John Fisher v. Mayor and Council of the City of New Orleans
| Decision Date | 28 November 1910 |
| Docket Number | No. 43,43 |
| Citation | 31 S.Ct. 57,218 U.S. 438,54 L.Ed. 1099 |
| Parties | JOHN B. FISHER, James M. Fisher, William G. Fisher, et al., Plffs. in Err., v. MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Mr. Charles Louque for plaintiffs in error.
Messrs. St. Clair Adams and I. D. Moore for defendant in error.
This is a petition for mandamus to direct the levy of a special tax of 1 1/2 mills to pay claims and judgments against the New Orleans school board, based on contracts made by the board with teachers and others during the years 1874, 1875, and 1876, under the Louisiana act 36 of 1873. The ground of the petition is that, under the act, the contracts were authorized and were payable out of a special tax, unlimited in amount; that an attempt to limit taxation in article 232 of the state Constitution of 1898 is void as to them, because it impairs their obligation, contrary to article 1, § 10, of the Constitution of the United States (Louisiana ex rel. Hubert v. New Orleans, 215 U. S. 170, 175-178, 54 L. ed. 144, 30 Sup. Ct. Rep. 40); and that a sufficient amount has not been levied for the years mentioned. The supreme court denied the mandamus (121 La. 762, 46 So. 798), and this writ of error was brought.
The plaintiffs in error are met at the outset by a denial of the jurisdiction of this court. The main grounds upon which the supreme court of the state decided the case were that the relators had been guilty of laches, and that the act of 1873 did not authorize contracts to be made by the school board in such wise as to bind the city to levy the tax. The court did not purport to rely upon the Constitution of 1898, or any subsequent legislation, for the result. It did not purport to enforce any later law; it simply denied the existence of the right alleged. Therefore, on the face of the decision, there is no warrant for coming here. But it is said that this court is not limited to the mere language of the opinion, but will consider the substance and effect of the judgment (McCullough v. Virginia, 172 U. S. 102, 116, 117, 43 L. ed. 382, 387, 388, 19 Sup. Ct. Rep. 134; Louisiana ex rel. Hubert v. New Orleans, 215 U. S. 170, 175, 54 L. ed. 144, 30 Sup. Ct. Rep. 40), and that this court will decide for itself, with due respect for the state decision, whether a contract had been made and what it was (Sullivan v. Texas, 207 U. S. 416, 423, 52 L. ed. 274, 277, 28 Sup. Ct. Rep. 215). Both of these statements are true, of course, and are relevant when the judgment really gives effect to a later act of the state that would impair the obligation of the contract if the contract were as alleged. But the mere allegation of a later constitution or statute impairing the obligation of the contract gives no jurisdiction to this court to see that the contract is enforced according to its tenor, irrespective of the supposed interference of the later law. The jurisdiction extends to doing away with such an interference, but not to remedying an erroneous construction of contracts, or to seeing that they are carried out according to the interpretation of this court, apart from it. Bacon v. Texas, 163 U. S. 207, 218, 219, 41 L. ed. 132, 136, 137, 16 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1023; New Orleans Waterworks Co. v. Louisiana, 185 U. S. 336, 350, 351, 352, 46 L. ed. 936, 943, 944, 22 Sup. Ct. Rep. 691; Weber v. Rogan, 188 U. S. 10, 14, 47 L. ed. 363, 365, 23 Sup. Ct. Rep. 263; Central Land Co. v. Laidley, 159 U. S. 103, 110, 111, 40 L. ed. 91, 94, 16 Sup. Ct. Rep. 80. Therefore the present writ of error must be dismissed unless there is more in the case than the opinion has disclosed.
We discover nothing. If it was true that there was no contract...
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