64 Mich. 479 | Mich. | 1887
A writ of certiorari was issued by the circuit court for the county of Wayne to review a conviction in the recorder’s court of Detroit for an alleged violation of a city ordinance. The recorder applies to us for a mandamus
The Constitution of Michigan, in terms, gives to the Supreme Court a general superintending control over all inferior courts, with power to issue writs of error and other writs named, both original and appellate. Art. 6, § 3.
By section 8 of the same article the circuit courts are given general civil and criminal jurisdiction, except as otherwise provided, and appellate jurisdiction and supervisory control over all “inferior courts and tribunals ” within their jurisdictions.
By section 1 “the judicial power is vested in one Supreme Court, in circuit courts, in probate courts,-and in justices of the peace. Municipal courts of civil and criminal jurisdiction may be established by the Legislature in cities.”
By section 15 the Supreme, circuit, and probate courts are declared to be courts of record, and required to have each a common seal.
A preliminary question is, what is meant in this Constitution by the term “inferior courts?” The relator’s argument is largely based upon what counsel suppose to be the common-law definition of an inferior court, which always means a court which is not one of the four great courts of the realm; that is, the court of chancery and the three great common-law courts sitting at Westminster. Toml. Law Dict. “ Inferior Courts.”
Another less accurate distinction is found in the distinction between courts of record, whose records establish themselves, and are valid judgments in themselves, and courts not of record, proceeding under special conditions, whose jurisdiction is not presumed. The recorder’s court is a court of record by name, and, so far as it has compion-law powers,
There is, however, a significant difference between the Supreme and circuit courts in regard to the scope of their supervisory jurisdiction. The circuit court has not been given any express power to issue writs of error, which are the only writs adapted to reviewing ordinary common-law judgments. In the charter of Detroit the only proceedings in the recorder’s court expressly provided for as appealable to any other court are required to be removed to the Supreme Court “ by writ of error, or other process; in the same manner that like proceedings may by law be removed to the Supreme Court from the circuit courts of the State.” Local Laws 1883, p. 641.
On examining the charter, it will be found that these courts have no like proceedings with the circuit courts, except in common-law cases. Special proceedings are always statutory, and must be conducted where the statute places them, and the circuit courts have no jurisdiction over ordinance cases under their original powers.
The charter unquestionably puts the criminal business and the street and alley cases expressly beyond the jurisdiction of the circuit court, either original or appellate. The real controversy is whether the fact that a part of its jurisdiction is exempt from circuit court supervision prevents the recorder’s court from being inferior to the circuit.
The primary purpose of the recorder’s court was to serve as an agency of the city in enforcing by-laws and ordinances and other municipal business. It succeeded to the mayor’s court, which, by the charter of 1827, if not earlier, was made a court of record, and vested with all of the ordinary powers of the present recorder’s court, except its jurisdiction over crimes. By that charter, and amendments to it, the mayor’s court was given a very large common-law juris
In Welles v. Detroit, 2 Doug. 77, an attempt was made by the city to prosecute a debtor by attachment proceedings in the mayor’s court, claiming that in common-law city causes it had the same jurisdiction as the circuit; but the judgment was taken directly to the Supreme Court by certiorari, and not by writ of error, where it was held that the civil jurisdiction of this court was limited as expressed, and could not be extended by construction so as to embrace this extraordinary remedy, which in terms was allowed to circuit courts by name, and the proceedings were quashed.
Under the old Constitution, which did not define or grant jurisdiction to the circuit courts, but left all but the Supreme Court to be provided for at discretion, the circuit courts had their whole appellate power provided for by statute. The mayor’s court was not only put under the circuit court, but its judgments were all open to appeal and retrial on the merits. The Supreme Court alone could issue writs of error and certiorari under its common-law jurisdiction. Under the Constitution of 1850, as already seen, the circuit courts were empowered to issue writs of certiorari in the exercise of their supervisory control. In the circuit court acts, no provision was made for the writ of certiorari, except in special cases, and it seems to have been supposed the power was entirely statutory. But when the question was brought into this Court, it was held that the right to issue a common-law
In 1857 the charter of Detroit was revised and re-enacted, and then, for the first time, the recorder’s court was provided for, to succeed and carry out the po'wers of the mayor’s court, substantially as before; but it was also to have exclusive jurisdiction for the trial, but not for the finding of indictments, of all indictable crimes committed in the city of Detroit. In the trial of these cases, and in reviewing them, the general laws of the State, as provided for the circuits, were made by the charter to apply, and, as already suggested, the removal to the Supreme Court was to be in the same way provided for like cases in the circuit courts. Charter, c. 6, § 24, and subsequent sections passim.
