State v. Griffin

• Decision Date: 18 December 1901
• Citation: 132 Ala. 47,31 So. 112
• Parties: STATE EX REL. WILLIAMS v. GRIFFIN ET AL.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

31 So. 112

132 Ala. 47

STATE EX REL. WILLIAMS v. GRIFFIN ET AL.

Supreme Court of Alabama

December 18, 1901

Appeal from circuit court, Cullman county; O. Kyle, Judge.

Proceedings by the state, on the relation of one Williams, against S. J Griffin and others, to determine the right of defendants to hold office as members of the text-book board of Cullman county. From a judgment in favor of defendants relator appeals. Affirmed.

Sharpe J., dissenting.

J. B Brown and Brown & Curtis, for appellant.

George H. Parker, for appellees.

SHARPE J.

This proceeding questions the right of defendants to hold offices as members of a text-book board under an act of March 2 1901, entitled "An act to establish a text book board for the public schools of Cullman county, Alabama, and to define its duties and powers." Acts 1900-1901, p. 1967. The petition is grounded on the assumption that the act is void as being offensive to the constitution of 1875, and particularly to that part of section 2 of article 4 which requires that "each law shall contain but one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title." To the writer this position seems to be well taken. In its body the act provides for the appointment by the state superintendent of education of five qualified electors of Cullman county, to be known as "the Text Book Board of the Public Schools of Cullman County, Alabama" (section 1), who are to select a uniform series of text-books to be used in the public schools of that county, which series, after adoption, is not to be changed for six years, but may be added to, and "that no part of the public school fund shall be paid to any school in which said text books are not used" (section 2). Lists of the books so selected are to be furnished by the county superintendent to each teacher in the county (section 3), who must report the kind of books they have used in their schools during each scholastic quarter to the county superintendent of education, who is prohibited to pay any public school funds to any teacher who has used any book or books other than those selected by the text-book board, on pain of having the amount so paid deducted from his commissions and kept in the general school fund (section 4). Board sessions for certain business are to be held (sections 5 and 6), for which compensation per diem is allowed the members (section 6), who incur a penalty if interested in deals concerning said books (section 7), and the county is to pay expenses of carrying out the act (section 8). Official terms of the members are six years, vacancies to be filled by the state superintendent of education (section 9); and the board is given power to make and enforce rules, contracts, etc. (section 10), and conflicting laws are repealed (section 11).

The title of this...