Gordon v. City of Hattiesburg
Gordon v. City of Hattiesburg
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Appellant was convicted by the police judge of the city ■of Hattiesburg upon a charge of vagrancy. He áppealed to the circuit court, and was convicted there. From that judgment this appeal is prosecuted.
The charge was that appellant was a “common gambler.” The record discloses that appellant had been convicted of gambling three or four times within the two years next preceding the date of this indictment. Appellant is a negro of the ordinary type to be found in ■cities like Hattiesburg. He, loafed a good deal, and worked some. He had been ill for about two years, and was disqualified thereby from doing hard work. At the most, the only evidence tending to show he was a “common gambler” was the three or four convictions mentioned above.
• The members of the legislature are presumed to be-men of ordinary intelligence (and, in fact, they are sometimes men of ordinary wisdom), and, this being so, we do not believe that appellant was guilty of the charge preferred against him. To be more exact, the state did not prove it on him. ■
Reversed, and judgment here..
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.