Snowden v. Hughes
| Decision Date | 30 January 1943 |
| Docket Number | No. 7986.,7986. |
| Citation | 132 F.2d 476 |
| Parties | SNOWDEN v. HUGHES et al. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Joseph E. Snowden, W. Robert Ming, Jr., and Heber T. Dotson, all of Chicago, Ill., for appellant.
Herbert M. Lautmann, Isaac E. Ferguson, and George F. Barrett, all of Chicago, Ill. (Frank C. Bernard, of Chicago, Ill., and William C. Wines, Asst. Atty. Gen., of counsel), for appellees.
Before SPARKS, MAJOR, and KERNER, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal from a judgment dismissing plaintiff's complaint for lack of jurisdiction. The suit was brought to recover $50,000 damages for an asserted illegal refusal to certify that plaintiff had been nominated as a candidate for representative in the general assembly of Illinois. There is no diverse citizenship and the jurisdiction must depend upon the presence of a federal question. Plaintiff claimed the right to maintain the suit was conferred upon him by § 24, subdivisions 1, 12, and 14, of the Judicial Code, 28 U.S. C.A. § 41(1), (12), (14).
The complaint alleged plaintiff was one of several candidates at the April 9, 1940, Republican primary election held in the third senatorial district of Illinois, for the purpose of electing nominees for the office of representative in the general assembly of Illinois; that there were to be two nominees elected; that under the laws of Illinois, the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes were to be declared the nominees; that at the said primary election, the returns were made to the county clerk of Cook County, duly authenticated and certified by the canvassing board of Cook County, Illinois, and forwarded to the secretary of state of Illinois, showing that plaintiff and one Jenkins were the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes for nomination for representative in the general assembly on the Republican ticket; that the tabulated statement of returns made to the secretary of state by the county canvassing board of Cook County was to be canvassed by the state primary canvassing board, proclamation of the result thereof made, and certificates of nomination issued to candidates appearing to have received the highest number of votes; that the official vote of the primary election, as duly published by the secretary of state of Illinois, showed plaintiff as being one of the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes cast; that the governor, secretary of state, and state treasurer — members of the state primary canvassing board — are charged with the duty of canvassing the tabulated statement of returns, proclaiming the results, and issuing the certificate of nomination; that the defendants, while acting as the duly designated officers of the state primary canvassing board, issued their official proclamation designating only one nominee for the office of representative in the general assembly and illegally failed and refused to certify that plaintiff had been duly nominated as a candidate.
The complaint charged that the unlawful acts on the part of the defendants were done in furtherance of a conspiracy between the defendants and were an unequal administration of the laws of Illinois — a denial to plaintiff, by the State of Illinois, of the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and deprived plaintiff of the rights, privileges, and immunities secured by the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the United States.
Plaintiff claims that the defendants as ministerial officers failed and refused to comply with the law, and in so doing, prevented plaintiff from enjoying the equal protection of the laws of Illinois and of the United States, and have been guilty of conduct which deprived him of rights guaranteed to him by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and that he, therefore, has a cause of action under the Civil Rights Act of April 20, 1871, 17 Stat. 13, now § 1979, Revised Statutes, 8 U.S.C.A. § 43, which provides: "Every person who, under color of any statute * * * of any State * * * subjects * * * any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law * * *."
It is well settled that privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States are only such as arise out of the nature and essential character of the national government, or are specifically granted or secured to all citizens or persons by the Constitution of the United States, Twining v. State of New Jersey, 211 U.S. 78, 97, 29 S.Ct. 14, 53 L.Ed. 97.
The argument is made that the privileges and immunities of the citizens of the United States include the right to an equal opportunity of being elected to serve in the legislative councils of the state, and in support of this contention plaintiff cites the cases noted below.1
This case is very different from the cases cited. In the Swafford and Wiley cases, the right of the plaintiff alleged to have been infringed was the right to vote in an election for a member of the national house of representatives. It was held that a federal question was involved, because the right to vote for a member of Congress was dependent upon the Constitution and the laws of the United States.
In the Lane case, a Negro citizen complains of a denial of the right to vote, in direct violation of the Fifteenth Amendment; and in the Hague case, federal jurisdiction was bottomed on plaintiff's claim that certain ordinances relating to public meetings, deprived the plaintiff of the right to peaceful assembly and free speech secured by the Fourteenth Amendment; while the Kline case was based on diversity of citizenship, with no claim that the matter in controversy arose under the Constitution and the laws of the United States.
Section 454 of the Elections Act, c. 46, Ill.Rev.St.1941, provides that the candidates...
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Snowden v. Hughes
...an infringement of rights secured to petitioner by the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed, 132 F.2d 476, holding on authority of Barney v. City of New York, 193 U.S. 430, 24 S.Ct. 502, 48 L.Ed. 737, that the action of the members of the State Board, ......
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Glicker v. Michigan Liquor Control Commission, 10185.
...Barney v. City of New York, 193 U.S. 430, 24 S.Ct. 502, 48 L.Ed. 737; Opinion of Circuit Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, in Snowden v. Hughes, 132 F.2d 476, ruling affirmed on different ground in 321 U.S. 1, 13, 64 S.Ct. 397, 88 L.Ed. 497. Concurring opinion of Mr. Justice Frankfurter in Sno......
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United States v. Trierweiler
...7 Cir., 5 F.2d 224; Kaufman v. United States, 2 Cir., 212 F. 613, Ann.Cas.1916C, 466. My attention is directed to Snowden v. Hughes, 7 Cir., 132 F.2d 476, at page 477. It does not appear from the opinion that any federal right was involved in that case. The court remarked that the Fourteent......
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United States v. Chaplin
...to establish an infringement of rights secured to petitioner by the Fourteenth Amendment. The ruling was approved by the 7th Circuit, 132 F.2d 476, and the decision was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. Judicial actions were not involved in this case and not Craig v. Unite......