Smith v. State of Alabama
| Citation | 124 U.S. 465,31 L.Ed. 508,8 S.Ct. 564 |
| Parties | SMITH v. STATE OF ALABAMA |
| Decision Date | 30 January 1888 |
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
This is a writ of error bringing into review a judgment of the supreme court of the state of Alabama, affirming a judgment of the city court of Mobile. The proceeding in the latter court was upon a writ of habeas corpus sued out by the plaintiff in error, seeking his discharge from the custody of the sheriff of Mobile county, in that state, under a commitment by a justice of the peace, upon the charge of handling, engineering, driving, and operating an engine pulling a passenger train upon the Mobile & Ohio Railroad used in transporting passengers within the county of Mobile, and state of Alabama, without having obtained a license from the board of examiners appointed by the governor of said state, in accordance with the provisions of an act entitled 'An act to require locomotive engineers in this state to be examined and licensed by a board to be appointed by the governor for that purpose,' approved February 28, 1887, and after more than three months had elapsed from the date of appointment and qualification of said board. The plaintiff in error, upon complaint, was committed by the examining magistrate to the custody of the sheriff to answer an indictment for that alleged offense. The ground of the application for discharge upon the writ of habeas corpus in the city court of Mobile was that the act of the general assembly of the state of Alabama, for the violation of which he was held, was in contravention of that clause of the constitution of the United States which confers upon congress power to regulate commerce among the states.
The facts, as they appeared upon the hearing upon the return of the writ, are as follows: The petitioner, at the time of his arrest on July 16, 1887, within the county of Mobile, was a locomotive engineer in the service of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad Company, a corporation owning and operating a line of railroad forming a continuous and unbroken line of railway from Mobile, in the state of Alabama, to St. Louis, in the state of Missouri, and as such was then engaged in handling, operating, and driving a locomotive engine, attached to a regular passenger train on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, within the county and state, consisting of a postal car carrying the United States mail to all parts of the Union, a southern express car containing perishable freight, money packages, and other valuable merchandise destined to Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, and other states, passenger coaches, and a Pullman palace sleeping car occupied by passengers to be transported by said train to the states of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The petitioner's run, as a locomotive engineer in the service of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad Company, was regularly from the city of Mobile, in the state of Alabama, to Corinth, in the state of Mississippi, 60 miles of which run was in the state of Alabama, and 265 miles in the state of Mississippi; and he never handled and operated an engine pulling a train of cars whose destination was a point within the state of Alabama when said engine and train of cars started from a point within that state. His train started at Mobile, and ran through without change of coaches or cars, on one continuous trip. His employment as locomotive engineer in the service of said company also required him to take charge of and handle, drive, and operate an engine drawing a passenger train which started from St. Louis, in the state of Missouri, destined to the city of Mobile, in the state of Alabama, said train being loaded with merchandise and occupied by passengers destined to Alabama and other states; this engine and train he took charge of at Corinth, in Mississippi, and handled, drove, and operated the same along and over the Mobile & Ohio Railroad through the states of Mississippi and Alabama to the city of Mobile. If frequently happened that he was ordered by the proper officers of the said company to handle, drive, and operate an engine drawing a passenger train loaded with merchandise, carrying the United States mail, and occupied by passengers, from the city of Mobile, in Alabama, to the city of St. Louis, in Missouri, being allowed two lay-overs; said train passing through the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois, and into the state of Missouri.
It was admitted that the petitioner had not obtained the license required by the act of the general assembly of the state of Alabama of February 28, 1887, and had not applied to the board of examiners, or any of its members, for such license, and that more than three months had elapsed since the appointment and qualification of said board of examiners, the same having been duly appointed by the governor of the state under the provisions of said act. The statute of Alabama, the validity of which is thus drawn in question, as being contrary to the constitution of the United States, and the validity of which has been affirmed by the judgment of the supreme court of Alabama now in review, is as follows:
'An act to require locomotive engineers in this state to be examined and licensed by a board to be appointed by the governor for that purpose.
E. L. Russell, for plaintiff in error.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 470-472 intentionally omitted] T. N. McClellan, for defendant in error.
Mr. Justice MATTHEWS, after stating the facts as above, delivered the opinion of the court.
The grant of power to congress in the constitution to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states, it is conceded, is paramount over all legislative powers which, in consequence of not having been granted to congress, are reserved to the states. It follows that any legislation...
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