Jenkins v. The Mayor
| Citation | 35 Ga. 146 |
| Parties | CHARLES J. JENKINS, plaintiff in error. v. THE MAYOR and TOWN COUNCIL of the Town of Thomasville, defendants in error. |
| Decision Date | 31 December 1866 |
| Court | Supreme Court of Georgia |
Certiorari. In Thomas Superior Court. Decided by Judge Hansell, July, 1866.
*On the 23d of January, 1866, the plaintiff in error was tried in fourteen cases, by the Mayor, in the Municipal Court of Thomasville, upon charges of having, on the 11th of the same month, furnished to colored men spirituous liquors, in violation of an ordinance of said town.
He presented no plea to the jurisdiction, written or verbal— was present at the trial, and took part in the examination of the witnesses.
He was convicted and ordered to pay a fine of fifty dollars in each case, which he did.
The negroes to whom he furnished the liquors were soldiers of the United States, stationed at Thomasville; and their commanding officer arrested him and turned him over for trial to the Mayor, the officer himself assisting the Mayor in the investigation.
The ordinance under which he was tried was of a date anterior to the abolition of slavery, and was as follows:
* * * "And any person selling or giving spirituous liquors to a negro not his own, or person of color, on conviction before the Mayor, shall be fined not exceeding fifty dollars."
His counsel carried one of the cases, by certiorari, to the Superior Court, and at the same time signed, with the Mayor, the followng written agreement:
"It is agreed by the Mayor and Council of Thomasville, and the counsel of defendant, that the above cases may be consolidated, or that the one case may be carried to the Superior Court by the certiorari, for the purpose of determining the question as to whether the Mayor and Council had jurisdiction or right to determine the cases, and that the decision in the one case, or the cases consolidated, shall control and govern all the other cases."
The grounds taken in the petition for certiorari were:
1st. That the act charged was not punishable under the statutes of Georgia, or by the corporate authorities of Thomasville.
2d. That the ordinance became inoperative by the abolition *of slavery, and was in conflict with the Constitution of the United States, and with the Constitution and laws of Georgia.
3d. That by reason of the abolition of slavery and the establishment of equal rights, the ordinance had become null and void.
4th. That the offence, if any, was indictable and triable alone in the Superior Court by jury, and the corporation Court had no jurisdiction.
At the hearing in the Superior Court, the presiding Judge dismissed the certiorari and...
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