transportation of the railroad, is made liable to indictment, and on the trial it need not be proved who are the persons in charge of the train, but the simple fact of the trains being run on that day shall be sufficient to sustain the indictment and fix the guilt of the defendant. It is expressly provided that
Judgment affirmed.