Buckner v. Carmack

• Decision Date: 15 January 1973
• Docket Number: No. 52903,52903
• Citation: 272 So.2d 326
• Parties: Errol E. BUCKNER v. Elviera Walker CARMACK et al.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 326

272 So.2d 326

Errol E. BUCKNER v. Elviera Walker CARMACK et al.

No. 52903.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Jan. 15, 1973.

Shuey, Smith & Carlton, W. Gene Carlton, Shreveport, for plaintiff-appellant.

Robert G. Pugh, Shreveport, Howard W. L'Enfant, Jr., New Orleans, for defendants-appellees.

Dale, Owen, Richardson, Taylor & Mathews, Sidney D. Fazio, Kantrow, Spaht, Weaver & Walter, Kennon, White & Odom, Kolb & Rooks, McCollister, Belcher, Cleary & Fazio, McGehee, McKinnis & Schroeder, E. Drew McKinnis, J. H. Odom, G. T. Owen, Jr., Alton J. Reine, Jr., J. Taylor Rooks, Carlos G. Spaht, Watson, Blanche, Wilson, Posner & Thibaut, Sanders, Miller, Downing & Kean, R. Gordon Kean, Jr., Baton Rouge, amici curiae.

Aycock, Horne, Caldwell & Coleman, Jack C. Caldwell, Franklin, amici curiae.

Claude P. Boudreaux, Houma, amicus curiae.

Davidson, Meaux, Onebane & Donohoe, J. J. Davidson, Jr., Joseph Onebane, Lafayette, amici curiae.

Anderson, Leithead, Scott, Boudreau & Savoy, Robert J. Boudreau, Camp, Carmouche, Palmer, Carwile & Barsh, Hall, Raggio & Farrar, James C. Hanchey, Jones, Kimball, Patin, Harper, Tete & Wetherill, Paul E. Palmer, Thomas L. Raggio, Stockwell, St. Dizier, Sievert & Viccellio, Oliver P. Stockwell, Charles D. Viccellio, Lake Charles, amici curiae.

Voelker, Ragland & Brackin, Frank Voelker, Lake Providence, amici curiae.

Roland J. St. Martin, La.Place, amicus curiae.

Fish, Thomas, Montgomery & Prestridge, Wallace, Bigby & Wallace, Bossier City, amici curiae.

LeBrun, Karno, Lockhart & Brainis, Roy L. Price, Metairie, amici curiae.

Henry Bernstein, Jr., Hudson, Potts & Bernstein, Thomas W. Leigh, Welsley S. Shafto, Jr., Snellings, Breard, Sarto, Shafto

& Inabnet, Theus, Grisham, Davis & Leigh, Monroe, amici curiae.

Armentor & Wattigny, Caffery, Duhe & Davis, Louie M. Cyr, Mestayer & Simon, Landry, Watkins, Cousin & Bonin, New Iberia, amici curiae.

Allain C. Andry, Jr., Allain C. Andry, III, Robert N. Andry, William L. Andry, Harold J. Aronson, Michael H. Bagot, Baldwin, Haspel, Molony, Rainold & Meyer, Bronfin, Heller, Feldman & Steinberg, Curtis R. Boisfontaine, Jerry A. Brown, Cabibi & Cabibi, Casey, Babin & Casey, Chaffe, McCall, Phillips, Toler & Sarpy, John T. Charbonnet, James M. Colomb, Jr., Robert J. Conrad, Camille A. Cutrone, Charles I. Denechaud, Jr., Denechaud & Denechaud, Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles, Dresner & Dresner, Adrian G. Duplantier, Louis G. Dutel, Jr., Edward P. Ecuyer, Peter Feringa, Jr., Flanders & Flanders, A. D. Freeman, Jr., Gauche, Wegener & Oster, Beard, Blue, Schmitt & Treen, Melvin W. Mathes, Felix W. Gaudin, Hilary J. Gaudin, Philip Gensler, Goldman & Levin, Maurice Gomila, Graham, Graham & Kiefer, James J. Grevemberg, John W. Haygood, Bernhardt C. Heebe, Odom B. Heebe, H. Martin Hunley, Jr., Gordon B. Hyde, Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre, Nolan Kammer, R. Emmett Kerrigan, Joseph E. LeBlanc, Jr., Lemle, Kelleher, Kohlmeyer, Matthews & Schumacher, Sumter D. Marks, Jr., W. D. McArthur, Charles J. McCabe, Joseph McCloskey, McCloskey, Dennery & Page, McLoughlin, Barranger, Provosty & Melancon, Donald N. Memmer, Milling, Saal, Benson, Woodward & Hillyer, Monroe & Lemann, Montgomery, Barnett, Brown & Read, Ogden & Ogden, Pierre D. Olivier, Jr., Phelps, Dunbar, Marks, Claverie & Sims, G. Henry Pierson, Jr., Plough, Jumonville & Mulla, Robert G. Polack, Polack, Rosenberg & Rittenberg, Robert R. Rainold, Lloyd A. Ray, Sessions, Fishman, Rosenson, Snellings, & Boisfontaine, Simon & Simon, Stahl & Berke, Louis G. Shushan, Moise S. Steeg, Jr., Bat P. Sullivan, Tucker & Shonekas, Rudolf O. Vorbush, Edward F. Wegmann, M. Truman Woodward, Jr., William Waller Young, Jr., New Orleans, amici curiae.

Jewell & Jewell, Thomas J. Jewell, New Roads, amici curiae.

