State ex rel. The Attorney General v. Platt
| Decision Date | 23 November 1870 |
| Citation | 2 S.C. 150 |
| Parties | THE STATE Ex Rel. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL v. HON. Z. PLATT, CIRCUIT JUDGE. THE STATE Ex Rel. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL v. N. G. W. WALKER, SHERIFF. |
| Court | South Carolina Supreme Court |
On March 1, 1870, the General Assembly of the State passed an " Act to revise, simplify and abridge the rules practice, pleadings and forms of Courts in this State." The 19th Section of the enrolled Act, to which the Great Seal of the State was affixed, and which was signed, in the Senate Chamber, by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and received the approval of the Governor, provided that the Courts for the County of Barnwell should be held at Barnwell; but it appeared by the Journals of the two Houses of the General Assembly that the same Section of the Bill, as it finally passed both Houses, provided that the Courts for that County should be held at Blackville . By the law, as it stood at the passage of the Act, the place last named was the County seat of Barnwell County. Held , that the 19th Section of the Act was void, and, consequently, that Blackville remained the County seat of Barnwell County.
The enrolled Act, duly authenticated as the Constitution prescribes, and approved and signed by the Governor, is not conclusive evidence of the terms of the Bill, as it passed the Houses of the General Assembly, but the Journals of the Houses, or other appropriate evidence, may be received, to show what those terms were; and, whenever it appears that the enrolled Act differs from the Bill as it passed, in a substantial matter, the Judiciary department of the State may declare the whole Act, or the part affected by the change unconstitutional and void.
Every substantial part of a proposed enactment is a " Bill," within the constitutional sense of the term, and must pass through all the constitutional stages of enactment before it becomes law.
These were petitions to the Supreme Court for writs of mandamus: in the case first stated, to command the Hon. Zephaniah Platt, Circuit Judge of the second Circuit, to hold the Courts of General Sessions and Common Pleas for the County of Barnwell, at the town of Blackville, in said County; and, in the second case, to command N. G. W. Walker Sheriff of said County, to keep his office, as Sheriff, with its books, records and papers, and office furniture, at the same place.
Under the provisions of two Acts of Assembly, one passed 2d March, 1869, (14 Stat. 202,) and the other approved 26th March, 1869, (14 Stat. 250,) the County seat of Barnwell County had been removed from the town of Barnwell, to the town Blackville, in that County, previous to the 1st of March, 1870.
On the day last mentioned an Act entitled " An Act to revise, simplify and abridge the rules, practice, pleadings and forms of Courts in this State," was passed by the General Assembly of the State. It was duly enrolled, had the Great Seal of the State affixed to it, was signed, in the Senate Chamber, by the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and was approved and signed by the Governor. It was divided into Parts, Titles, Chapters and Sections, and it contained 475 Sections. Part I, embracing the Sections from 9 to 91, both inclusive, related to " Courts of Justice and their jurisdiction." Part II, embracing the other Sections, except the first eight, related to " Civil Actions."
Part I, Title III, relating to " Circuit Courts," contained Section 19 of the Act, and this Section of the enrolled Act directed, inter alia , that the Circuit Courts for Barnwell County should be held at Barnwell, and this was the condition of the Act when it was filed in the office of the Secretary of State. In that office the word " Barnwell" was erased and " Blackville" inserted in its place, and with this alteration the Act was printed by the State Printer. " " Blackville," therefore, appears in the printed copy of the Act as the place designated by law for holding the Circuit Courts for Barnwell County.
From the Journals of the two Houses of the General Assembly, it appeared that the 19th Section of the Bill, as it passed both Houses, designated " Blackville" as the place for holding the Circuit Courts for Barnwell County.
Upon the foregoing state of facts being brought to the notice of His Honor Judge Platt, Judge of the Second Circuit, to which the County of Barnwell was attached, he held that the question was concluded, by the terms of the enrolled Act; that " Barnwell" was the place fixed by law for holding the Circuit Courts for that County, and he made an order directing the Sheriff and Clerk of the Court to remove their office books, records, papers and office furniture from Blackville to the last named place.
The Sheriff and Clerk obeyed the order, and thereupon these petitions were filed.
Returns were made admitting the facts, and the cases were argued upon the question of law involved in them.
Chamberlain , Attorney General, Carroll & Melton , for the State.
Maher , for respondents.
The Attorney General asks that writs of mandamus may issue from this Court in the case first above entitled, to the Circuit Judge of the Second Circuit, commanding him to hold the Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions for Barnwell County at Blackville, instead of Barnwell, and, in the last named case, commanding the Sheriff of Barnwell County to hold his office at Blackville.
The main question involved is, whether Blackville or Barnwell is the place appointed by law for the holding of the Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions for that County.
It is alleged that Section 19 of the passed March 1, 1870, as published by law, does not conform to the enrolled Act deposited in the office of the Secretary of State, as that Act stood at the time the enrollment was made.
It is admitted, and is to be taken as one of the facts of this case, that, at the time of the enrollment of the Act, and of its signature by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives, and of its presentation to, and approval by, the Governor, and also at the time of its deposit in the office of the Secretary of State, the 19th Section of the Act provided that the Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions should be held at Barnwell, but that, since being so deposited, the text of the enrolled Act has been altered, so that the Act, as it now stands, requires that these Courts should be held at Blackville.
It is also alleged by the relator that it appears by the Journals of the two Houses of the General Assembly that the Act, as passed by the General Assembly, required the Courts to be held at Blackville, and that the enrollment did not, in this respect, conform to the law as passed.
It becomes a question for our consideration, therefore, whether we can look into the Journals to see in what form the law actually passed the General Assembly, or whether we are precluded, by the form of the enrollment, from further inquiry as to the terms of the Act.
Under the Constitution, the question whether an Act of legislation has the force of law, does not depend merely upon the constitutional majorities of the two Houses having so determined, but upon the performance of certain acts, in part legislative and in part executive, and following each other in a certain order. By Section 21, Art. II, it must have been read three times, and on three several days, in each House; it must have the Great Seal of the State affixed to it, and it must be signed in the Senate-House by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. By Section 22, Article III, it must have been presented to the Governor, and have been approved and signed by him. But the Governor's signature is not indispensable. If after being returned with his objections, it shall have been reconsidered and approved, in each House, by two-thirds of such House, or if, after being presented for his approval, he shall neither approve it nor return it with his objections, within three days— when these prerequisites are complied with, the Act acquires the force of law under the terms of the Constitution. If either one fails, there cannot be a compliance with the conditions upon which, under the express terms of the Constitution, the force of the Act, as law, depends.
It appertains to the office and authority of the judicial department to enforce the limits imposed by the Constitution upon the authority of the Legislature, by refusing to give force to acts without their sanction, and, accordingly, to determine whether the acts have been duly performed upon which the force of the enactment, as law, depends. Having power to inquire into the existence of these jurisdictional facts, it may resort to whatever evidence, in conformity with the principles and rules of law, is esteemed most conclusive of the fact to be determined.
It is argued, however, that if the enrollment is fair on its face, and if the Great Seal is affixed to it, inquiry must there stop, at least so far as it is a question what are the provisions of the law that has been passed.
The Constitution does not assume to determine what shall, or what shall not, constitute evidence, whether primary or secondary of the facts upon which the authority of an Act depends. To what source, then, shall we refer, in order to ascertain upon what evidence a judicial inquiry of this nature ought to proceed? This question is substantially answered by Judge Cooley in a manner that commends itself for the breadth and soundness of its reason. He says (Cooley's Constitutional Limitations, 130): " If,...
To continue reading
Request your trial