153 F.2d 280 | 10th Cir. | 1946
Section 12(a) of the Hatch Political Activity Act, as amended, 53 Stat. 1147, 54 Stat. 767, 18 U.S.C.A. § 61£(a), in presently material part, provides, “No officer or employee of any State or local agency
The United States Civil Service Commission filed a letter of charges against France Paris and the State of Oklahoma in which it was charged that Paris, while chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee in Oklahoma, a political party office, held the office of a member of the Highway Commission of Oklahoma, an activity financed in part by loans and grants made by the United States and by a Federal agency thereof; that he was active in the political management of the Democratic Party; and that he assisted in the raising of funds on behalf of such party and in the giving of a banquet. Paris and the State filed separate answers, and a stipulation of facts was filed. It was stipulated that in February, 1942, Paris was elected chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee for his third term, and occupied such position until October, 1943, when he resigned; that he was appointed as a member of the State Highway Commission in January, 1943, and had held the position continuously since; that the activities of the highway department were financed in part by grants made by the Public Roads Administration of the United States; that a Victory
It is contended that the Act, as applied to state officers or employees, constitutes an attempt to regulate the internal affairs of the state and amounts to an invasion of the sovereignty of the state, in violation }f the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The argument is that as a penalty for the violation of its terms, the Act directs the removal of the offending state officer or employee and forbids his appointment or employment in any other capacity for a period of eighteen months, and that therefore it undertakes to usurp a purely state function. It is said that the legislation in effect works the forfeiture of state offices and in that manner invades the powers of the state to create and maintain offices of government according to its own choice. It is the prerogative of a state to create and maintain offices of government according to its own choice, free from interference by the United States. But this Act does not invade the rights of the states in the untrammeled exertion., of that attribute of sovereignty. It does not command the removal of a state officer, either by the Federal government or the state. There seems to be little room for confusion of thought when it is borne in mind that fundamentally considered the Act merely attaches conditions to the making of loans or grants to the states or 'their subdivisions, conditions reasonably designed and adapted to effectuate the purposes of the Act, and provides that on violation of the conditions the loans or grants shall be withheld pro tanto. A state is completely free to disregard the finding of the Commission, and to continue its officer or employee or to give him other employment. If that is done, the Act merely authorizes the United States to withhold to a specified extent funds of the loan or grant. It does not undertake to empower the United States itself to remove the officer or employee or to command the state to do so. A condition of that kind attached to the making of loans or grants does not infringe the sovereignty of the state. It does not amount to a usurpation of power, either in the form of objectionable coercion or other forbidden interference. Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Mellon, 262 U.S. 447, 43 S.Ct. 597, 67 L.Ed. 1078; Steward Machine Co. v. Davis, 301 U.S. 548, 57 S.Ct. 883, 81 L.Ed. 1279, 109 A.L.R. 1293.
The argument that the Act, as applied to the facts in this case, amounts to an unconstitutional delegation of authority is untenable. There can be no doubt that Congress had the power to provide by rigid and inflexible language in the Act itself that where a member of the highway commission of a state whose activity is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States holds the
The further contention is that the Act is confined to pernicious political activities, and that Paris did not engage in activities of that kind. Stress is laid upon the title of the Act to support the contention in respect of the scope of the legislation. The title of the statute recites that it is an act to prevent pernicious political activities. While the title to an act may be taken into consideration as an aid to construction in case of doubt, it cannot add to or subtract from the plain meaning of the text. Resort to the title may be had only for the purpose of resolving doubt as to the meaning of the words used in the text in case of ambiguity. Goodlett v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad, 122 U.S. 391, 7 S.Ct. 1254, 30 L.Ed. 1230; Caminetti v. United States, 242 U.S. 470, 37 S.Ct. 192, 61 L.Ed. 442, L.R.A.1917F, 502, Ann.Cas.l917B, 1168; Strathearn Steamship Co. v. Dillon, 252 U.S. 348, 40 S.Ct. 350, 64 L.Ed. 607; Fairport, Painesville & Eastern Railroad Co. v. Meredith, 292 U.S. 589, 54 S.Ct. 826, 78 L.Ed. 1446; Bengzon v. Secretary of Justice, 299 U.S. 410, 57 S.Ct. 252, 181 L.Ed. 312; Maguire v. Commissioner, 313 U.S. 1, 61 S.Ct. 789, 85 L.Ed. 1149. Section 12(a), supra, forbids any officer or employee of a state or local agency whose principal employment is in connection with any activity financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States to take any active part in political management or in political campaigns. The statute does not speak of pernicious political activity as distinguished from other kinds of political activity. It includes any active part in political management and any active part in political campaigns. That pivotal language is clear and free from doubt. There is no obscurity or uncertainty in the text to be illumined by reference to the title.
The remaining contention which calls for consideration is that the stipulated facts showed merely passive and inactive holding of the political chairmanship, that the drastic order of the Commission was not warranted, that the order was arbitrary and constituted an abuse of discretion, and that the court erred in sustaining it. It is said that the primary purpose of the Act was to discourage corrupt political practices by authorizing orders designed to effect the removal from public office or public employment of those who violate its provisions, and that removal should be effectuated only where the person has committed serious acts of commission against its provisions. As has already been said, section 12 (b) empowers the Commission to determine whether a violation has occurred, and, if so, whether removal from office or employment is warranted. Section 15, 18 U.S.C.A. § 61o, provides that the provisions prohibiting the taking of any active part in political management or in political campaigns “shall be deemed to prohibit the same activities on the part of such persons as the United States Civil Service Commission has heretofore determined are at the time this section takes effect prohibited on the part of employees in the classified civil service of the United States by the provisions of the. civil-service rules prohibiting such employees from taking any active part in political management or in political campaigns.” And for a long time prior to the date on which the Act, supra, became effective, the Commission had consistently held that service on a political committee constituted a violation of the applicable civil-service rule and warranted removal
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.