80 A.D. 448 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1903
The relator Frank was confined in the State Reformatory for Women at Bedford under and by virtue of a warrant of commitment signed by one of the city magistrates. The return to the writ of habeas corpus shows that an information in writing, under oath, had been laid before the magistrate charging the relator, Rosie Frank, a female between the ages of fifteen and thirty years, with “ disorderly conduct in that she did on the 27th day of December, 1901, solicited
The appellants concede that there is no such offense as disorderly conduct defined in the Greater Rew York charter, but contend, and we think with reason, that section 1458 of the Consolidation Act (Laws of 1882, chap. 410) is still in force, and it is urged that the conviction may be justified under subdivision 2 of that section. The provision of law referred to reads as follows : “ Every person in said city and county shall be deemed guilty of disorderly conduct that tends to a breach of the peace, who shall in any thoroughfare or public place in said city and county commit any of the following offenses, that is to say: * * * (2) Every common prostitute or nightwalker loitering or being in any thoroughfare or public place for the purpose of prostitution or solicitation, to the annoyance of the inhabitants or passers-by.” By section 1461 of the same act it is provided.: “ In all complaints before any magistrate in the city of Rew York for disorderly conduct it shall be lawful for such magistrate, if in his opinion such disorderly conduct tends to a breach of the peace, to require the party against whom such conduct may be proved, either by his or her own confession, or by competent testimony, to give sufficient surety or sureties for his or her good behavior, for any term not exceeding twelve months, and the magistrate who may have required such surety or sureties may, in his discretion, at any time discharge the same.” And by section 1562 of the same act it is provided : “ In all cases of arrest for intoxication or disorderly conduct in the city of Rew York the police justices shall have power, in addition to holding the party to bail for good behavior, to impose a fine not exceeding ten dollars in each case, or to commit to the city prison not exceeding ten days, each day of imprisonment to be taken as a liquidation of one dollar of the fine.” This provision seems to have been embodied in the involved provisions of section 707 of the Greater Rew York charter (Laws of 1897, chap. 378) as amended by chapter 466 of the Laws of 1901, but there is no further definition of disorderly conduct than that to be found in section 1458 of the Consolidation Act, which refers
In the cases now before us, however, there is an attempt to enlarge this jurisdiction; it is contended that a police magistrate, without even so much as reducing the evidence to writing, so that an appellate court may determine whether or not the conviction was made upon “ competent testimony,” may not only summarily convict the relators, but may condemn them to a loss of their liberty, through confinement in a reformatory institution, for a period of three years. It is no longer the petty offense, but a crime punishable by confinement for three years, that we are asked to sanction by a reversal of the orders appealed from. We are asked to say, in ‘effect, that in a jurisdiction which guarantees to the citizen that he shall not be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law ; that he shall not be deprived of any of the rights or privileges secured to any citizen thereof, unless by the law of the land or the judgment of his peers; that he shall have a trial by jury, etc., the citizen may be arrested, taken before a single police magistrate, and upon such evidence as may serve to convince him that the relator has been guilty of disorderly conduct, be condemned to a reformatory and deprived of her liberty for a period of three years. The provisions of law should be very .clear and unmistakable to warrant any such holding on the part of this court, and an examina
Is the law under which this commitment purports to have been made thus clear and unmistakable ? The statute under which the commitment was made is chapter 682 of the Laws of 1899, being an amendment of section 146 of chapter 546 of the Laws of 1896, entitled “ An act relating to state charities, constituting chapter twenty-six of the genera] laws,” relating to commitments to houses of refuge and reformatories for women. The amended act (§ 146) provides : “ A female, between the ages of fifteen and thirty years, convicted by any magistrate of petit larceny, habitual drunkenness, of being a common prostitute, of frequenting disorderly houses or houses of prostitution, or of a misdemeanor, and who is not insane, nor mentally or physically incapable of being substantially benefited by the discipline of either of such institutions, may be sentenced and committed to * * * the New York State Reformatory for Women, at Bedford,” the term of such commitment being for a period of three years or until discharged by the board of managers. It will be noticed that this act does not mention disorderly conduct, nor does it attempt to give jurisdiction of any offense; it merely provides that, when any female between the stated ages has been convicted of any of the specific acts or conditions mentioned, she
The facts involved in People ex rel. Clark v. State Reformatory and People ex rel. Smith v. State Reformatory are so nearly the same that it does not appear to be necessary to go into a separate discussion of the merits of either of them. They are all open to the same general objections; they attempt to justify the depriving of the relators of their liberty by convictions for offenses which have no existence in law, and to administer punishments beyond the jurisdiction of the court. The trials and commitments do not conform to the letter of the law, and being of a criminal nature, there is no warrant for an enlarged construction to meet these particular cases. The whole spirit and tendency of our laws are against depriving citizens of their liberty without the formalities and the safeguards recognized as due process of law, or the orderly application of the law of the land, and while it may be proper to permit city magistrates to summarily convict and punish minor offenses, not amounting to misdemeanors, or in cases of a charitable or corrective nature for persons of immature years, it can hardly be necessary to vest the power to deprive the citizen of his or her liberty for a period of three years in a city magistrate, where the
Goodrich, P. J., and Hooker, J., concurred; Hirschbbrg and Jenks, JJ., concurred in result.
Orders affirmed.
Sie.
Sic.