Error
to Circuit Court, Grundy County; Frank L. Lynch, Judge.
E. C
Norvell and another were indicted for violation of the Vital
Statistics Law, their motion to quash was sustained, and the
State brings error. Reversed and remanded.
GREEN
J.
The
defendants in error, undertakers, doing business in Tracy
City, were indicted for handling and removing a dead body
from the Fourth civil district of Grundy county without a
permit for the removal of the said body. The indictment was
based on chapter 30 of the Acts of 1913, known as the
"Vital Statistics Law."
A
motion to quash was filed by the defendants in error, in
which the constitutionality of the act, as well as the
sufficiency of the indictment, was challenged. The motion to
quash was sustained; the trial judge being of opinion that
the act was unconstitutional. The state has appealed in error
to this court.
In
order to discuss the questions raised on this appeal it
becomes necessary to make rather a full quotation of this
statute.
The
title is "An act to provide an effective system for the
keeping of records of all births and deaths in Tennessee, and
to provide penalties for the violation of this act." The
first four sections of the act provide that the state board
of health shall have charge of the registration of births and
deaths and keep a record thereof, for the division of the
state into registration districts, and for the appointment of
officers to carry out the purposes of the act, and like
matters.
The
sections of the statute particularly drawn in question in
this case are as follows:
"Sec. 5. That the body of any person whose death occurs
in the state shall not be interred, deposited in a vault or
tomb, cremated, or otherwise disposed of, or removed from or
into any registration district, or be temporarily held
pending further disposition more than seventy-two hours after
death, until a permit for burial, removal, or other
disposition thereof shall have been properly issued by the
registrar of the district in which the death occurred, and no
such burial or removal permit shall be issued by any
registrar until a complete and satisfactory certificate of
death has been filed with him as hereinafter provided; and
provided, further, that when a dead body is brought into a
registration district of this state for burial or other
disposition, then the transit and removal permit issued in
accordance with the law and health regulations of the place
where death occurred shall be accepted by the local registrar
of said district as a basis upon which he shall issue a local
burial permit in the same way as if the death occurred in his
district; he shall plainly enter upon the face of the permit
the fact that it was a body shipped in for interment, and
give the actual place of death; and provided, further, that a
burial permit shall not be required from the local registrar
of the district in which interment is made when a body is
removed for purposes of burial or other disposition from one
district to another in this State.
Sec. 6. That stillborn children or those dead at birth, shall
be registered as births and also as deaths, and a certificate
of both birth and death shall be filed with the local
registrar in the usual form and manner. The certificate of
birth to contain in place of the name of the child the word
'Stillbirth.' The medical certificate of the cause of
death shall be signed by the attending physician, if any, and
shall state the cause of death as 'Stillborn,' with
the cause of the stillbirth, if known; whether premature
birth, and, if born prematurely, the period of uterine
gestation in months if known; and burial or removal permits
in the usual form shall be required. Midwives shall not sign
certificates of death for stillborn children, but such cases
and stillbirths occurring without attendance of either
physician or midwife, shall be treated as deaths without
medical attendance as provided for in section 8 of this act;
and provided, further, that a certificate of birth and death
shall not be required for a child that has not advanced to
the fifth month of uterogestation.
Sec. 7. That the certificate of death shall be of the United
States standard form, as approved by the Bureau of Census,
and shall contain the following items:
1. Place of death, including state, county, civil district,
incorporated town or city; if in a city, the ward, street and
house number; if in a hospital, or other institution, the
name of the same to be given instead of the street and house
number; if in an industrial camp, the name of the camp to be
given.
2. Full name of decedent; if an unnamed child, the surname,
preceded 'Unnamed.'
3. Sex.
4. Color or race--as, white, black (negro or negro descent),
Indian, Chinese, Japanese, or other.
5. Conjugal condition--as, single, married, widowed, or
divorced.
6. Date of birth, including year, month, and day.
7. Age in years, months, and days; if less than one day,
hours or minutes.
8. Occupation. The occupation to be reported of any person
who had any remunerative employment, women as well as men,
stating (a) trade, profession, or particular kind of work;
(b) general nature of industry, business, or establishment in
which employed (or employer).
9. Birthplace--state or foreign country.
10. Name of father.
11. Birthplace of father--state or foreign country.
12. Maiden name of mother.
13. Birthplace of mother--state or foreign country.
14. Signature and address of informant.
15. Official signature of the registrar, with the date when
certificate was filed and registered number.
16. Date of death--year, month, and day.
17. Statement of medical attendance of deceased; fact and
time of death; time last seen alive, and the cause of death,
with contributory cause (secondary) or complication, if any,
and duration of each; and if attributed to dangerous or
unsanitary conditions of employment; signature and address of
physician or official making the medical certificate.
18. Length of residence (for hospitals, institutions,
transient, or recent residents) at place of death, and in the
state.
19. Place of burial or removal; date of burial.
20. Signature and address of undertaker or person acting as
such.
The personal and statistical particulars (item 1 to 13) shall
be authenticated by the signature of the informant, who may
be any competent person acquainted with the facts.
The statement of facts relating to the disposition of the
body shall be signed by the undertaker or person acting as
such. The medical certificate shall be made and signed by the
physician, if any, last in attendance on the deceased, who
shall specify the time in attendance, the time he last saw
the deceased alive, and the hour of the day at which death
occurred. And he shall further state the cause of death, so
as to show the course of disease; or sequence of causes
resulting in the death, giving first the name of the disease
causing death (the primary cause), and the contributory
(secondary cause), if any, and the duration of each.
Indefinite and unsatisfactory terms indicating only symptoms
of disease, or conditions resulting from the disease, which
will not be held sufficient for issuing a burial or removal
permit, and any certificate containing only such terms as
defined by the state registrar shall be returned to the
physician for correction and more definite statement. Causes
of death, which may be the result of disease,
as violence, shall be carefully defined; and if from
violence, the means of injury shall be stated, and whether
(probably) accidental, suicidal, or homicidal. And in death
in hospitals, institutions, or of nonresidents, the physician
shall furnish the information required under this head (item
18), and may state where, in his opinion, the disease was
contracted.
Sec. 8. That in case of any death occurring without medical
attendance, it shall be the duty of the undertaker to notify
the local registrar of such death; and when so notified, the
registrar shall inform the local health officer and refer the
case to him for immediate investigation and certification
prior to issuing the permit: Provided, that when the local
health officer is not a qualified physician, or when there is
no such official, and in such cases only, the registrar is
authorized to make the certificate and return from the
statement of relatives, or other persons having adequate
knowledge of the facts; and provided, further, that if the
death was caused by unlawful or suspicious means, the
registrar shall then refer the case to the coroner for his
investigation and certification. And any coroner, whose duty
it is to hold an inquest over the body of any deceased person
and to make the certificate of death required for a burial
permit, shall state in his certificate the name of the
disease causing death, or if from external causes (1) the
means of death, and (2) whether (probably) accidental,
suicidal, or
homicidal; and shall, in either case, furnish such
information as may be required by the state registrar in
order to properly classify the death.
Sec. 9. That the undertaker, or other person acting as
undertaker, shall be responsible for obtaining and filing the
certificate of death with the local registrar of the district
in which death occurred, and for securing a burial or removal
permit prior to any disposition of the body. He shall obtain
the personal and statistical particulars required from the
person best qualified to supply them, over the signature and
address of his informant. He shall then present the
certificate to the attending physician, if
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