Bradford v. Hurt

• Decision Date: 24 June 1936
• Docket Number: No. 8108.,8108.
• Citation: 84 F.2d 722
• Parties: BRADFORD v. HURT et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

84 F.2d 722 (1936)

BRADFORD v. HURT et al.

No. 8108.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

June 24, 1936.

Gordon Simpson, of Tyler, Tex., and Esmond Phelps, of New Orleans, La., for appellant.

Robt. L. Hurt, of Childress, Tex., and W. F. Clark, of Dallas, Tex., for appellees.

Before FOSTER, HUTCHESON, and HOLMES, Circuit Judges.

HUTCHESON, Circuit Judge.

The appeal is from an order refusing an interlocutory injunction. Ordinarily on such an appeal the only question for consideration is whether discretion has been abused. Rogers v. Hill, 289 U.S. 582, 53 S.Ct. 731, 77 L.Ed. 1385, 88 A.L.R. 744; Alabama v. U. S., 279 U.S. 229, 231, 49 S.Ct. 266, 73 L.Ed. 675; Butler v. D. A. Schulte, Inc. (C.C.A.) 67 F.(2d) 632; Douglass v. Pan-American Bus Lines (C. C.A.) 81 F.(2d) 222; Griswold v. President of United States (C.C.A.) 82 F.(2d) 922. Sometimes, however, the bill so plainly fails to state a case for the equitable jurisdiction of the District Court as that the court should say so and order its dismissal. Meccano, Limited, v. John Wanamaker, N. Y., 253 U.S. 136, 40 S.Ct. 463, 64 L.Ed. 822.

This is a case of that kind. The bill alleges that for the purpose of establishing at Dallas, Texas, a dog racing track, and a pari-mutuel betting system in connection with it whereby persons might bet and wager upon the outcome of the races, plaintiff has acquired a site, has commenced preparations, and has expended and will expend large sums of money. That though there is no law in Texas forbidding such operation or making it criminal, the respondents, the criminal district attorney and the sheriff of Dallas county, claiming that the proposed parimutuel gambling system is forbidden by state laws, are threatening to institute criminal prosecution and injunction proceedings in the state courts to prevent its operation. That unless they are restrained from doing so the suits and prosecutions they will institute will completely and effectively deprive him of his property without due process of law, in violation of section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Plaintiff alleges that during the current year there is to be held in the city of Dallas a Centennial Exposition which large numbers of people will attend, affording his establishment an unusually heavy volume of patronage if he is permitted to operate. That because of these threatened suits and prosecutions he is without an adequate remedy at law, and will suffer irreparable injury unless, under the injunction he prays for, he "is permitted freely and without interference to proceed with the operation of his dog racing track, grand stand and wagering establishment." Respondents, on motion to dismiss and by answer insist that there is no equity in plaintiff's bill. Affirming that the establishment of a "pari-mutuel betting system in connection with a dog racing track, whereby persons might bet and wager upon the outcome of the races" is prohibited by the criminal and civil statutes of Texas, they point out that if it is not, plaintiff has a complete defense to any suit or prosecution they may bring. They declare, and it is admitted, that they do not intend to interfere with plaintiff's operation of a dog racing track unless and until he provides and maintains there a device or system for gambling, towit, a pari-mutuel system for gambling, betting, and wagering on the races. But they will proceed in court, as provided by the statutes of Texas, civil and criminal, if and when as he alleges he intends to do, plaintiff sets up and operates a gambling establishment at his race track. They therefore urge that neither is plaintiff without adequate remedy at law, nor will he sustain any injury of which equity will take cognizance.

It is settled law in the federal courts that an injunction will not issue to restrain the action of officers of a state upon the mere ground that they are acting unconstitutionally. Matthews v. Rogers, 284 U.S. 521, 52 S.Ct. 217, 76 L.Ed. 447; Stratton v. St. L. S. W. R. Co., 284 U.S. 530, 52 S.Ct. 222, 76 L.Ed. 465; Yarnell v. Hillsborough Packing Co. (C. C.A.) 70 F.(2d) 435; Pape v. St. Lucie Inlet Dist. (C.C.A.) 75 F.(2d) 865, 869. Especially will a federal equity injunction not issue merely to prevent the bringing of suits in a state court. Boise Artesian Hot & Cold Water Co. v. Boise City, 213 U.S. 276, 29 S.Ct. 426, 53 L.Ed. 796; Northport Co. v. Hartley, 283 U.S. 568, 51 S.Ct. 581, 75 L.Ed. 1275; or the enforcement of...