Newmons v. Lake Worth Drainage Dist., for Use and Benefit of Martin

• Citation: 87 So.2d 49
• Parties: Darvell NEWMONS and Susie May Newmons, his wife, Appellants, v. The LAKE WORTH DRAINAGE DISTRICT, for the use and benefit of Minerva G. MARTIN, Appellees.
• Decision Date: 29 February 1956
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 49

87 So.2d 49

Darvell NEWMONS and Susie May Newmons, his wife, Appellants, v. The LAKE WORTH DRAINAGE DISTRICT, for the use and benefit of Minerva G. MARTIN, Appellees.

Supreme Court of Florida, Special Division A.

Feb. 29, 1956.

On Rehearing April 25, 1956.

Potter, Langbein & Burdick, West Palm Beach, and Ronald J. Fruda, Boynton Beach, for appellants.

Warwick, Paul & Warwick, West Palm Beach, for appellees.

PER CURIAM.

Affirmed.

DREW, C. J., and TERRELL, ROBERTS and O'CONNELL, JJ., concur.

STANLY, Associate Justice, heard the argument but did not participate in the judgment.

On Petition for Rehearing

TERRELL, Justice.

This ejectment suit was instituted by appellees against appellants in 1953 to recover possession of certain lands in Palm Beach County. Defendants' answer denied the general allegations of the complaint. At the trial the court refused to submit to the jury the provisions of Section 196.06, F.S.1953 and 1955, F.S.A., being the four-year statute of limitations under which the former owner may apply for redemption of lands sold for taxes when the tax deed holder is in possession or requires the tax deed holder to bring action to get possession within four years from the date of the tax deed when the land is in the actual adverse possession of another. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs. Final judgment was entered for the plaintiffs. A new trial was denied and defendants appealed. February 29, 1956, we affirmed, per curiam, the order appealed from. We are confronted with petition for rehearing which we think should be granted because of the confusion revealed with reference to the purpose of per curiam opinions and with reference to the applicable law of the case.

In the petition for rehearing it is pointed out that per curiams 'have been this court's way of disposing of cases which this court regards as involving only attempts to review disputes of fact, disputes over the exercise of trial court discretion, or disputes over obvious applications of settled rules of law.'

Traditionally it may be pointed out that a 'per curiam' is the opinion of the court in which the judges are all of one mind and the question involved is so clear that it is not considered necessary to elaborate it by an extended discussion. Such an opinion carries no less weight because of the nomenclature that designates it as such. 32 Words and Phrases, Per Curiam; Black's Law Dictionary; Minor v. Fike, 77 Kan. 806, 93 P. 264; Clarke v. Western Assur. Co., 146 Pa. 561, 23 A 248, 15 L.R.A. 127. The attribute of a per curiam, when the 'question presented is so clear that it is not considered necessary to elaborate it by extended discusion,' may imply a variety of connotations. As suggested in the petition for rehearing, it may not only involve a review of questions of fact, questions that involve nothing more than the discretion of the trial court or questions that involve the application of well settled rules of law, it may be employed to dispose of cases in which we say 'affirmed' or 'reversed' on authority of some other dicided case or cases; it may be employed to dispose of cases in which numerous questions are raised and to discuss them would require a long opinion that would serve no useful purpose. It may be employed when two or more justices have contributed to answering the points raised and all others agree. It may be employed to dispose of cases in which anything written on the points raised would add nothing to the law. In fine, there is no limit to the grounds that may prompt a per curiam opinion.

The real point for determination in this case is whether or not a deed executed by the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund, pursuant to Section 192.38, F.S.1953 and 1955, F.S.A., is subject to the limitations imposed for recovery of lands in possession of a tax deed holder set out in F.S. § 196.06, F.S.A., supra, which requires suit to be brought within four years from date of the tax deed on which title is predicated.

Appellants contend that this question requires an affirmative answer and rely on Deas v. Turner, Fla., 56 So.2d 337; Haynes v. Woodward, 154 Fla. 111, 16 So.2d 736; Andrews v. Andrews, 155 Fla. 654, 21 So.2d 205; Crompton v. Kirkland, 157 Fla. 89, 24 So.2d 902; Palmquist v. Johnson, Fla., 41 So.2d 313, and others to support their contention. Appellees contend on the other hand that the question should be answered in the negative and rely on June Sand Co. v. Devon Corp., 156 Fla. 519, 23 So.2d 621, and similar cases to support their contention. The confusion appears to have grown out of the interpretation and scope given Sections 192.38 and 196.06, supra, and Chapter 194, F.S.1953 and 1955, F.S.A. In our view Chapter 194 defines the law governing the sale, issuance of certificates and redemption of lands sold for nonpayment of taxes. The limitations for recovery of lands in possession of a tax deed holder as defined by F.S. § 196.06, F.S.A., supra, applies only to lands sold for nonpayment of taxes in the manner provided by F.S. Chapter 194, F.S.A., supra.

This must be true because F.S. § 192.38, F.S.A., supra, being a portion of Chapter 18296, Acts of 1937, sometime known as the Murphy Act, provides a very different means for selling and redeeming lands for nonpayment of taxes from that authorized by F.S. Chapter 194, F.S.A., supra. Under Section 192.38, Murphy Act lands sold and certificated to the state for nonpayment of taxes become the property of the state at the expiration of two years from passage of said act, the state becomes...