People Ex Rel. Isaac N. Sheppard v. the Ill. State Bd. of Dental Examiners.

• Decision Date: 19 May 1884
• Citation: 110 Ill. 180,1884 WL 9868
• Parties: THE PEOPLE ex rel. Isaac N. Sheppardv.THE ILLINOIS STATE BOARD OF DENTAL EXAMINERS.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

110 Ill. 180

1884 WL 9868 (Ill.)

THE PEOPLE ex rel. Isaac N. Sheppard

v.THE ILLINOIS STATE BOARD OF DENTAL EXAMINERS.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Filed at Ottawa May 19, 1884.

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

This is an original proceeding in this court for a mandamus. The petition therefor is as follows:

“The petitioner, Isaac N. Sheppard, a citizen of the State of Illinois, residing in the city of Paris, county of Edgar, in said State, complaining, shows unto the court that he is twenty-one years of age; that he became a student at the Indiana Dental College, an institution duly organized under the laws of the State of Indiana, located at the city of Indianapolis, in said State, on the 3d day of October, 1881, said institution being a college for the purpose of educating persons in the theory and practice of dentistry and dental surgery; that he attended said college as a student, as aforesaid, during his two full terms thereof, and pursued a course of study in the theory and practice of dentistry and dental surgery during all that time at said college, and that he completed said course of study, and was graduated from said college on the 7th day of March, A. D. 1883, and thereupon, to-wit, on the day last aforesaid, he received a diploma from the faculty of said Indiana Dental College, duly authenticated by the signatures of the faculty of said college and the officers thereof; that said Indiana Dental College is a reputable dental college, and during the time petitioner was a student therein, and at the time of issuing said diploma by the faculty of said dental college to petitioner, there was annually delivered at said college a full course of lectures and instruction in dental surgery. Petitioner further shows unto the court, that desiring to engage in the practice of dentistry in this State, he afterwards, to-wit, on or about the 18th day of March, 1883, presented his said diploma so received from the faculty of said Indiana Dental College, duly authenticated, to the Illinois State Board of Dental Examiners, and tendered to said board a fee of one dollar, as provided by law, and demanded that said board issue to him, the petitioner, a license to practice dentistry in the State of Illinois, as provided by law. Petitioner further shows to the court, that it was the duty of said board of dental examiners, upon the presentation of said diploma, and the tender of the fee of one dollar, as aforesaid, to said board by said petitioner, and the demand, as aforesaid, to issue to petitioner a license to practice dentistry in the State of Illinois, and that the said board of dental examiners, not regarding their said duty in this behalf, thereupon, to-wit, on the day last aforesaid, refused to issue to petitioner a license to practice dentistry in this State, and have continually refused, and still do refuse, to issue to petitioner such license. Petitioner further shows unto the court, that the members of the said board of dental examiners are G. V. Black, A. W. Harlan, O. Wilson, J. J. Jennelle and George H. Cushing, and that by the failure and refusal of said board of dental examiners to so issue and grant petitioner a license to practice dentistry, as aforesaid, he, the petitioner, has been prevented from practicing dentistry in this State, as he is lawfully and by right entitled to do; that he has qualified himself for the practice of said profession at great expenditure of time and money, and depends upon the same for a living. Petitioner further shows unto the court, that the determination of the questions involved in this petition is not only one of great importance to him individually, but is also a matter of public importance, as numbers of the graduates of said dental college, citizens of this State, and circumstanced like petitioner, desire to practice dentistry in this State, and are prevented therefrom by like refusal of said board of dental examiners. Wherefore, being without other legal remedy, petitioner prays for a writ of mandamus, directed to the Illinois State Board of Dental Examiners, commanding them to forthwith receive from petitioner the fee of one dollar, and thereupon to issue to petitioner a license to practice dentistry in the State of Illinois, and to deliver the same to petitioner, and that such further order may be made in the premises as justice may require.”

The Attorney General demurs to the petition.

Messrs. HUNT & DYAS, and Mr. C. V. JAQUITH, for the relator.

Mr. JAMES MCCARTNEY, Attorney General, for the respondents.

Mr. JUSTICE SCHOLFIELD delivered the opinion of the Court:

It is provided by the first section of an act approved May 30, 1881, entitled “An act to insure the better education of practitioners of dental surgery, and to regulate the practice of dentistry...