Shelton v. Wade
Shelton v. Wade
Opinion of the Court
Pending hearing on the merits, plaintiff seeks to enjoin the defendant from transferring money from the General Fund of the Territory to the Unemployment Compensation Fund, pursuant to a loan of $2,000,000 made under the authority of Ch. 8, E.S.L.A.1955, to the Employment Security Commission. The complaint alleges that further transfers and loans will be made from the General Fund and that since the Unemployment Compensation Fund is insolvent the funds so transferred or lent will be irretrievably lost to the General Fund, thereby increasing the tax burden of plaintiff and other taxpayers. The grounds upon which injunctive relief is sought are that (a) the Legislature was not lawfully convened at the time of the passage of Ch. 8 because 15 days’ notice had not been given; (b) the Employment Security Commission was not validly constituted at the time the loan of $2,000,000 was applied for; (c) Ch. 8 is in contravention of Sec. 9 of the Organic Act, 48 U.S.C.A. § 77, prohibiting the Legislature from assuming any indebtedness, and (d) the transfer of funds from the General Fund is prohibited by Sec. 7-1-6(d) of the Code.
It was stipulated at the hearing that on or about April 9, 1955, the Employment Security Commission directed its executive director to apply for a loan of $2,000,000 from the General Fund; that $1,000,000 was advanced, of which $925,-000 has been spent; that the Unemployment Compensation Fund is depleted and that contributions thereto are insufficient to replenish it; that the Governor did not give 15 days’ notice of the extraordinary session at which the Employment Security and the loan Acts were enacted; that when the Commission applied for the loan only four members had qualified but that the vote for the loan was unanimous; that there is no statutory provision authorizing the payment or diversion of any funds out of the General Fund for the purpose stated; and that the loan authorized by Ch. 8 represents between 10% and 15% of the total estimated revenues for the fiscal year 1955-56 and more than 25% of the General Fund at the present time.
The contention of the Territory that this is a suit against the sovereign, consent to bring which has not been given, is untenable where, as here, the invalidity of a statute or official act is asserted, Larson v. Domestic and Foreign Corp., 337 U.S. 682, 690, 69 S.Ct. 1457, 93 L.Ed. 1628, rehearing denied 338 U. S. 840, 70 S.Ct. 31, 94 L.Ed. 514.
The questions raised as to the validity of the official acts complained of and of the statutes involved are sufficiently grave to bring the case within the ambit of Mayo v. Lakeland Highlands Canning Co., 309 U.S. 310, 316, 60 S.Ct. 517, 84 L.Ed. 774, and entitle the plaintiff to interlocutory relief unless some essential to the maintenance of such a suit is lacking. But while the court reserves questions of law and of fact for determination at the hearing on the merits, the plaintiff seeking injunctive relief must also show preliminarily that
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Frank S. SHELTON v. Hugh WADE, as Treasurer of the Territory of Alaska
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published