35 Barb. 408 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1861
The first of these cases was an application for a mandamus to compel the board of supervisors to apportion to the several towns and wards of the county, the aggregate amount of county charges that have been audited by them at their present session, according to the valuation
The motion was opposed on the ground, that on the 11th day of December, 1861, the said board reconsidered their action of the previous day, by a resolution for that purpose; and then, by still another resolution, again apportioned and equalized the assessments of value in said towns and wards, upon a new and different basis. This latter resolution was also entered in their book of minutes by their clerk, and appears in the opposing papers. There are no controverted facts in the case that require consideration. At the time the first resolution was passed, a majority of the members of the board were present. They had therefore a legal quorum, competent to act, and their acts have the same binding effect as if all the members were present. The opposing papers disclose the fact that at the time the resolution of the 10th was offered, three of the members had departed, and that one other of the ten members had been excused, leaving six of the ten members of the board then present. Upon offering the resolution in question, of the 10th inst., another member attempted to depart, and was prevented, by two others, until after the vote had been taken upon the resolution. This member states that the force was sufficient to prevent his departure ; but still he voted, and voted in favor of the resolution. He also states that he voted in favor of the resolution for the purpose of moving a reconsideration of the vote which was then being taken. This motive for his vote was doubtless anticipated, as one of the members present, then, moved to reconsider the vote, after which, and while the vote was being taken on the reconsideration, he departed from the room, without voting thereon. The motion to reconsider was, as appears by the minutes, negatived, and the board then adjourned. The next morning, the 11th December, all
These are all the material facts in the first case above entitled, upon which the ¡parties appeared upon an order to show cause. The relator asked for a mandamus to compel the board of supervisors to act upon the basis of the first resolution; claiming that the board having once exercised their judicial discretion upon the question, thereby exhausted their power over the subject, and lost jurisdiction to act again in the matter. The majority of the-board, by their counsel, claimed that they possessed the power to reconsider their action, at any time before actually issuing their warrants, and consequently possessed the authority to act upon the basis of the latter resolution. It is proper to add that the
Some questions were raised by the defendants, upon undisputed facts, which it is well to dispose of, before proceeding to the merits of the main question in the case. The papers showed that while the vote was being taken on the resolution of the 10th, some person locked the only door of the room. It does not appear by whom this was done. It was a highly improper act, and doubtless amounted to a misdemeanor, on the part of the person who committed it. The statute (1 R. S. 5th ed. 855, § 32) declares, “ The boards of supervisors shall sit with open doors, and all persons may attend their meetings.” This statute, being construed according to its common sense meaning, is, that the doors shall not be locked ; not technically, that they shall stand without being shut. Its real spirit doubtless is, to prevent the board from closing their doors so as to prohibit others from attending, and was not probably designed to interfere with the power of the body, (if such power they have,) to prevent the departure of their own members ; nor does it appear that any member of the body directed the act to be done; or that it was the locking of the door that prevented the departure; but other causes. This act, therefore, standing alone, did not have the effect to invalidate the vote of the board, or to take from them jurisdiction to act. It was no compulsion that could have extorted a vote from any one; certainly not an affirmative vote, in favor of the resolution that was being voted on.
Another objection raised, was, that one or more of the members present, by force, prevented the egress of one of the members from the room, while the vote oh the resolution of the 10th was being taken. This also was an improper act, an act of violence, amounting, perhaps, to an assault, but notwithstanding this a quorum of the whole body voted for the resolution, and this impropriety of conduct could not affect the validity of a voluntary vote of a quorum of the board.
The explanation given by one of the body, that he voted in the affirmative on the resolution of the 10th with intent to move to reconsider at another day, falls within the same rule, that the motive we cannot here consider. If the power to reconsider existed, it was exercised at the time. If it was proper for any one, it was equally proper for the member who moved it. And in the absence of rules, I know of no law
The question before the court, then, upon this point, is narrowed down to the effect of the votes of the board of supervisors upon the resolution of the 10th December, apportioning and equalizing the assessments upon the several towns and wards of the county; the vote to reconsider; and the vote fixing a new and different apportionment and equalization, by the resolution of the 11th December.
