In re Opinion of the Justices

• Decision Date: 25 February 1897
• Citation: 46 N.E. 118,167 Mass. 599
• Parties: In re OPINION OF THE JUSTICES.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

167 Mass. 599

46 N.E. 118

In re OPINION OF THE JUSTICES.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.

Feb. 25, 1897.

Opinion of the justices on a question submitted by the house of representatives.

The opinion of the supreme judicial court was requested by the following:

“House of Representatives, Jan. 27, 1897.

“Ordered, that the opinion of the justices of the supreme judicial court be required upon the following important question of law, namely: Is a county commissioner an officer of the commonwealth, within the meaning of article 8 of section 2 of chapter 1 of the constitution, and is a county commissioner subject to the impeachment process provided by the constitution?”

Opinion.

To the Honorable the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:

The undersigned, justices of the supreme judicial court, respectfully submit the following answer to the question proposed by the honorable house by its order of January 27, 1897, a copy of which is annexed:

In the constitution (part 2, c. 1, § 2, art. 8) it is provided as follows: “The senate shall be a court with full authority to hear and determineall impeachments made by the house of representatives, against any officer or officers of the commonwealth, for misconduct and maladministration in their offices.” By virtue of this provision, no one can be impeached except officers of the commonwealth, and it is necessary to determine whether county commissioners fall within this description. There are several classes of civil officers within the commonwealth; for example, town or city officers, county officers, officers of districts, and state officers. In a certain sense, all of these officers may be deemed to be officers of the commonwealth, and it is possible, accordingly, to take the view that all are subject to impeachment. But in our opinion this provision of the constitution was not intended to include all civil officers, of every grade, within the commonwealth. On the one hand, it seems to us that the various officers of cities or towns do not fall within the class of officers of the commonwealth, in the sense in which these words are used in this provision of the constitution. On the other hand, officers elected by the people at large, or provided for in the constitution, for the administration of matters of general or state concern, are subject to impeachment. The intention of the framers of the constitution in respect to such officers as county...