In this charter the system of procedure for other cases was. otherwise regulated, and the jurisdictions were kept separate, not only in beginning suits and issuing process, but also in employing city officers for city cases, and the local criminal officers representing the ordinary criminal authority for criminal cases. In a recent revision of the charter, in which these matters were partially confounded, so as to give, as was-claimed, exclusive and different methods of prosecution and complaint to the recorder’s court, we held there was no such distinction, and the amendment, as far as attempting it, invalid, People v. Judge of the Recorder’s Court, 59 Mich. 529.
There can be no doubt that, at least up to 1857, the mayor’» court was legally regarded as an inferior court, subject to the review of the circuit. It is equally clear that the recorder’s court is the same court, with an enlarge 1 jurisdiction. It is. also apparent that, in giving this broader jurisdiction, not
It was claimed, in a litigation that arose in an ordinance ■case several years ago, that the section which gives jurisdiction on appeal to the Supreme Court over convictions, in analogy to circuit court cases of similar character, constructively applied to convictions under ordinances. But in the several controversies which came up consecutively between ■the city and the same citizen for an alleged illegal closing of an alley, the double character of the recorder’s court, and of appellate proceedings from it, was pointed out and distinguished.
In People v. Jackson, 7 Mich. 432, respondent had been convicted by the recorder’s court, under a regular criminal information, for closing the alleged alley, and the case was properly brought up before sentence, and decided here on the exceptions. But the case was held to involve no criminal ■offense, and the conviction was set aside for that reason.
Thereupon the city prosecuted _ him under an ordinance intended to cover the case, and he was again convicted. The recorder undertook to reserve the questions for consideration by this Court, as could have been done under the criminal practice, and reliance was had on the clause of the charter before referred to as regulating removals to this Court. The Court held that, when he tried cases under the ordinances, he was acting merely as a municipal officer, enforcing regulations of which we could not take judicial notice, and that no •cases could be reserved except where he performed the functions of a circuit judge under the laws of the State. The proceeding was therefore dismissed. People v. Jackson, 8 Mich. 78.
A second attempt was made in the same case to bring it up
We have found no authority for holding that a municipal-court changes its relative position to other courts by becoming invested with new powers which those courts cannot, review. Such instances are by no means rare, and it has always been found possible to keep the powers distinct. All-common-law courts of record in the United States have been given certain powers under the naturalization laws of Congress, but this has never been supposed to bring that jurisdiction under the control of State appellate courts. The Supreme Court of the United States has recognized the existence of special powers granted to circuit and district courts as outside of its judicial cognizance. United States v. Ferreira, 13 How. 40.
In Auditor General v. Pullman Palace Car Co., 34 Mich. 59, where the circuit court of, Ingham county was given jurisdiction of appeals from the Auditor General in certain cases, we held that the proceeding was aside from the ordinary judicial jurisdiction, and therefore not subject to our review in any shape.-
In Southwick v. Postmaster General, 2 Pet. 442, the case was quite parallel with this. There a suit was brought in a district court of the United States, having circuit court powers at common law, and judgment was rendered, which
“Had the court for the Northern district of New York possessed no circuit powers, it could still have taken cognizance of this cause. By conferring on it the powers of a circuit court, Congress has added nothing to its jurisdiction in this case. In taking cognizance of it, a district court has exercised the ordinary jurisdiction assigned to that class of courts. No extraordinary powers were brought into operation. We cannot say that a district court, performing the appropriate duty of a district court, is sitting as a circuit court because it possesses the powers of a circuit court also.”'
The fact that the recorder’s court acts as a State criminal court in criminal cases does not make it any the less a city court in city cases. It has already been decided that these ordinance cases involve not State law, but city law, and must be reviewed on certiorari. So far as these cases are concerned, the charter has not been substantially changed, and there is no reason to suppose the Legislature meant any change. The remedy by appeal has been dropped very wisely, as State courts are not designed to act as municipal courts; but no interference has been had to provide any other remedy, so that the certiorari is the only one to boused. The review of such cases is as appropriate for the circuit court now as it was prior to 1857. It is plain enough that a municipal court is presumptively inferior to a circuit
We think the certiorari was properly issued, and the application of relator must be denied. No costs will be awarded, as relator acts officially in an entirely proper effort to have his duty defined.