Cotton & Bolton, W. D. Cotton, Rayville, amici curiae.

Blanchard, Walker, O'Quin & Roberts, Bodenheimer, Jones, Klotz & Simmons, Booth, Lockard, Jack, Pleasant & LeSage, C. P. Brocato, Brown & Dormer, Burnett, Harrison & Sutton, Arthur R. Carmody, Jr., John T. Carpenter, Cook, Clark, Egan, Yancey & King, Jackson B. Davis, Jared Y. Evans, Feist, Schober & Howell, Gallagher & Gallagher, Goode & Goode, Hargrove, Guyton, Van Hook & Ramey, T. Haller Jackson, Jr., Morelock, Egan & Cook, Naff, Kennedy, Goodman & Donovan, Nelson Ltd., Henry A. Politz, Cecil E. Ramey, Jr., Robert Roberts, III, Armand W. Roos, Jr., Shuey, Smith & Carlton, Skeels, Baker & Coleman, Smith, Trichel, Malsch & Ballard, Smitherman, Smitherman, Lunn & Hussey, Stagg, Cady & Beard, Charles E. Tooke, Jr., Tucker, Martin, Holder, Jeter & Jackson, Wiener, Weiss & Wiener, Wilkinson, Woods, Carmody & Peatross, Clarence Y. Yancy, Shreveport, amici curiae.

E. H. Lancaster, Jr., Tallulah, amicus curiae.

SANDERS, Justice.

This suit challenges the constitutionality of Articles 2638 and 2639 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, relating to executory process, in the wake of the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Fuentes v. Shevin, 407 U.S. 67, 92 S.Ct. 1983, 32 L.Ed.2d 556 (1972). The district court sustained the defendants' plea of unconstitutionality. We reverse and uphold the validity of the code articles at issue.

The plaintiff, Buckner, is the holder and owner of a promissory note executed by Hugh Carmack, secured by a mortgage in authentic form upon a certain lot and building in Caddo Parish. The mortgage contains a stipulation against alienation of the property and a confession of judgment. Alleging that the note was past due and unpaid, Buckner filed suit in the First Judicial District Court for the Parish of Caddo, seeking an order of seizure and sale. Authentic evidence of the note and mortgage was attached to the petition. The defendants responded, attacking the constitutionality on their face of Articles 2638 and 2639 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, under which the suit was filed. The defendants' charge is that:

'Articles 2638 and 2639 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure are unconstitutional in that they work a deprivation of property without due process of law by denying the right to a prior opportunity to be heard before authorizing the seizure of property as required by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.'

An executory proceeding in Louisiana is an action In rem by the holder of a mortgage or privilege evidenced by an authentic act importing a confession of judgment to effect the seizure and sale of the encumbered property. See LSA-C.C.P. Art. 2631. It is a civil law remedy, having no counterpart in the common law. Its procedural bases are the debtor's confession of judgment before a notary public and two witnesses; supporting authentic evidence; and a determination by a judge that the submissions are adequate for the seizure and sale of the encumbered property to satisfy the debt.

Professor Henry George McMahon, an eminent authority on civil procedure, has described executory procedure as a simple, expeditious, and inexpensive procedure, giving adequate protection to the rights of the debtor. McMahon, The Historical Development of Executory Procedure in Louisiana, 32 Tul.L.Rev. 555, 556 (1958).

The Supreme Court of the United States has recognized the constitutionality of Louisiana executory procedures in Fleitas v. Richardson, 147 U.S. 538, 13 S.Ct. 429, 37 L.Ed. 272 (1893).

In Fuentes v. Shevin, supra, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the pre-judgment replevin statutes of Florida and Pennsylvania, giving the creditor a right to the immediate possession of goods or chattels, violated procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

After finding that the debtor had not waived notice and prior hearing, the court concluded:

'We hold that the Florida and Pennsylvania prejudgment replevin provisions work a deprivation of property without due process of law insofar as they deny the right to a prior opportunity to be heard before chattels are taken from their possessor. Our holding, however, is a narrow one. We do not question the power of a State to seize goods before a final judgment in order to protect the security interests of creditors so long as those creditors have tested their claim to the goods through the process of a fair prior hearing. The nature and form of such prior hearings, moreover, are legitimately open to many potential variations and are a subject, at this point, for legislation--not adjudication. Since the essential reason for the requirement of a prior hearing is to prevent unfair and mistaken deprivations of property, however, it is axiomatic that the hearing must provide a real test. ' (D)ue process is afforded only by the kinds of 'notice' and 'hearing' which are aimed at establishing the validity, or at least the probable validity, of the underlying claim against the alleged debtor Before he can be deprived of his property . . .."

The Florida statute authorized the issuance of the writ of replevin by a clerk of court, upon the creditor's unsupported allegation that he was entitled to the writ, with actual dispossession of the debtor immediately upon service of the writ.

The Pennsylvania statute authorized the issuance of the writ of replevin by a prothonotary, upon the plaintiff's unsupported allegation that he was entitled to the writ, with actual dispossession of the debtor immediately upon service of the writ.

Among the objectionable features of the statutes identified in the decision was the issuance of the writ of replevin by one not a state official, ¹ its issuance solely upon the ex parte allegation of the creditor that he is entitled to the goods seized, the omission of notice to the debtor, and the denial of an opportunity to be heard prior to actual dispossession.

An examination of Louisiana procedures points up valid distinctions between them and those of Florida and Pennsylvania. A writ of seizure and sale in Louisiana is issued by a judge of a court...