Case Information
*1 April 3, 1949 mmolrblo s. J. 18aaoka
Qhalnmn, luaiaIal mmdtteo,
Boueo of Repromntatlvos
AWtiB, Taxaa
Doar Sirr Opinion lfo. v-129
I&r Oonstltmtlonnlity OS H. B. SS8,sotBLe&irlwmo,rola- tire to dellnquemt mm&r.
Your reqwat for UI opinion upon abeve aub- jeat matter Is na follkmw~:
"I am haraith en01001 aeepyofeblll, , bOlta@ known as lbluo Bill 52 , with rorr 100111- ants whloh ha8 to do with beSUing dellnqeu&t par&~ pr8tIdIng dellawent mxentm are oi misdomsanor and gre8orIbIag a pawlOx. gailty A qwstieloa ba been raised a8 to the oma%l$a- tlonallty OS thie pro oood loglslatlon. Aa ohairman of t& a410 L m Comitt.0, it ha8 wan
oated thst X nfor this bill to you for an :3&m m to its eonutleutIoMlIh~. *It O~QM to the writer that tho bill u bit l+wely'dra*m In at- in:
submIt.te& ia a llttlo to dof,itns a admIti offemo. You dll t-cllrpting noto that It say@1 'who fall8 or odte to l xor- d~~dyso~le &IUgonao In tha oontxel of roah
It oeoum to tho writer that the ma- tlon k *reasowblo dIllgoaoo* when a 0x3 JMl ofionse or penalty la sought to be defined s&&l4 bo a llttlo am?e o%plIeIt. It itwther pratidoa?
* * * who falls o r omits to l xeroluo nasoaable dlll~otepxwent ouoh ohild fromboeosiag do- liaquent in morals or integrlt~ are guilty of jmonlle delinquonaj.
Honorable :i. J. 18Sr;OkS - tage 2
*Aa to thla quotation we bollevc that tho ia suirieim3tiy doflccd 31cdo ecr- 0fra00 taln. It furthor pmvldcc * *** end nb~ ahcll wllfully pennIt auoh ehlld to csaeoletc with vloIouc or lmmrcl perconc or pcrconc who aro erimlaclc .* It cppeerc to uc that thla olcuco would noooaaltcto a doflnltlon of *vlaic+uc or lmorrl QOIUOM* with rruoh oortclcty thct the person ohcrgoQ would know who rloiocc and l&moral ponona am. He thfak IIU'ther that those *orha are orImlmla*, - tkct ft should acrtalnl~ say:
penaita such ohlld Tao assooisto
with v o out or imicorsl persona or persons who ‘who w are orlmkuclo.~
"Thr bill fcxther pr~ldoc: 1 t 0 0 or pornit cuoh ohlld to wcndcr'tho ctrcotc in Idlo- ma8 or to boeoma c bcbltccl tmcct fromaahoel.* It eoourc to ua that lf suoh olauce la cuftl- olintlg oe~clc, waioh we hcrdly bclfsve It ifi, It o o rSaI.uly l hedia prorido that the parout should 'kuowI~&' pormlt the ohlld to da these t;hI?~m.~
Wo bavo oerofully oxomlmod Hoaco Bill So. 5X3 whloh aooorpaalsd your roqtmct - Bltlo end body. Tho title to Bill la good, end oomondably ahoti. Wo find no ?ault wI8h It. Nor IO there au]r.ooaatItutloncl atctctorJI viac in tho boar or tkc Bill.
