Arnold v. City of Spartanburg

• Decision Date: 05 January 1943
• Docket Number: 15484.
• Citation: 23 S.E.2d 735,201 S.C. 523
• Parties: ARNOLD et al. v. CITY OF SPARTANBURG et al.
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court

23 S.E.2d 735

201 S.C. 523

ARNOLD et al. v. CITY OF SPARTANBURG et al.

No. 15484.

Supreme Court of South Carolina

January 5, 1943

Watkins & Prince, of Anderson, for plaintiffs.

C A. Taylor, T. M. Lyles, H. K. Osborne, and Esten C. Taylor all of Spartanburg, for defendants.

BONHAM Chief Justice.

The plaintiffs, H. R. Arnold and others, for themselves and others similarly situated, brought this action, containing prayers for temporary and permanent injunctive relief, in the original jurisdiction of this Court, against the City of Spartanburg, a municipal corporation, and, in their respective official capacities, against the members of the city council, the chief of police and the chief of detectives of that municipality.

The plaintiffs alleged in their complaint that they were owners of business establishments in that city wherein, among other commodities, beer and wine were sold; that Section 1 of Act Number 204 of the General Assembly of 1935, April 26 (Acts S.C.1935, 39 St. at Large, page 276), amending earlier Acts provides that: "From and after the approval of this Act all Beer, Ales, Porter and all other similar Malt or fermented Beverages containing not in excess of 5% alcohol by weight and on all natural wine as defined by Federal Statute in the Act of Congress of February 24, 1919 not exceeding 14% shall be and are hereby declared to be non-alcoholic beverages, and non-intoxicating."

The complaint also cites Act Number 406 of the General Assembly of 1933, May 31 (S.C.Acts 1933, 38 St. at Large, page 567), providing that "every person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of selling beer, ale, porter, wine or any beverage legalized under the provisions of this Act, shall apply to the South Carolina Tax Commission for a permit to sell such beverages." Section 10.

It is alleged that the plaintiffs have complied with all the provisions of the Acts above cited, and that they are engaged in the lawful and orderly sale of such products; that on October 27, 1942, the City Council of the City of Spartanburg adopted an ordinance declaring it unlawful from that date to sell or offer for sale any beer, wine or other drink of an alcoholic content in that city on Sundays between the hours of twelve o'clock midnight Saturday and sunrise Monday, and providing certain penalties for violation thereof, a copy of that ordinance being attached to the complaint.

The plaintiffs alleged that the ordinance in question is unconstitutional and void and in excess of the police power of the city, in that it constitutes arbitrary, unfair, and unlawful discrimination against the plaintiffs in derogation of their constitutional rights in their sale of these particular legal products which it is alleged are not contrary to the health, order and general welfare of the city and its residents; that plaintiffs have been notified that violations of this ordinance occurring on November 1, 1942, and on all subsequent Sundays will be subject to prosecution; and that such threatened prosecutions, if permitted, will work irreparable injury to the plaintiffs, diminish their income, depreciate the value of their good name and good will, cause the closing of lawful businesses and bring about a multiplicity of suits.

It is alleged that the plaintiffs have no adequate remedy at law, that the public interests are centered upon an early determination of the legal status of the said ordinance, thus creating an urgent emergency.

Upon the verified complaint and the prayers of the plaintiffs, an order was passed by this Court temporarily restraining the defendants from enforcing or attempting to enforce the said ordinance, and fixing dates for the defendants to show cause before this Court why the prayers of the plaintiffs should not be granted.

