People ex rel. Presmeyer v. Board of Commissioners of Police & Excise
People ex rel. Presmeyer v. Board of Commissioners of Police & Excise
Opinion of the Court
Section 8 of chapter 549, Laws 1873 (page 859), among other things, provides, that the board of excise of any city, town or village, may at any time, and upon the complaint of any resident of said city, town or village, shall summon before them any person or persons licensed as aforesaid, and if they shall become satisfied that any such person or persons has or have violated any of the -provisions of this act or of the acts hereby amended, they shall revoke, cancel and annul the license of such person or persons, which they are hereby empowered to do; and, when necessary, to enter upon the premises and take possession of and cancel such license. * Upon an inquiry the said board, or the party complained of., may summon and the said board may compel the
It is insisted by the counsel for the appellant that section 8 {supra) was repealed as to the city of Brooklyn, by chapter 863, Laws of 1873 (p. 1290), amending the charter of the city. There is no provision in the latter act expressly repealing section 8. If thereby repealed, it is by implication upon the ground that it contains provisions inconsistent therewith. So far from this, section 58 (page 1344), provides, that the said board (of excise meaning) shall have the powers and perform the duties which are now conferred upon boards of commissioners of excise of the State under the provisions of an act entitled “ An act regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors,” passed April 11, 1870. Section 60, among other things, provides that it shall be the duty of the board to enforce the
The counsel further insists that section 8 is unconstitutional, for the reason that it authorizes the conviction of a party of a crime without a trial by jury. But it authorizes nothing more than an inquiry into and determination of the question, whether the party licensed continues to be a suitable and proper person to sell intoxicating liquors, the statute itself determining that a violator of the excise laws, while holding a license, is not such a person. That the power to license the sale of intoxicating liquors and to cancel such license when granted is vested in the legislature, has been determined by this court. (Metropolitan Board of Excise v. Barrie, 34 N. Y., 657.) The mode and manner in which this shall be done rests in the discretion of that body.
The order of the General Term affirming the order of the Special Term denying a writ of prohibition, must be affirmed with costs.
All concur.
Order affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The People ex rel. George H. Presmeyer v. The Board of Commissioners of Police and Excise of the City of Brooklyn
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published