Wo thoak you ror your odtlocl cncl~lo of tits all1 aa to its legs1 coftioleney. ft hcc beet helpful to ca. Eew- to tha mer- ever, tho points as to phrcclng sup&pctod by fi~a e ltc of tkc El11 rather thn ot Its valldlty. Ta othor wotic, lt la moroly a qucctlon of the sccl lntcntloa of tin Le&alcturc co to what they want to srko cc offeace, l.o., whother thef wect
t or the parent an ot?ence;~or tho erd to pmpcr ccfcgucrdlng of the ohlld, Oorpas Jurlc Seouudum, Vol. 88, Seatlon'SO, doallng with tho tl%le CRIMSNeL LA%, b8 thla to oaf:
"By the espross tOn!iC of a statute gullfy knowlodgo la cwotiaac amQe an eacenflal j.n- gredlont of the effetice, ac whcro it reqnlma the cot to bo lono .*kn~wl~&y’ , do. bn tb other hand, tho Logiolaturo may torbld the doing or er failure to do en sat and make its oomcIcclon or omlsslo,n arlml~a1 without regard to the intent or knowlodqo or the door, and If auoh lexlalative intention sppeexs the oourtc met dive ft. erreot, mnd in suoh oasec, *3 Honorable S. J. Isaaoks - Page 3
ths dolng of the lnhlblted mot oonstltatas the orlme, and the moral turpitude or parity of fhs motive by whloh lt was pronpted, and knowledge or l~oranoe of lta orlmlnel ohazaoter, are lm- nmterlal olrowtanser on the qaestlon of guilt; suoh lsglslatlon Is enaoted la sustained, for the most part, on grounds of naoessity, and le,n~t~v~olatlve of the federal oonsfito- tion.
Pappas v. State, 188 S. '$. 52, by the Suprems Court of Tanne0see, deolaras:
*It being olear that in statutory offenors a orlmlnal intent or fraudulent intent 1s not always essential, it 1s equally olear that whsther thr solenter is a material element of the oriar not atit bo determined by the languagr used by the Legislature in dsflninrJ the offsnse.
*In the statuts under oousldrratlon ths word8 *wlilfuiiy* or ~knowlnglg* are nowhars to be found. Thsse are ths usual words wed by the law-making power whsn it fs oontsmpla6ed by tham that the Intention of the person vlo- latlng the'statnte should be oonsldered as %he material 61ement.n
In Tsxar Liquor Control Board v. Duvi~ll,~ 170 S. W. (Ed) gZ0, a oasa of sanosllatS.on of a llosnes for eaployiag l mlnor less than 16 years of age, it 1s said:
"The prohlbltsd aot of employing a minor In a position fraught with ttiptetlons that may lsad to a life of dleslpatlon, la deolared in unquallfled $slies, unrsllev,ed by any langsag :~. lmpertlng that knowledge of the age of the minor, or that either good faith or Intent wee an element the offense. In authorlz- lnr the oanoellatlon of a llosnse for the sporadlo sale of~beer to a person under
twenty-one years of ago, the sama Artlels of the statute, in Subd. l(a), provides that sush sale must be knowingly mado; but with refarsnoe to the offense of sreater enormity, .that 14, of amplo~lng a minor In 8 business where he is oonstantly, day after day, ax- posed to a tsmptatlon that my result in his beoomlng an lnebrlate, no snob qualifying language la found.
Honorable S. J. Isaaoks - Page 4 statutu, (~iron slmllar
in llno with oon6txuotlon of the statute “This [14]
not only by our oourts but by ooartr
eeuntry over. In Peaooak v. LImburger, 9% Tax. 858, 66 8. IV. TM, our Supreme Court atiwerlng oertlfled question, held that a sale of liquor to a n&nor oonatituted a brsaoh of ths dsaler's bond, whether thz :e$lp knsr the faot of inorlty or not,
House Bill 538, 50th Legislature, orsat- lne; tb offsim8 of dsllnqoenoy of pars&, mak- ing if an offense by ona *who falls or omltr to exerolss reasonable dlllgsnse in the ooatrol of such ohlld* without prssorlblag further that suoh failure or omlsslon was %uowlngliym, does make atetuto void. This present4 merely a mattsr oohstruotloa as to the ma1 lnteu- tlon of'the Legislature as to.what would oonsM- tee the offsuse, and goss to ths merlto rather than the oonstittitlouallty of the Bill.
Yours very truly, hl?I!CRRBY OERERAL OF TBZAS By (Signed) 0010 spew Aasl8taat APPROVED APB 7, 1847
/a/ Prloe Dan101