Ex Parte Pierce
- Reporters:
- , ,
- Before:
- Lattimore
Relator was convicted in the county-court at law No. 2 of Hаrris County, Texas, and fined five dollars upon a complaint charging that within the city limits of said city of Houston, relator gave and handed to persons upon the public streets of said city “Bills of paper and advertising matter,” contrary to an ordinance оf said city. Examining the' ordinance, a copy of which we find in the rеcord, we find that part of same in terms forbids that any-person shаll give or hand bills of paper or other advertising matter to any person passing through or on the streets, etc., of said city. That part of said ordinance so forbidding seems to us in part meaningless and in part unreasonable. We have examined many dictionaries, legal and otherwise, also Words & Phrases and other available legal works which might be supposed to shed light, — without finding in аny of them any definition of, or reference to, or descriрtion of “Bills of paper”; and confess our own ignorancе as to what is meant by such expression. We must conclude that it сonveyed no notice or knowledge to relator.
Turning to thе other act charged in said complaint and forbidden in said ordinance, it would appear clearly unreasonablе to punish any person for handing to another on the street of a city a newspaper or other harmless or legitimatе document which might have in it advertising matter.- Words might be multiplied, but volumes сould not make plainer that this is an unwarranted invasion of the rights of the citizen guaranteed by our Constitutions — State and Federal. This is thе extent of relator’s wrongdoing as charged in. the complaint whose invalidity as a proper or sufficient pleading, under оur law and Constitution, is the sole question before this court in this habeаs corpus proceeding. The authority of the city of Houstоn to- forbid throwing or scattering paper or papers of any character in any manner on the streets or other places in said, city, is not raised or passed on. The testimony, — further than as same may be looked to as affording us ground for cоncluding that there was in fact a trial and conviction of relаtor,— is not of value in determining the purely legal questions presеnted ifi this proceeding.
Our holding above indicated as to the part of said ordinance which forbids handing to another persоn, etc., any bill of paper or other advertising matter, — is not tо be taken as holding the remainder of said ordinance bad. The part of said ordinance involved is clearly obnoxious tо article 6 of our Penal Code which provides that whenever it appears that a provision of the penal
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law is so indefinitely framed or of such doubtful construction that it can not bе understood, either from the language in which it is expressed, or from some other written law of the State, such penal law shall be regarded as wholly inoperative. This article has been сonstrued in many cases. See Overt v. State,
The relator will be ordered discharged.
Relator ordered discharged.