14 S.D. 139 | S.D. | 1900
At the conclusion of a contempt proceeding, based upon an alleged violation of a peremptory writ of mandamus, an order was entered discharging the defendants, and plaintiff appeals. In the manner provided by the rules of this court, appellant has fully presented the record essential to a determination of every
The statute requires the state board of health to make and enforce such orders as tend to prevent the spread of contagious, infectious, or malarial diseases, and to isolate by quarantine any person affected with a contagious or infectious disease. Over the several boards of health established by the act, and given similar powers in cities, villages, and towns, and the county boards of health of the several counties, the state board is given general supervisory powers, and any violation of a rule or regulation made to prevent the spread of such diseases constitutes a misdemeanor punishable “by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.” Chapter 96, Laws 1895. In perfect accord with the primary governmental purpose, to insure domestic tranquility, and promote the general welware, the legislature has, in the exercise of its constitutional authority, established these several boards of health, and conferred upon each power to enact all necessary rules and regulations for the prevention of disease within its respective jurisdiction, and such rules and regulations are given the force of substantive law. 4 Am. and Eng. Enc. Law (2d Ed.) 599. At the hearing of the application for a mandamus, respondents, by withdrawing their answer, confessed that smallpox was not prevalent on the 20th day of January, and the order requiring pupils to be vaccinated in order to be permitted to attend school was entirely needless.
Independently of express legislation, a board of education has power, under circumstances like the present, to close the schools until the danger subsides, or suspend such as refuse to undergo vaccination. State v. Board of Education of Salt Lake, (Utah) 60 Pac. 1013; Duffield v. School Dist. (Pa. Sup.) 29 Atl. 742, 25 L. R. A. 152; Abeel v. Clark, 84 Cal. 226, 24 Pac. 383; Blue v. Beach