234 Pa. 347 | Pa. | 1912
Lead Opinion
Opinion by
By the act of May 5, 1911, P. L. 198, the legislature established a county court in Allegheny County, and conferred jurisdiction upon it, in civil actions wherein money judgments were sought, and in actions of replevin, in which the sums demanded, or the value of the property replevined, does not exceed six hundred dollars; except in cases where the title to lands or tenements may come in question. Jurisdiction was also conferred in desertion proceedings and in appeals from summary convictions, and from judgments in suits for penalties before a magistrate or court not of record.
Averring that the act is unconstitutional, the plaintiff in this case, a taxpayer of Allegheny County, filed a bill in equity against the county commissioners to restrain them from expending any of the funds of the county, in providing accommodations for the nqw court. Defendants demurred to the bill, and the demurrer was sustained and the bill dismissed. Plaintiff has appealed and assigns for error the decree of the court below, dismissing the bill.
The power of the legislature to establish courts other than those named in the constitution, cannot be questioned. ' Article V Section 1 of the constitution provides that “The judicial power of this Commonwealth shall be vested in a Supreme Court, in Courts of Common Pleas, Courts of Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery, Courts of Quarter Sessions of the Peace, Orphans’ Courts, Magistrates’ Courts, and in such other courts as the General Assembly may from time to time establish.” No one can fairly read this section of the
The principle of constitutional classification, and particularly the classification of counties, has been clearly recognized in a number of our cases. Thus in Morrison v. Bachert, 112 Pa. 322, Mr. Justice Paxson said (p. 330) : “So far as the compensation of county officers is concerned, the constitution has classified the counties of the state.” In Reid v. Smoulter, 128 Pa. 324, Mr. Justice Clark said (p. 337) : “We are of opinion that the Act of April 13, 1887, P. L. 22, already referred to, is not in conflict with the constitution, because special or local in its operation. The constitution recognizes a class of counties, in each of which it is the duty of the legislature to establish a separate Orphans’ Court, and the Act plainly applies to all the counties of this class.” In Rymer v. Luzerne County, 142 Pa. 108, it was said, Per Curiam (p. 113) that the act of March 31, 1876 P. L. 13, there under consideration, “is neither a local nor a special law, for the reason that it applies to all counties of a certain class, and that class created by the constitution itself.” In Wheeler v. Philadelphia, 77 Pa. 338 answering the suggestion that a classification was bad which included only one member of the class, it was said (p. 350) : “Classification does not depend upon numbers. The first man, Adam, was as distinctly a class, when the breath of life was breathed into him, as at any subsequent period. The word is used not to designate numbers, but a rank or order of persons or things.” Therefore, if the need arises for it, a classification which includes only one city or one county may be valid, if the conditions warrant it, and the constitution authorizes it.
The necessity for classification of the counties of the state, with respect to the courts, is clearly recognized in the constitution. Thus, speaking with reference to the state at large, in article Y, section 4, it is provided:
But in section 8 the courts in the County of Philadelphia and in the County of Allegheny are treated as in separate and distinct classes. It is provided that these courts shall from time to time in turn detail one or more of their judges to hold the courts of oyer and terminer and the courts of quarter sessions of the peace, in such manner as may be directed by law. Again, by section 6, the jurisdiction and powers of the district courts in each county were abolished, and courts of common pleas substituted therefor. In the same section the separation of each of these counties iñto a distinct class, as to which the enactment of legislation appropriate for one was not thought suitable
It will be noted that these sections of the constitution not only indicate a classification of counties, with reference to the courts, but many of the provisions require special legislation to carry them into effect, or such changes “as shall be provided by law,” to quote the phrase often used in various sections of the constitution. This makes clear the intention that the legislature should, as occasion arose, provide for further needs within and along the lines of classification indicated.
