In re Yot Sang

Citation75 F. 983
PartiesIn re YOT SANG.
Decision Date29 August 1896
CourtUnited States District Courts. 9th Circuit. United States District Court (Montana)

A. C Botkin, for petitioner.

Henry J. Haskell, Mont. Atty. Gen., and W. D. Gardiner, for respondent.

KNOWLES District Judge.

It appears from the petition of Yot Sang, presented to the court, that he is imprisoned, detained, confined, and restrained of his liberty by one J. H. Jurgens, the sheriff of Lewis and Clarke county, state of Montana; that he is so restrained of his liberty by being confined in the jail of said Lewis and Clarke county; that he is confined and restrained of his liberty by virtue of a writ issued by one C. F. Gage, justice of the peace in and for the township of Helena, in said county and state; that a complaint was filed in the court of said justice of the peace, Gage, charging him, the said Yot Sang, with a misdemeanor defined in section 780 of the Penal Code of Montana, which is as follows:

'Every person who commences or carries on any business, trade profession, or calling, for the transaction or carrying on of which a license is required by any law of this state without taking out or procuring a license prescribed by such law is guilty of a misdemeanor.'

In examining the statute of Montana, I have been unable to find any punishment for this misdemeanor except such as is provided in section 19 of said Penal Code, which is as follows:

'Except in cases where a different punishment is prescribed by this Code every offence declared to be a misdemeanor is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six months or by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or both.'

It also appears in the petition that said Yot Sang is a male person carrying on the business of conducting a laundry at Helena Mont., in which more than one person is engaged or employed or kept at work, and that such laundry is not a steam laundry.

Section 4079 of the Political Code of Montana is as follows:

'Every male person engaged in the laundry other than the steam laundry business must pay a license of ten dollars per quarter, provided that, where more than one person is engaged or employed or kept at work, such male person or persons shall pay a license of twenty-five dollars per quarter, which shall be the license of one place of business only.'

It also appears that said Yot Sang did not take out a license, as provided by said section 4079.

It is urged in behalf of the petitioner that this last statute is void, as being in violation of the fourteenth amendment to the constitution.

Unless it should so appear, there is no doubt but that Yot Sang was liable for the misdemeanor above described. It is set forth in the petition that there are some ten steam laundries in the state of Montana, all of which employ more than one person, and some as many as eight or ten persons. The return of Sheriff Jurgens does not controvert any of the above facts set forth in the petition, save it is denied that there are in Montana ten steam laundries, or any more than two.

Section 4080 of the Political Code of Montana is as follows:

'Every person who carries on a steam laundry must pay a license of fifteen dollars per quarter.'

In the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States it is provided that:

'No state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.'

It is urged that the above statutes show that the state of Montana has not afforded to those carrying on a laundry business other than a steam laundry business the equal protection of the law; that, in fact, it discriminates against one class of laundrymen, and in favor of another class.

In pursuance of the provisions of the above amendment to the constitution, congress enacted the following statute:

'All persons within the jurisdiction have the same right in every state and territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be p
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10 cases
  • Republic Iron & Steel Co. v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Supreme Court
    • June 5, 1920
    ...344; Cotting v. Godard, 183 U.S. 79, 102-108, 22 Sup.Ct. 30, 46 L.Ed. 92; Adams v. Miss. Lumber Co., 84 Miss. 23, 36 So. 68; In re Yot Sang (D.C.) 75 F. 983; Birmingham-Tuscaloosa Ry. v. Carpenter, 194 141, 69 So. 626; Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Alden Coal Co., 251 Pa. 134, 96 A. 246, ......
  • Gulf & S.I.R. Co. v. Adams
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • December 9, 1907
    ...adjudged void because it denied the equal protection of the laws, contrary to the fourteenth amendment to the federal constitution. In re Yot Sang, 75 F. 983. Illinois statute, defining trusts and conspiracies against trade and declaring contracts illegal which contravene its provisions was......
  • State v. Standard Oil Co.
    • United States
    • Oregon Supreme Court
    • April 16, 1912
    ... ... classification for the purpose of taxation must be ... reasonable; and all persons similarly situated shall be ... equally taxed. State v. Wright, 53 Or. 344, 100 P ... 296, 21 L.R.A. (N.S.) 349; In re Yot Sang (D.C.) 75 ... F. 983; Fraser v. McConway & Torley Co. (C.C.) 82 F ... 257; Juniata Limestone Co. v. Fagley, 187 Pa. 193, ... 40 A. 977, 42 L.R.A. 442, 67 Am.St.Rep. 579 ... The ... case at bar, therefore, depends upon the construction of the ... ...
  • Gully v. Alexander
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • December 17, 1934
    ...v. Dalheim, 126 Ky. 26, 102 S.W. 829; Louisville v. Weikel, 137 Ky. 784, 127 S.W. 147; Leonard v. Reed, 46 Col. 307, 104 P. 410; Yot Sang, 75 F. 983, 171 U.S. 686, 43 L.Ed. 1180; Johnson Long Furniture Co., 113 Miss. 373, 74 So. 283. Lotterhos & Travis, of Jackson, and Leonard Katzenmeyer, ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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