District of Columbia v. Hauf
District of Columbia v. Hauf
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court:
At the time of the enacting of said ordinance there were three separate forms of municipal government in the District of Columbia. These were the corporation of the city of Washington, the corporation of the city of Georgetown, and the levy court. The charters of the two cities controlled in the territories comprised within the designated limits of said cities respectively. The jurisdiction of the levy court extended to all the territory of the District not included in the limits of said cities.
By act of Congress, approved February 21, 1871, the charters of the two cities were repealed, and the levy court abolished. A new form of municipal government was created for the entire District. 16 Stat. at L. 419, chap. 62. Section 40 of said act, in repealing the city charters, provided that the portion of the District included within the limits of each shall continue to be known as the city of Washington and the city of Georgetown, respectively; and further as follows: “But all laws and ordi
As the cities of Washington and Georgetown had grown considerably since their original acts of incorporation, and the District generally was increasing in population, public policy suggested a new form of municipal government that would comprehend the entire District, and bring all of its inhabitants under one power of control and regulation for all purposes. Evidently, one of-the main objects of the new legislation was to subject the inhabitants of the entire District to the equal operation and protection of all police regulations, general in their nature, and affecting the interests of all in a like manner. If all such general regulations of the several preceding municipal governments, not expressly repealed by the organic act of February 21, 1878, or by some subsequent authoritative act, are to be held to be still in force, the people would, in some instances, be subjected to two or three conflicting regulations of the same thing, determinable by the particular part of the District in which an act affected thereby may have been done. Another consequence of holding this ordinance to be still in force within the limits of the old city of Washington would be that a baker within those limits would not be able to sell the prohibited
Thus, the effect of the enforcement of the ordinance might be to injure the business of the baker in the old city, or compel him to remove beyond the boundary, without, at the same time, accomplishing the purpose of its enactment. In view of these conditions, we are of the opinion that the ordinance is inconsistent with the act of February 21, 1871, and was therefore repealed by it.
Having been repealed, it could not be revived by the act of February 11, 1895 (28 Stat. at L. 650, chap. 79), adding Georgetown to the city of Washington, and extending all general laws, ordinances, and regulations of the latter territory to the former.
It is unnecessary to consider the other objections that have been made to the validity of the ordinance. For the reasons given, the order quashing the information will be affirmed, with costs. Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA v. HAUF
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- Syllabus
- Appeal and Error; Jeopardy; Municipal Corporations; Statutes; Weights and Measures. 1. While this court has no jurisdiction to entertain an appeal by the United States, or to grant a writ of error applied for by the District of Columbia, to review a judgment of acquittal, after a trial on the merits, in a criminal case (following United States v. Evans, 30 App. D. C. 58, 213 U. S. 297, 53 L. ed. —, 29 Sup. Ct. Rep. 507, and District of Columbia v. Burns, 32 App. D. C. 203), it has jurisdiction to grant and to entertain a writ of error to the police court, on application of the District of Columbia, in a prosecution for the violation of a municipal ordinance, where that court quashed the information and discharged the accused on the ground of the invalidity of the ordinance, as the accused has not been put in jeopardy. 2. The ordinance of the late corporation of Washington of January 7, 1858, prescribing the ingredients and fixing the weight of loaves of bread to be sold within the limits of the then city of Washington is inconsistent with, and was therefore repealed by, the act of Congress of February 21, 1871 (16 Stat. at L. 419, chap. 62), repealing the charters of the cities of Washington and Georgetown, and creating a new form of municipal government for the District of Columbia.