Nieves v. Lutz
Nieves v. Lutz
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Francisco A. Nieves was a sergeant of the Insular Police during a period of time which ended on December 9, 1930. At the beginning of 1931 he was discharged from the Insular Police, and thereupon he petitioned the District Court of San Juan for a. writ of mandamus to compel the Chief of the Insular Police and the Insular Police Commission to reinstate him in his position, on the ground that he had made timely application for reenlistment in the position which he filled.
One of the questions raised by the respondents is that the remedy of mandamus resorted to in this case does not lie, as the act regulating- the Insular Police grants to the petitioner an appeal to the G-overnor of Puerto Pico from the decision complained of. The district court decided this question by holding that the writ of mandamus lies because the remedy by appeal to the Governor which the act provides is not clear, adequate and speedy, since it does not determine the procedure to be followed, the term in which the appeal should be taken, nor the manner in which it should be prosecuted; and it rendered judgment for the petitioner. The present appeal has been taken from that judgment.
The Act to provide for the organization, regulation, and government of the Insular Police of Puerto Rico, approved March 12, 1908 (Comp. Stat. 1911, secs. 2071, et seq.), is still
The petitioner admits in his petition for mandamus that his appointment as a sergeant was made for a period of two years ending on December 9, 1930, and that if he wished to be reenlisted as sergeant he was required to submit an application therefor before ten days, counted from said date, had elapsed.
The amended section 9 which we have copied empowers the Insular Police Commission to decide as to all the discharges of sergeants, including those discharges due to the expiration of the term for which the sergeants may have been appointed or engaged, for it not only speaks of all discharges in general terms but also says that the expiration of the term of enlistment of sergeants, corporals, and guardsmen shall be a reason for an honorable discharge; and hence it is the Insular Police Commission who decrees the discharges in all cases.
The Insular Police Law which we have cited is adminis-, trative in its scope, for it refers to the composition of the police force, its numerical strength, its direction; the appointment, promotion, suspension, reduction in grade, and dismissal of officers, sergeants, and corporals; the enlistment
For the foregoing reasons, the writ of mandamus sought does not lie in this case, and the judgment appealed from must be reversed and another rendered instead dismissing the petition for mandamus.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.