162 Wis. 410 | Wis. | 1916
Lead Opinion
In the Income Tax Cases, 148 Wis. 456, 134 N. W. 673, 135 N. W. 164, the question of the original jurisdiction of this court was treated so fully that only a brief reference to the subject need now be made. It was said in substance that where in a matter of public right the remedy in
The relator urges a number of constitutional objections to the validity of ch. 518 of the Laws of 1915, creating the court. Many of them are of such importance and so far reaching.in their results that it has been thought best not to pass upon them in this case since its disposition can be rested upon only two of them, namely: first, that ch. 518 is a local bill within the meaning of sec. 18, art. IY, of the constitution, and second, that its subject is not expressed in the title as required by said section, which reads: “No private or local bill which may be passed by the legislature shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.”
In Milwaukee Co. v. Isenring, 109 Wis. 9, 85 N. W. 131, the cases In this state involving the question of when a law is general or local within the meaning of the constitutional provision above quoted were reviewed at length, and it was there held that a law might be public and local, or it might be general in the restricted sense in which the term is used in see. 21, art. VII, of the constitution, which provides that “no gen
The law in question deals with the establishment of a superior court in Fond du Lac county and the abolishment of its county court. It is limited in its effect to the boundaries' of Fond du Lac county and therefore local in character. True, it is public or general in the sense that it may affect publicly or generally all the people of the county or outside thereof, but it deals with the establishment and abolition of courts of a specified locality which does not constitute a class-for purposes of legislation. So within the rule laid down in the case of Milwaukee Co. v. Isenring, supra, it must be held to be a local law coming within the provisions of sec. 18, art. IY, of the constitution.
The failure of counsel for defendant to realize that a law may be general or public within the meaning of sec. 21, art. VII, and still be local within the meaning of sec. 18, art. IV, has led them to claim that acts like the one in question have been held to be not local in these cases: In re Boyle, 9 Wis. 264; In re Bergin, 31 Wis. 383; State ex rel. Att’y Gen. v. Foote, 11 Wis. 14; Meshke v. Van Doren, 16 Wis. 319.
So far as it has come to our attention, acts abolishing an existing court and creating a new one or transferring the entire jurisdiction of one court to another, have referred to the existing court in their title. Thus ch. 107 of the Laws of 1873 changed the name of the police court to the municipal court and enlarged its jurisdiction. Its title was “An act ' relating to the police court of the city of Madison.” Oh. 146 of the Laws of 1876 established a municipal court in Marathon county. In 1879 the court was abolished and a new one created by ch. 115 of the Laws of 1879. The title of the latter act was “An act to establish a municipal court in the city of Wausau and county of Marathon, and to repeal chapter one hundred and forty-six, general laws of 1816.” The superior court of Milwaukee county was created by ch. 125 of the Laws of 1887. In 1903 it was abolished by ch. 1 of the laws of that year entitled: “An act to repeal the acts establishing a superior court for Milwaukee county and providing for the transfer of causes and proceedings pending
The constitutional prohibition against the passage of private or local laws whose subjects are not expressed in their title has a substantial foundation for its existence. That it was considered important by the framers of the constitution is evidenced by the fact that it found a place in the basic law of the state. It is of no less importance now than then. The mischief of smuggling private or local laws through the legislature under false, inadequate, or misleading titles is a serious one, and whenever such smuggling, whether intentional or not, is found to have taken place, courts should not hesitate to declare , a law so passed invalid. No branch of the government however high is above a constitutional prohibition or safeguard, and no citizen hovrever low is outside their beneficial protection. Within the scope of its operation the constitution acts upon all alike.
If after giving the title of a private or local law a liberal construction, including within its meaning all matters reasonably germane thereto, it is found that the body of the act contains matters of substance foreign to the title so construed, then such law falls within the condemnation of the constitution. We think the titles of chapters 518 and 589 of the Laws of 1915, though liberally construed, fail to meet the requirements of the basic law and hence they are declared invalid.
They are void not only in so far as they affect the county court but in loto, because from the whole scheme of the acts we cannot assume the legislature would have created a superior court in Fond du Lae county without abolishing the county court. The two are so interrelated in the acts that they must stand or fall together. Statutes void in their main purpose or void as to a substantial part which is closely
By the Court. — It is considered, ordered, and adjudged that the defendant, F. W. Chadbourne, has no right to the office of county judge of Fond du Lac county or to the exercise of the functions or duties thereof, and that he he ousted and excluded therefrom.
That the relator, A. B. Bichter, is and has been since the 1st day of September, 1915, entitled to the said office by virtue of the election and qualification alleged in the complaint, and to the franchises, privileges, and emoluments thereof, and that he have and recover of the defendant, F. W. Chad-bourne, his costs of this action, to he taxed by the clerk. „
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). The method here pursued of disposing of a public officer is not one calculated to create a very favorable impression. What the reasons were for attempting to legislate Judge Bichter out of office I do not know. The fact that the movement seems to have had the backing of nearly the entire bar of Fond du Lac county negatives the idea that partisan politics entered into the matter. At the same time the lengthy postponement of the time at which an election could be held would seem to indicate that the Judge might be more popular with the electors than he was with the lawyers. These are considerations, however, which do not concern this court. The question is, Had the legislature the right to enact such a law as it did, and, if so, did it proceed in a constitutional manner in doing so ?
The constitution expressly authorizes the legislature to abolish the office of judge of probate. Sec. 14, art. VII, Const. This is what Mr. Bichter was. So I think we have no debatable question so far. There is some conflict in the decisions as to whether such a law as we have here is general or local. Perhaps the weight of authority qccords with the
In speaking of the sufficiency of the title to a local law, this court said in In re Southern Wis. P. Co. 140 Wis. 245, 251, 122 N. W. 801:
“An act of the legislature should not be adjudged invalid except upon clear and unmistakable grounds, a-nd the title of a private or local act should be liberally construed, and the act should not be declared void merely because such title does not express the subject as fully or as unequivocally as possible. Mills v. Charleton, 29 Wis. 400. The title to an act must be liberally construed, giving all reasonable leeway for the exercise of legislative discretion. It should not be held insufficient if a reasonable doubt exists as to its sufficiency. It is only where the title is so insufficient and so defective as not to reasonably suggest the purpose of the act it covers, and where a reading of the act will disclose provisions that are clearly outside of its title, that it will be held invalid. Milwaukee Co. v. Isenring, 109 Wis. 9, 24, 85 N. W. 131. The title to a legislative act must not only be liberally construed, but the’ act should not be condemned as insufficient because of the title, unless, giving such title the largest scope which reason will permit, something is found in the body of the act which is neither within the literal meaning nor the spirit of the title nor germane thereto.”
The law in question is entitled “An act to create a superior court in the county of Fond du Lac.” Every provision in it which confers jurisdiction is germane to the title. Certainly the legislature could lawfully under this title transfer to the new court every shred of jurisdiction theretofore exercised by the county judge and leave him so that he could not perform a single judicial function. To say that it could not go farther and wipe out the office, where there was nothing left for the officer to do, without stating in the title that such-was one of the purposes of the act, is to my mind dr awing, a pretty fine line. Of course.the purpose of the constitutional