New Castle v. Cummings
New Castle v. Cummings
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The defendant appeal's from his summary conviction under an ordinance of the city of New Castle, the title and material provisions of which are as follows: "An ordinance prohibiting under penalty the desecration of the' Sabbath or Lord’s Day, commonly called Sunday. Section 1. Be it ordained &c. . . . That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to keep open any store, room or place, or maintain any stand for the purpose of selling therein or thereat any fruits, candies, goods, wares, merchandise, or other articles and things whatsoever, or tó sell any of the aforesaid in any such-store, room, or'place, or at any such stand, or at or in' any other place within said city on the Lord’s Day or Sabbath, commonly called Sunday; but this provision shall not apply vto keeping open any room or place for the purpose of selling or to the sale of any necessary medical or surgical supplies, milk and such necessaries of life, and other articles and things 'as are or may be necessary in works or matters of necessity, mercy and charity. Section 2. Any person violating the foregoing section, shall upon conviction, pay a fine of not less'than ten dollars and not more than twenty-five dollars for each and
The information before the mayor of the city charged that: “On the 14th day of July, a. d. 1907, being the Sabbath or the Lord’s Day, commonly called Sunday, at and in the said City of New Castle, county aforesaid, that John Cummings did unlawfully in violation of the hereinafter mentioned ordinance of the said city, keep open his room and place of business on Washington street (New Castle Sugar Bowl), in said city for the purpose of selling therein and thereat goods, wares, merchandise and other articles and things whatsoever, to wit: ice cream, soda water, goods, wares, and merchandise and other articles and things, and he, the said John Cummings did then and there unlawfully, in violation of the said ordinance, in the said room or place, sell certain goods, wares, merchandise, and other articles and things, viz.: certain ice cream, soda water, goods, wares, and merchandise and other articles and things, did then and there sell, he, the said John Cummings receiving money in payment for the ice cream, soda water, goods, wares, and merchandise so sold as aforesaid, and he the said John Cummings at the time and place aforesaid, was following the business of selling ice cream, soda water, goods, wares and merchandise, and that on the day and date aforesaid at the place aforesaid in violation of said ordinance did sell divers ice cream, soda water, goods, wares, and merchandise to divers persons for gain, all in violation of that certain .ordinance of said city, entitled, 'An ordinance prohibiting under penalty the desecration of the Sabbath or Lord’s Day commonly called Sunday,’ etc.
Having been convicted before the mayor of the city, an appeal was allowed by the court of quarter sessions. The learned judge of the court below, after a hearing, entered the following judgment: Now, November 11, 1907, the defendant, John
The appellant attacks the validity of the - ordinance on two grounds: First, that the city was without authority to enact it, and, second, that the title is insufficient. The act of May 23, 1889, art. V, sec. 3, clause 28, P. L. 277 authorizes cities of the third class, to enact ordinances, among others: “To restrain, prohibit and suppress .... desecration of the Sabbath Day commonly called Sunday.” The same statute, in clause 20 of the same section, authorizes such cities to enact ordinances “to impose fines, forfeitures and penalties for the violation of any ordinance, and provide for the recovery and collection of the same; and in default of payment to provide for confinement in the city or county prison, or at hard labor upon the streets or elsewhere, for the benefit of the city.” This was a grant of police power to the municipalities to enable them to maintain order within their limits, and the grant of the power to restrain and prohibit desecration of Sunday was, in order to make it effective, accompanied by the grant of the power, by the twentieth clause of the section, to impose fines and
The ordinance related to but one subject, the regulation of the conduct of persons within the municipality on Sunday.
The information against, the appellant set forth in detail sufficient facts to show that the offense charged came within the provisions of the ordinance and that it was not within the exception or proviso of either the ordinance or the act of 1794. It averred all the substantial and jurisdictional facts necessary to constitute the offense, and that was all that was required: Commonwealth v. Borden, 61 Pa. 272; Commonwealth v. Gelbert, 170 Pa. 426. The defendant having appealed from the judgment of the mayor of the city and gone to trial in the court of quarter sessions, must be deemed to have waived any defects in the information which were not substantial and jurisdictional: Paizer v. Commonwealth, 4 Kulp, 286. The evidence established beyond question that the defendant kept a store, which he called the “Sugar Bowl,” at which he sold fruits, candies, tobacco, cigars, ice cream, soda water and other articles. On the Sunday in question this store was open, the evidence clearly established and the defendant admitted that he sold soda water and ice cream, thirty or forty gallons of the latter. He testified that he did not feed people at his place, nor furnish them with sandwiches or anything like that;
The judgment entered by the court below found the defendant guilty of keeping open a store for the purpose of selling therein goods, wares and merchandise, viz.: soft drinks, such as soda water with fruit juices and ice cream therein, and ice cream, “on July 14th, 1907, being the seventh or Lord’s Day, commonly called Sunday, and did, in the City of New Castle, on said July 14th, 1907, being the seventh or Lord’s Day, commonly called Sunday, sell in said store, room or place, goods, wares and merchandise, viz.: soft drinks, being soda water with fruit- juices and flavors and ice cream therein, and also ice cream, in violation of that certain ordinance,” etc. The judgment entered, includes all the substantial and jurisdictional facts necessary to constitute the offense, and shows upon its face that the acts of the defendant did not come within the exception of the ordinance. The finding that the offense was committed “on July 14th, 1907, being the seventh or Lord’s Day, commonly called Sunday,” indicates great carelessness upon the part of the learned judge in signing his decree, for the word seventh should have no place in the finding. It will be observed that the finding does not state what this word referred to, whether it was the seventh day of the
The judgment is affirmed and the record remitted for execution.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.