Pugh v. Bowden

• Decision Date: 17 December 1907
• Citation: 54 Fla. 302,45 So. 499
• Parties: PUGH v. BOWDEN, Sheriff.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

45 So. 499

54 Fla. 302

PUGH v. BOWDEN, Sheriff.

Florida Supreme Court, Division B.

December 17, 1907

Error to Circuit Court, Duval County; Rhydon M. Call, Judge.

Application of Mrs. C. E. M. Pugh for writ of habeas corpus against R. F Bowden, Sheriff, to test the legality of the commitment of Raymond Ingram. From an order denying the writ, plaintiff brings error. Judgment remanding Ingram to custody of sheriff reversed.

Syllabus by the Court

SYLLABUS

Section 9, c. 5388, p. 66, Laws of 1905, is constitutional and valid in so far as it confers jurisdiction upon the judge of any circuit court or county judge to commit persons of incorrigible and vicious conduct to the State Reform School.

In so far as section 9, c. 5388, p. 66, Laws of 1905, authorizes the commitment by a judge of the circuit court or a county judge of a person of incorrigible and vicious conduct to the State Reform School without a trial by jury, it is constitutional.

The provisions of section 9, c. 5388, p. 66, Laws of 1905, in so far as it authorizes a judge of any criminal court of record to commit persons therein mentioned to the State Reform School, are unconstitutional. The judge of a criminal court of record may commit to the State Reform School only by virtue of the provisions of section 1, c. 5388, p. 63, Laws of 1905, after regular conviction in said court for crime.

COUNSEL L. E. Wade, for plaintiff in error.

OPINION

PARKHILL J.

This is a habeas corpus proceeding, brought by Mrs. C. E. M. Pugh to test the legality of the commitment of Raymond Ingram by the judge of the criminal court of record of Duval county to the State Reform School.

The petition for the writ, briefly stated, alleges that the father of Raymond Ingram is well able to care for and support his son, who is a sickly, weak child about 14 years of age but he has caused his confinement in the county jail to get rid of the support of the child; that the said child is not charged with crime, and has not been tried and convicted, but was brought before the criminal court of record upon a petition filed by his father upon the 14th day of September 1907, and then and there committed by said court to said reform school, without a trial by jury; that the said child is not an unusually bad boy, but he is sickly, and his confinement in said reform school will result in his death; that the order of said court committing the child to the reform school is null and void, and deprives him of his liberty without authority of law and without a trial by jury.

In support of this petition there was filed before the circuit judge a certified copy of the petition filed by the father of Raymond Ingram in the criminal court of record and the judgment rendered thereon.

The petition was sworn to, and is as follows:

'In the Criminal Court of Record of Duval County, Florida.

'To the Honorable J. S. Maxwell, Judge of said Court:

'Your petitioner, N. D. Ingram, represents to your honor:

'(1) That he is the father and natural guardian of one Raymond D. Ingram.

'(2) That the said N. D. Ingram has been and is now a kind and loving father to the said Raymond D. Ingram, and has provided and does now provide the necessaries of life, and for the proper education of the said Raymond D. Ingram, suitable to his station in life.

'(3) That, notwithstanding the good treatment above mentioned, Raymond D. Ingram, in consequence of incorrigible and vicious conduct, is a proper person for the guardianship of the Florida State Reform School, at Marianna, Florida.

'(4) That the said Raymond D. Ingram has been guilty of the offenses, to wit:

'(a) On September 11, 1907, he struck his father, N. D. Ingram, on the leg with a shoe, without provocation.

'(b) He constantly abuses, curses, and threatens to kill his father, mother, and sister, and constantly uses profane and obscene language in the presence of his family.

'(c) That the said Raymond D. Ingram, on the 4th day of September, 1907, did thereaten to shoot his father, N. D. Ingram.

'(d) That the said Raymond D. Ingram will not work and habitually refuses so to do.

'(e) That the said Raymond D. Ingram constantly plays and loafs on the streets, and will not come home until late at night.

'(5) That the said Raymond D. Ingram has a violent and ungovernable temper, and he is under the age of 18 years, and over the age of 10 years, to wit, 14 years of age.

'(6) That the said Raymond D. Ingram resides in the jurisdiction of this court, to wit, No. 23 East Church street, Jacksonville, Florida, Duval county.

'(7) That your petitioner, N. D. Ingram, is unable to manage and control the said Raymond D. Ingram, and he, the said petitioner, prays that this honorable court will commit the said Raymond D. Ingram to the guardianship of the Florida State Reform School, at Marianna, Florida.

N. D. Ingram.'

The judgment thereon is as follows:

'In the Criminal Court of Record, Duval County, Florida.

'In re Commitment of Raymond D. Ingram to the State Reform School.

'Be it remembered that on the 14th day of September, A. D. 1907, Raymond D. Ingram was, on the complaint of N. D. Ingram, brought before me, the undersigned, judge of the criminal court of record for Duval county, Florida, and upon due proof I do find the said Raymond D. Ingram a suitable person to be committed to the guardianship of the Florida State Reform School.

'Wherefore it is hereby ordered that the said Raymond D. Ingram be, and he is hereby, committed to the guardianship of said institution until he attains the age of twenty-one (21) years or until he is legally discharged.

'Witness my hand this the 14th day of September, A. D. 1907.

J. S. Maxwell, Judge.'

The return of the sheriff to the writ states that he holds said Raymond D. Ingram in custody by virtue of a commitment under the seal of the criminal court of record of Duval county. The said commitment, as amended by permission of the circuit judge, reads as follows:

'Commitment to the State Reform School.

'Criminal Court of Record, Duval County, Florida, August Term, A. D. 1907.

Sentenced Sept. 14, A. D. 1907.

'State of Florida v. Raymond D. Ingram.

Information for Being an Incorrigible.

'Be it remembered that on the 14th day of September, A. D. 1907, Raymond D. Ingram, a resident of said county, was, on the complaint of N. D. Ingram, brought before me, the undersigned, judge of the criminal court of record, and upon due proof I do find that the said Raymond D. Ingram is a suitable person to be committed to the Florida State Reform School.

'Wherefore it is hereby ordered that the said Raymond D. Ingram be, and he is hereby, committed to said institution until he attains the age of twenty-one years, or until he is legally discharged.

'The alternative sentence is -----.

'Said Raymond D. Ingram was charged with being an incorrigible. He was born in 1893. His father's name is N. D. Ingram, and he resides at 23 East Church street, Jacksonville, Florida. That his mother's name is Ella Ingram. That she is dead. That his near relatives and their residence are as follows: Sister, Henrietta Ingram, No. 23 East Church street, Jacksonville, Florida.

'Witness my hand this the 14th lay of September, A. D. 1907.

'John S. Maxwell,

'Judge Criminal Court of Record.'

On the 23d day of September, 1907, the circuit judge heard this cause, and remanded the child, Raymond Ingram, to the custody of the Sheriff, and allowed a writ of error to this court, returnable the 19th day of November, 1907.

The assignments of error present the contentions that the criminal court of record was without jurisdiction of these proceedings, and the judge thereof had no authority to commit Raymond Ingram to the reform school upon petition of his father and without a trial by jury.

Section 1, c. 5388, p. 63, Laws of 1905, provides: 'When a person under the age of 18 years is convicted before any court of an offense punishable by imprisonment in the county jail, such court may sentence him to the State Reform School, or to such other punishment provided by law for the same offense.'

The jurisdiction of the criminal court and the judge thereof, in committing a person to the State Reform School by virtue of the provisions of this section, is not doubted and as the commitment to the school, under this section, is after trial and conviction of a...