The power to make this apportionment, (at least once,) is an express power conferred by statute, (1 R. S. 5th ed. 848, § 3,) in the following terms: “ The board of supervisors of each county in this state, in addition to the powers now conferred on them by law, have power at their annual meeting or when lawfully convened at any other meeting.” Sub. 2: “To apportion the tax so to be raised among the several towns and wards of their county; as shall seem to them to he equitable and just.”
The questions that are presented, are, 1. What is the character of the action that is so to be exercised, under this statute authority ? Is it legislative, ministerial, or judicial ? 2. When the power has once been exercised, can it be reversed, reviewed, or reconsidered and annulled, by the same body ?
1st. It is clearly not within the ordinary meaning of legislative power, which is, to enact or make laws. It is to act under a law already made. The sovereign power, in that respect, is the legislature. Eeconsideration is a power that appropriately belongs to legislation. The power that can make and unmake includes the power of reconsideration. Though boards of supervisors have certain limited legislative powers conferred upon them, the statute above cited does not confer legislative power.
It is as clearly not a mere ministerial or executive duty, like the acts of a sheriff or constable,-where no exercise of discretion is demanded, or the performance of that which is
I have been unable to characterize the action of the board of supervisors in the passage of a resolution for the purpose specified, as other than judicial action. Bj judicial action is meant, in legal understanding, that which requires the exercise of judgment or discretion, by one or more persons, or by a corporate body, when acting as public officers, in an official character, as, in the language of this statute, “ shall seem to them to be equitable and just.” This is to me, clearly, a power demanding judicial action. I need not cite authority upon this proposition.
2d. The only remaining proposition to be considered upon this point is, have inferior jurisdictions—have boards of supervisors, bodies who derive their power from the statute— the authority to reconsider, to review, reverse and annul their own judicial action, when it has once been legally exercised ? If they do not possess this power, then the resolution passed on the 10th day of December, by a legal quorum of their body, is in force. Their action in effect became a judgment, in which every citizen of the county who would be benefited thereby, or who would be injured by its reversal, acquired by its passage a vested legal right in its benefits, which can only be changed by a direct review in this court, for good reason to be shown; and cannot be reviewed by themselves, or by any other body, collaterally. If this board do possess the power of reconsideration, review, and reversal, then the resolution of the 11th December, or some subsequent resolution which shall reconsider and reverse that, may be in force, and the power be exercised by them, ad libitum, and that of the 10th of course be nullified. This power to reconsider and reverse, then, is the question.
It will be seen that by the constitution of this body of men by statute, they are a quasi corporation, created for special purposes, and clothed with special powers.
The proceedings in question were, as we have said, judicial proceedings, entered by their clerk in their book of records, with the solemnity of entering the name of each supervisor as he voted on the resolution; and the resolution was, “ concerning the raising of money,” because it was the basis upon which the whole money for taxes of the county was to be raised.
I have been forced to come to the conclusion, upon authority, that when this board, by a legal quorum of their members, had voted upon a resolution, “concerning the raising of money,” under the statute authority to apportion the tax to be raised among the several towns and wards of the county “ as seemed to them equitable and just,” and when this vote had been entered by their clerk in the book of records so required to be kept by them, they had then exhausted their discretion over that subject; that they had then executed a judicial act; that such act was in effect a judgment, final and conclusive as to any power they could exercise over it by way of review or reversal. It had not only the form of judicial action, but was entered of record—a judicial judgment—upon which a warrant of execution could issue. The case of Jermaine v. Waggoner, (1 Hill, 279,) was a case
This was the state of the first case, when brought before me upon the application to order the board to proceed upon their resolution of the 10th, when they had resolved to proceed upon that of the 11th December. In a hasty examination of the case, then taken, I came to the same conclusion that I have now reached, upon a more deliberate review. Assuming, as I then did, that the board acted in good faith, but with mistaken views of their powers, I so advised them, and cautioned them that all action based upon their subsequent proceedings would be a dangerous experiment to them, if persisted in; that it might put at hazard the whole means intended to be raised to pay the public creditors, and block
This second case came on upon Saturday the'21st instant. It was the duty of the board, by statute, to have completed their duties, and to have delivered the books, with warrants attached, to the collecting officers, on or before the 15th day of December.