In reply to the complaint and return to the rule to show cause, the defendants filed a demurrer (which we shall discuss later) and a verified answer and return, admitting certain allegations of the plaintiffs, but denying, among other things, the lawful rights of the plaintiffs to engage in such business on Sundays, and alleging that the matter of the sales of beer and wine on Sundays when liquor stores are closed, had been an increasing problem, that appeals for relief against such conditions had been frequently made to the city authorities; that on week-ends, both during the day and late at night, large numbers of people, including soldiers from nearby Camp Croft, had patronized the beer parlors, often becoming noisy and boisterous after drinking beer and wine, and indulged in fisticuffs and personal encounters, making it difficult to maintain order and resulting in frequent arrests for drunkenness and disorderly conduct; that urgent requests for the passage of such an ordinance were made from many sources to the city council which, after considerable consultation among themselves and with other citizens, decided that the passage of such an ordinance would constitute their best possible compliance with their duty to protect the public peace, safety and good order of the city as well as to uphold the sanctity of the Sabbath.

The allegations of the answer were supported by a number of accompanying affidavits made by police officers and other residents of the city. The chief of police, who had been a member of that department for twenty-five years, deposed that in effectuating his duties of preserving peace and good order in that city, he had observed that in and around the majority of beer parlors people became boisterous, loud and disorderly after drinking beer and wine, that disputes and fights frequently occur, necessitating the calling of the police, that people often congregate on the sidewalks near such beer parlors in sufficient numbers as to make it necessary for pedestrians to walk in the streets; that many women of loose morals are arrested in or near beer parlors which he believes are used as contact places for the carrying on of their illegal business; that exclusive of such arrests as might be made of soldiers from Camp Croft (which cases are handled by the military authorities and are not covered by the records of the city police department) a great number of charges of drunkenness and disorderly conduct are being made.

The chief of plain clothes detectives of that city, who has been a member of that police department for seventeen years, deposed that during week-ends the influx of people into Spartanburg is very great; that the drinking in the beer or wine parlors usually begins on Saturday afternoons and continues through Sunday; that with a metropolitan population of 75,000 (in a city whose normal population is about 32,000) law enforcement upon week-ends when drinking is heaviest, and when many soldiers of Camp Croft are on leaves in the city, becomes increasingly difficult; and that as a result of the consequent loud and boisterous conduct, it is almost impossible to preserve peace and order.

A sergeant on the Spartanburg police force deposed that a place of business where beer is sold is located about fifty feet from a certain Church in that city; that in addition to week days, beer is sold at that place (which is near deponent's home) on Sundays, continuing until as late as two o'clock on Monday mornings; that people come there during church hours and blow their horns and make other noises, seriously disturbing the church services; that many people buy and drink the beer at the parlor and others send their children there to purchase it; that there have been many complaints in the community regarding the disturbances of the religious worship; that as a general rule he believes such infractions of the peace and good order in Spartanburg were worse on Sundays than on other days in the ways which have been named, and in obstructing vehicular and pedestrian traffic; that most heavy beer and wine drinking begins about five o'clock Saturday afternoons and continues as late as four o'clock Monday mornings, during which time there exists in the city much rowdiness and hilarity and some fighting and gambling; that the cases in the police court on Mondays are in excess of those on other days; that in his opinion, if it were not for such arrests occurring on weekends, the city could operate with one-third less policemen.

Another affidavit, executed by three members of the Church mentioned above, was submitted further confirming the deposition of the police sergeant with reference to the noisy disturbances and boisterous conduct which occur at a beer dispensing establishment so near that Church as to interfere with its Sunday evening services.

The defendants, by their demurrer, attacked the sufficiency of the complaint and, among other grounds, contended that this action cannot be maintained because the plaintiffs do not come into Court with clean hands, and because there is no allegation that the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs have been impaired, or that there has been any unlawful discrimination against them.

After due deliberation, we have concluded that the allegations of the complaint are sufficient to support the temporary restraining order which was heretofore granted. We think the complaint adequately alleged the impairment of the rights of the plaintiffs, that all necessary allegations were made with sufficient definiteness and certainty to permit the consideration of this action on its merits, and that there is no merit in the contention of the defendants that the plaintiffs do not come into Court with clean hands.

The expression "clean hands" means a clean record with respect to the transaction with the defendants themselves and not with respect to others. See American Ass'n v Innis, 109 Ky. 595, 60 S.W. 388; 7 Words and Phrases, Permanent Edition, p. 443. In ...