One new court of common pleas has been established in Philadelphia county, and two in Allegheny County since the adoption of the constitution. These courts were created by the legislature, and the constitutionality of the acts has not been questioned, although they specifically named the particular county in which the courts were created. The present act establishing the new county court for Allegheny county, can no more, be said to be local or special than were the acts which created new courts of common pleas in these two counties. Such legislation, which otherwise would undoubtedly be regarded as local, is saved because the constitution does make this classification, and the legislature as well as the courts must recognize it. Where
As to the provision of section 26, article Y, that all laws relating to courts shall be general and of uniform operation, it is evident that this requirement is fairly met when such laws are general and of uniform operation as applied to a particular class or grade of courts. This is consistent with the further requirement in the next clause, that “the organization, jurisdiction and powers of all courts of the same class or grade, so far as regulated by law, and the force and effect of the processes and judgments of such courts, shall be uniform.” It is clear that uniformity within the respective classes or grades of courts is what the constitution requires; otherwise, the end and aim of classification would be defeated.
The act under consideration provides for a new court of a different class or grade from any heretofore created. So long as there is but one court of this grade, the law regulating it is uniform in the constitutional sense. It is composed of one bench of judges whose number depends upon population. In the event that other courts of the same grade should be established, then all laws relating to that grade must be of uniform application.
Another point pressed, in the argument for appellant is that the creation of this new county court is prohibited by the last clause of section 26, which prevents the general assembly from creating other courts, to ex
We have no doubt as to the power of the legislature to create such a court, and to prescribe its method of procedure. It would unduly prolong this discussion to take up in detail every feature prescribed. We can refer only to some of the principal points against which criticism is directed. Counsel for appellant suggests that the language in section 6 (a) which is, “In all civil actions wherein only a money judgment is sought to be recovered, and in all actions of replevin in which the sum demanded or the value of the property replevined does not exceed six hundred dollars,” gives jurisdiction in all civil actions without limit as to amount. But this construction is not justified. Obviously, in punctuating, a comma was omitted after the word replevin; but this does not really render the meaning obscure. It is apparent that the qualifying phrase, “in which the sum demanded” refers to the actions brought to recover a money judgment, just as the words “value of the property replevined” appropriately refer to actions of replevin. The limitation of six hundred dollars applies to all the actions to which reference is made. This view is consistent with, and confirmed by the language of section 10, which requires defendant to set off a counter claim to an amount not exceeding six hundred dollars, or be barred. The suggestion that the law is not uniform, because the procedure provided for the county court differs from that which obtains in the common pleas, is without merit. It was intended that it should be more simple, and very properly so; that is one of the obvious advantages of the legislation. The practice as prescribed in clause c, section 7, providing that plaintiff’s statement of claim, not denied, shall be taken as true, is very similar to that prescribed by the practice act of May 25, 1887, P. L. 271, and by rule 8 of the courts of common pleas of Allegheny county. The
In section 8, provision is made for a jury trial on request of either party, and the payment of the jury fee in advance. It is suggested that this provision is an abridgement of the constitutional right of trial by jury. But under the long settled practice in this state, under the act of March 29, 1805, Sec. 13, 4 Sm. L. 237, a jury fee must be paid before judgment can be entered on a verdict. A verdict is of little value unless judgment be entered upon it, and it is but a slight step further to require payment of the jury fee before the trial, instead of before judgment. It might as well be argued that a plaintiff was denied the right to a jury trial because compelled to pay for the issuing and service of a summons, before such trial can be had. In Capital Traction Co. v. Hof, 174 U. S. 1, it is held that a requirement that a jury fee shall be paid, is not a denial or abridgement of the right of trial by jury. To the same effect is Bank of Columbia v. Okely, 17 U. S. 235. As illustrating the same principle, it may be noted that in McDonald v. Schell, 6 S. & R. 240, it was held that the act requiring the payment of costs before taking an appeal from an award of arbitrators, did not affect the right of trial by jury. See also Warren v. Com., 37 Pa. 45, where it is said (p. 52) that a provision requiring bond for appeal does not offend against the constitution.
