State v. Horan
State v. Horan
Opinion of the Court
The only question is, Was the 9th Section of the Act of 1840, to suppress gaming, repealed or suspended
The 9th Section of the Act of 1840 is as follows, i. e., “ That “ if any person shall permit any banking game, such as are “ inhibited by the 3d Section of this Act, to be kept in his or “ her house, or shall rent a room for this purpose, he or she “ shall suffer the same punishment as those convicted of keep- “ ing such bank.” The 3d Section, referred to, prescribes a penalty or a fine, of one thousand dollars ; and on failure to pay the fine, imprisonment, without bail, for six months, for keeping any such banks; and it enumerates among the inhibited games, Faro bank.
That this 3d Section is entirely superceded by the 69th Section of the last Act, there can be no doubt, as much so as if it was stricken from the statute book. Such being its condition, it is insisted by the counsel for the appellee, that it can afford no support to the 9th Section, which, resting upon it, must fall with it; because, without such support, the 9th Section prescribes no punishment, and is entirely inoperative. This seems to be a fair logical deduction. This conclusion, to my mind, acquires additional strength, from an examination of the Act of 1848, which shows that the 9th Section was intended to be superseded, or that its re-enactment was omitted by an accidental oversight. In the Act of 1848, every provision of of the Act of 1840 is enacted, with the exception of the 9th Section ; and that the Legislature had its attention called to the subject of permitting games to be played, is manifest, from their enacting the provisions of the 8th Section, which made
These considerations have brought my mind to the conclusion, that the Act of 1848 was intended and does entirely supersede the Act of 1840; and if the 9th Section was not superseded, it became inoperative by the repeal of the 3d Section. If this was not the intention of the Legislature, that body is now in session, and can supply the defects of the Act of 1848. I believe there is no error in the judgment of the District Court, and that the same ought to be affirmed ; and this is the judgment of the Court.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- State v. John Horan
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published