69 So. 202 | La. | 1915
The defendant has appealed from a conviction for violating an ordinance of the town of Hammond by permitting the privies on his premises to become filthy and unsanitary. He was sentenced to pay a fine of $25 and costs or be imprisoned 30 days. He filed a demurrer in the municipal court, contending that the Ordinance No.. 50, approved October 3, 1900, under which he was prosecuted, was repealed by the Ordinance No. 142, approved June 4, 1912. The demurrer being overruled, the case was submitted on a statement of facts, in which it appears that the privies which are in an unsanitary condition are on premises owned by the defendant but occupied by tenants, and that the defendant did not know that the tenants had neglected the cleaning of their privies.
The penalty prescribed for a violation of Ordinance No. 50 is a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $50 or imprisonment for not more than 25 days. The alternative penalty of imprisonment imposed in this case, therefore, appears to be excessive; but the only question presented in this appeal is as to legality of the ordinance complained of.
The conviction is affirmed.