People v. Gadway

• Citation: 61 Mich. 285,28 N.W. 101
• Court: Supreme Court of Michigan
• Decision Date: 06 May 1886
• Parties: PEOPLE v. GADWAY.

28 N.W. 101

61 Mich. 285

PEOPLE v. GADWAY.

Supreme Court of Michigan

May 6, 1886

Error to Oakland.

The Attorney General, for the People.

Thos. J. Davis, for defendant and appellant.

CHAMPLIN, J.

In 1881 the legislature, by act No. 259, passed a bill entitled "An act to regulate the sale of spirituous, malt brewed, fermented, and vinous liquors; to prohibit the sale of such liquors to minors, intoxicated persons, and to persons in the habit of getting intoxicated; to provide a remedy against persons selling liquors to husbands or children in certain cases: and to repeal all acts, or parts of acts, inconsistent therewith." By act No. 178 of the Session Laws of 1883 this act was amended by adding thereto a new section, to stand as section 15 of said act. The title to the amendatory act did not indicate the object or purpose of the amendment. The added section reads as follows: "Sec. 15. It shall not be lawful for any person, including druggists, by himself, his clerk agent, or servant, directly or indirectly, to sell, or offer for sale, furnish or give, any spirituous, malt, brewed fermented, or vinous liquors, or any beverage, liquors, or liquids containing any spirituous, malt, brewed, fermented or vinous liquors, or suffer the same to be done, at any time, within a radius of two miles from the grounds or premises of the Michigan Military Academy, an institution of learning located near Orchard Lake, in the county of Oakland, in this state. For any violation of any of the provisions of this section the person so offending shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, in the discretion of the court."

At the December term of the circuit court for the county of Oakland, on complaint made, the prosecuting attorney of Oakland county filed an information against the above-named respondent, charging him with a violation of section 15 of the act as amended. Gadway kept a hotel within three-fourths of a mile of the grounds of the MichiganpMilitary Academy. The academy has a vacation from the middle of June till September, and is not run during the vacation as an educational institution. On the twenty-sixth of August, 1885, the supervisors held a picnic at Gadway's, and the evidence showed that he, through his agents and servants, sold beer upon that occasion to different persons named in the information. After all the evidence was introduced, the counsel for the respondent requested the court to charge the jury as follows: (1) The statute on which this information is based, is unconstitutional and void. (2) The offense charged is not an offense at common law, and not an offense under the general statutes of this state. (3) The jury must acquit the prisoner. The court refused each of the above requests, and under his instructions the jury returned a verdict of guilty.

The error assigned upon the refusal of the court to grant the first request is all that need be considered; for, if the statute is not in conflict with the provisions of the constitution, the conviction must stand. It is claimed by counsel for respondent that section 15 is not within the title of the act, to which it is added by way of amendment.

In applying the constitutional test to this law, it must be...