The provisions as to set off contained in section 10 seem to be taken almost verbatim from the act of March 20, 1810, Sec. 7, 5 Sm. L. 161, which relates to setting off counter claims in suits before justices of the peace. The fact that a plaintiff appealing is required to enter security for costs only, though judgment for
The liens authorized under section 11 are acquired by entering judgments in the common pleas, practically in the same manner as they have been entered for over a century on transcripts from justices of the peace. Whether the transcript comes from one subordinate court or another, can make little or no difference as to the character of the lien. If the legislature has the power to create the court, it must also have the power to give force and effect to its judgments. The method here provided is not new, but is merely the adaptation of one which has existed in Pennsylvania since the act of March 20, 1810. The advantage of having all judgments which are a lien on real estate in the county, entered in one set of indexes is apparent. The provision of section 11 that the lien shall be removed on the “perfection of the appeal” or the granting of a certiorari operating as a supersedeas, is substantially like that of section 1 of the act of June 24, 1885, P. L. 160, giving judgments entered on transcripts from magistrates courts, the force and effect of judgments originally obtained in the common pleas, where no appeal or certiorari has been taken. As to the precise effect of this latter provision, we do not now deem it necessary to decide, preferring to leave it open for further consideration, if the need should arise. This feature, together with several other matters of detail to which reference has been made in the argument, is not essentially involved in the main purpose of the statute. Any such questions are of minor importance, and if they arise in the future course of busi
That one who asks to have a law declared uneonstituitonal takes upon himself the burden of proving beyond all doubt that it is so, has been so often declared that the principle has become axiomatic. In Sharpless v. Mayor of Philada., 21 Pa. 147, Mr. Justice Black said (p. 164) : “There is another rule which must govern us in cases like this; namely, that we can declare an act of assembly void, only when it violates the constitution clearly, palpably, plainly; and in such manner as to leave no doubt or hesitation on our minds. This principle is asserted by judges of every grade, both in the federal and in the state courts.” And again in Erie and North-East R. R. Co. v. Casey, 26 Pa. 287, the same Justice said (p. 300) : “The right of the judiciary to declare a statute void, and to arrest its execution, is one which, in the opinion of all courts, is coupled with responsibilities so grave, that it is never to be exercised except in very clear cases; one department of the government is bound to presume that another has acted rightly. The party who wishes us to pronounce a law unconstitutional, takes upon himself the burden of proving, beyond all doubt, that it is so.” In Hilbish v. Catherman, 64 Pa. 154, Mr. Justice Agnew said (p. 159) : “We cannot declare this act unconstitutional unless we can say, in the language of Judge Tilghman, that ‘its violation of the constitution is so manifest as to leave no reasonable doubt:’ Com. v. Smith, 4 Binn. 117.” And Chief Justice Sharswood said, in Com. v. Butler, 99 Pa. 535 (540) : “To justify a court in pronouncing an act of the legislature unconstitutional and void, either in whole or in part, it must be able to vouch some exception or prohibition clearly expressed or necessarily implied. To doubt is to be resolved in favor of the constitutionality of the act.”
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting:
I fully realize the conditions in Allegheny County and the general demand for the relief sought to be afforded by the statute under consideration, and for that reason I have studied this case with every desire to sustain the Act, if possible, but it seems to me to be clearly in conflict with the organic law of the State.
While Philadelphia and Allegheny counties are distinguished from the rest of the Commonwealth in certain of the constitutional provisions pertaining to the judiciary which relate exclusively to them, yet such classification — if it can be so designated — is only for the specific purposes defined therein, and not for court purposes generally. The courts of those two great counties need the protection of the appropriate general provisions contained in the judiciary article as much as do the courts of the other counties of the State; the records of the development of this part of the constitution show that its framers intended such protection; and from the article as a whole one cannot but believe that the people must have so proposed when they adopted it.
To my mind section 26, Article Y, expressly and unequivocally forbids the creation of other courts to ex
In my opinion the legislative authority to make changes by law in the jurisdiction of the present courts, and the power to create other courts, are always subject to the constitutional limitations contained in section 26. This Act not only gives to the court which it seeks to create many of the powers vested by the constitution in the common pleas, but it further violates the prohibitions of the section in question when it takes from the Quarter Sessions of Allegheny County and transfers to the new court all jurisdiction in non-support and certain other cases; thus in effect depriving the “judges of the courts of com