State ex rel. Seale v. Crawford
State ex rel. Seale v. Crawford
Opinion of the Court
The facts in this case are substantially the same as the facts in the case of the State ex rel. L. B. Claiborne v. Charles Parlange, decided by this court in May, 1874.
For the reasons stated in that case there must be judgment in favor of the plaintiff.
It is therefore ordered that the judgment of the lower court be avoided and annulled, and that there be judgment in favor of J. C. Seale, recognizing him as the district attorney pro tempore of the parish of Madison, and for costs of both courts against the defendant.
Concurring Opinion
concurring. In the decree in this proceeding, under the intrusion act for the office of district attorney pro tem., the court finding that section one of act No. 44 of the acts of 1874 abolished the office, and finding that sections two, three and four of said act, reviving the said office and authorizing the Governor to fill vacancies therein by appointments, are void, because repugnant to article 114 of the constitution, rejected the demand of the plaintiff, and decided that neither the relator nor the defendant was entitled to the office in dispute, because by the statute referred to the office was abolished.
The title of the act is: “An act to repeal sections 1178, 1179, 2760> 2761 of Ray’s Revised Statutes and for other purposes.” These sections of the Revised Statutes, referred to in the title, are the ones creating the office of district attorney pro tem.
Section one repeals those sections, thereby abolishing the office.
Sections two, three and four of said act revive or reinstate the office of district attorney pro tem., and authorize the Governor to fill vacancies therein by appointments.
Vacancies were, by the previous law, filled by the police jury or by the parish judge.
The result, therefore, intended to be accomplished by the enactment of the statute under review was simply to change the manner of filling vacancies in the office of district attorney pro tem.
The General Assembly never intended to abolish the office, as the provision of section one, disconnected from the succeeding sections, would seem to imply.
It is the intention of the lawgiver which the court must seek out, and, if possible, give effect to in interpreting a statute; and the whole act must be construed together in order to determine the intention of its authors.
It results, therefore, from the foregoing observations, that the enactment in question is merely a statute to change the manner of filling vacancies in the office of district attorney pro tem.. This obviously was the intention, meaning and purpose of the law.
Now, the question is : Is this object covered by the title, as required by article 114 of the constitution? Manifestly it is not. It is urged, however, that the title covers the first section, abolishing the office, and that this part of the statute is valid. This would be to make a law which the General Assembly never intended to enact, because, as before stated, considering all the sections together, it is evident the-purpose was to continue the office; but the manner of filling vacancies therein was intended to be changed. This was the evil to be remedied.
In Cooley’s Constitutional Limitations, second edition, page 147, section 5, the author, in discussing the question: What is the effect
Taking the statute altogether, it is impossible to suppose the legislative intention was to abolish the office in question, because this would render meaningless sections two, three and four of said act reviving.
My conclusion is the statute is unconstitutional, and the title set up by the defendant thereunder is void.
I therefore concur in the decree of this court in this case.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The State ex rel. J. C. Seale v. Isaac H. Crawford
- Status
- Published