Lehman v. State Board of Public Accountancy
| Decision Date | 10 December 1923 |
| Docket Number | No. 170,170 |
| Citation | 68 L.Ed. 354,263 U.S. 394,44 S.Ct. 128 |
| Parties | LEHMAN v. STATE BOARD OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANCY et al |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Mr. Erle Pettus, of Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiff in error, in opposition to the motion.
Mr. J. J. Mayfield, of Montgomery, Ala., for defendants in error, in support of the motion.
By a statute of the state (Acts Ala. 1919, p. 124 et seq.) a board denominated the 'Board of Public Accountancy' was created. The board has authority to examine applicants for certificates or licenses to practice the business or calling of public accountant and to issue certificates to those whom the board deems qualified.
The board is given power to cancel the certificate granted 'for any unprofessional conduct of the holder of such certificate, or for other sufficient cause' upon written notice of 20 days and a hearing thereon. The defendants in error Alvidge, Edson, and Rosson constitute the board.
Complaint was made against plaintiff in error by the other defendants in error who are public accountants and a day set for hearing, and notice thereof given to plaintiff in error as required by the statute.
He appeared at the time appointed, but subsequently brought this suit, praying that the board and its members be enjoined and restrained from hearing the charges preferred against him, or from making or entering any order revoking or attempting to revoke the certificate issued to him, or from interfering in any way with the practice of his profession as such certified public accountant. It was also prayed that the other defendants in error be enjoined from prosecuting the charges that they had preferred.
A temporary restraining order was issued and an order to show cause why it should not be made permanent.
The bill was dismissed on demurrer for want of equity, and on appeal to the Supreme Court the decree was affirmed. The Chief Justice of the court then granted this writ of error.
The ground of it and the reliance here is expressed in several ways, that the statute of the state is in conflict with the Constitution of the state, and also in conflict with the Constitution of the United States, the latter in that it (the statute) deprives plaintiff in error of his property without due process of law and subjects him to an ex post facto law
The bill is very long. Its important facts are as follows: Plaintiff in error had 'by experience and assiduous attention to his duties built up a large and lucrative business.' Upon the appointment of the board he applied for and was issued a certificate after standing the tests and examinations prescribed, and since that time he has been practicing his profession as a certified public accountant
The board has never adopted any code or promulgated any rules or definition of what is or is not professional conduct, or what is sufficient cause for the revocation of a certificate.
He appeared before the board at the day appointed for the hearing of the charges against him, and was informed by the board that there were no rules in effect to govern or control the hearing, and evidence would be received with some liberality. The hearing was continued until January 26, 1922, and plaintiff in error notified to be back on that day for the purpose of being tried.
It is nowhere averred in the charges against him that anything that he had done was wrongful or unlawful; the only allegation being that the alleged acts complained of were surreptitious.
The acts are enumerated, and it is expressly denied that he was guilty of anything wrongful, surreptitious, or unlawful.
It is further averred that the board has prejudged his acts, and that the determination by the board as to whether his certificate should be revoked rests wholly within the arbitrary, uncontrolled, and unappealable judgment of the board.
The unconstitutionality of the act is averred both under the state and federal Constitutions.
The contention that the statute and the powers it confers upon the board and the manner of their exercise are in derogation of the Constitution of the state is decisively decided against by the opinion of the Supreme Court of the state, and we may say that there is persuasion in the reasoning of the court against the contention...
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