The board had now adjourned until Monday morning the
It was forcibly argued that the resolutions of apportionment, even if judicial in its character, was only one of a series
The argument that the establishment of such a rule as we have laid down, in relation to the powers of this board, would be greatly inconvenient and impracticable; that the practice has been otherwise; that it would deny to these officers the necessary power properly to discharge their duties, has been considered. If these reasons are good, they must be addressed to the legislature, who, in their wisdom, have withheld the power, and who alone can confer it. The duty of the court is to interpret the statutes. They can neither make the law, nor can they mould and warp it, to meet their own ideas of policy, wisdom, or expediency. They must construe the statutes, conferring the power upon this board of inferior jurisdiction, by the same rule of construction that applies to all other bodies of limited power. If greater powers are necessary than they now possess, it is for the legislature, not for the courts, to grant it. That mistakes, errors and oversights will occur in the proceedings of these bodies that require correction, is almost a matter of course. They occur in all human tribunals; they occur in the courts, as well as in these bodies. Where they happen in ministerial proceedings, either in these bodies, or in the courts, they can be corrected by the same body, as we have shown. (23 Wend. 234.) But
For myself, I have not seen in this exhibition any thing demanding a more liberal construction of power than has been given to such bodies. It is essential to an impartial administration of justice, which is regarded as one of the best securities of the rights and liberties of the citizen, that the power of these inferior bodies should be limited to the exercise of the powers that are expressly conferred. It was never designed that judicial power should be committed to the hands of arbitrary judges, whose decisions may be regulated only by their own changing and capricious opinions not in harmony with the fundamental principles of law. Judicial power subject to no restraint but the arbitrary and interested will of the officer, subject to be controlled by political, interested, or corrupt combinations, is ten fold more dangerous to the public interests; far more destructive of confidence, than all the inconveniences that will ever result from holding this inferior body as all other similar bodies are held, to limited and restricted powers. There is no power conferred upon any one to prorogue them if it should be seen that they are intent upon evil. There is no direct appeal from their judicial action. If they act corruptly, while acting judicially, their corrupt action cannot be collaterally examined. If leagues and conspiracies are formed, and improper action based upon them, no private or civil relief can be obtained, except when they exceed their jurisdiction. The sad history of unrestrained jurisdiction has taught us that these bodies are no more free from suspicion, while exercising the power in question, than others. Complaints of combination and impropriety are not unfrequent. Why then should the ordinary rules for the interpretation of statute conferred power be departed from ? I have been unable to find a reason, if or should the fear of subjecting the individual members .of the
The office of the writ of mandamus is, to require the body or officer to whom it is directed to do some particular thing, therein specified, which appertains to their office and duty, and which the court in issuing it has determined to be consonant to right and justice. (12 John. 415.) It is always issued where the party applying shows a legal right and is without any other specific legal remedy. And in modern cases it is held to be appropriate to issue it against corporations and ministerial officers, to compel them to exercise their functions according to law, notwithstanding they may be liable to an action on the case for neglect of duty. (23 Wend. 458.)
Upon a more deliberate examination of this case than I had been able to give at the time, on the argument, I have come to the conclusion that this is a proper case for a mandamus,- upon the application that is made, to compel the board to perform the ministerial duty of attaching the warrants for the collection of the tax, in the wards represented by the relators, according to the judicial action of the board on the 10th day of December instant. The vigorous and compulsory power of the court should then have been put in exercise. It was proper, to compel the performance of duty. It was proper,- to prevent litigation and controver
Let the mandamus issue, as demanded.
Potter, Justice.]