69 Iowa 393 | Iowa | 1886
It is, however, insisted that the statute above quoted is not now applicable to the class of offenses of which the defendant was convicted, for the reason that it is repealed by implication as to such offenses by chapter 143 of the Acts of the Twentieth General Assembly, which has been incorporated in Miller’s Code, 1886 edition, and sections 1540, 1542 and 1543 thereof are the portions of said act we are required to consider in order to determine the question in hand. Section 1540 provides that for a first conviction the fine shall be not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars, and costs of prosecution, and the convicted person shall stand committed to the county jail until the fine and costs are paid, and in default of such payment such person shall not be entitled to the benefit of chapter 47, title 25, of the Code until he shall have been imprisoned sixty days. Section 1542 contains substantially the same provisions, and section 1543 is the nuisance section, and provides that the fine shall not exceed $1,000 and costs, and that the, defendant shall stand committed until the fine and costs are paid, and that he shall not be entitled to the benefit of the provisions of chapter 47 of title 25 of the Code. It is not entirely certain under which of the foregoing sections the petitioner was convicted, but we shall assume, as we think we are
Under sections 1510 and 1512 the fine, it will be seen, may be only $50, and it may be well supposed that the fine and costs may not exceed $100. In such case the imprisonment under section 1509 cannot exceed thirty days, and therefore it is insisted that the last-named section is not applicable, because of the provision that the person convicted must he imprisoned sixty days before he can obtain his discharge under chapter 17, title 25, which makes pro vision for the discharge of poor convicts. The argument is that this provision is nullified if section 1509 is applicable, because, under the latter, the convicted person must be discharged when he has been imprisoned thirty days, and therefore the provision which relates to the liberation of poor convicts is without force and effect. This thought is entitled to great weight, and if no case can reasonably occur to which all the foregoing statutes are applicable, and can have force and effect, it might be irresistible. Suppose, however, the fine should be $50, and the costs $250; in such case the imprison