State ex rel. Mickey v. Reneau
| Decision Date | 22 November 1905 |
| Docket Number | 14,512 |
| Citation | 106 N.W. 451,75 Neb. 1 |
| Parties | STATE OF NEBRASKA, EX REL., JOHN H. MICKEY, RELATOR, v. L. C. RENEAU, COUNTY CLERK, ET AL., RESPONDENTS |
| Court | Nebraska Supreme Court |
ORIGINAL application for a writ of mandamus to compel respondents to select jurors under chapter 176, laws 1905. Writ denied.
Writ denied.
Norris Brown, Attorney General, William T. Thompson and E. Falloon for relator.
Wesley T. Wilcox, contra.
OPINION
Writ denied, on the ground that the law is unconstitutional. Opinion to be filed later.
The following opinion was filed December 20, 1905:
In this case the writ of mandamus was denied because the "jury law" enacted in 1905 (laws 1905, ch 176) was held to be invalid. The constitution provides "The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate." Const., art. I, sec. 6. Also, "All courts shall be open, and every person, for any injury done him in his lands, goods, person, or reputation, shall have a remedy by due course of law, and justice administered without denial or delay." Const., art I, sec. 13. Under the provisions of the act in question, it would be impossible to obtain a jury in some of the counties of the state, and justice could not be regularly administered without delay. By section 2 of the act it is enacted: "That upon the completion of the canvass of the election returns said board shall select at least 500 names from the tally sheet, provided that the tally sheet contains that many names; if the tally sheet does not contain 500 names then from the actual number of names contained on said sheet, in all counties having less than 30,000 inhabitants, in the manner following: They shall divide the number of electors to be selected by the number of the voting precincts, and allot to each voting precinct the quotient or number thus obtained; then the board shall divide the number of names found upon each tally sheet of each voting precinct by the quotient or number allotted to each precinct, and then shall count from the top of the tally sheet of the precinct the number of names of this last quotient, the last name of which shall be selected and put into a receptacle as hereinafter provided, then again count down the tally sheet selecting every name that corresponds to the number of this quotient until the full quota of names from said precinct shall have been chosen, and thus continue the process through each precinct until the required number of names shall have been...
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