State v. Robertson
| Decision Date | 22 September 1942 |
| Docket Number | 9399. |
| Citation | 22 S.E.2d 287,124 W.Va. 648 |
| Parties | STATE v. ROBERTSON et al. |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
Preston & Davis, Robert S. Spilman, Sr., and Homer A. Holt, all of Charleston, for petitioner.
T C. Townsend, Harry R. Angel, and Joseph Thomas, all of Charleston, for respondents.
On August 14, 1942, D. Jackson Savage, one of the petitioners herein, presented to the Circuit Court of Kanawha County his bill in equity against Grover C. Robertson and others seeking to enjoin the holding of a convention to nominate a candidate of the Democratic party for the office of Judge of the Intermediate Court of Kanawha County, which convention had theretofore been called to meet on August 15, 1942, at two o'clock P. M. His prayer for injunction was denied by the circuit court, and on the morning of August 15th, acting under Code, 53-5-5, he presented his bill to this Court. Three of the judges of this Court, sitting in vacation, heard arguments for and against the instruction prayed for, and upon consideration of which a temporary injunction was awarded effective as of 12:30 P. M. of that day, restraining the holding of said convention before the expiration of thirty days from the date of the magisterial convention, held in Charleston Magisterial District, on the 12th day of August, 1942, within five days from the date when any contest growing out of such district convention should have been passed upon by the Democratic Executive Committee of Kanawha County, unless otherwise ordered by the court; the cause was then returned to the Circuit Court of Kanawha County. It is alleged that the injunction so awarded was served on respondents Robertson and Carson, and that the fact of its issuance was publicly made known to all of the respondents in advance of the hour when the convention enjoined had been called to meet. Notwithstanding these proceedings, the respondents herein, along with many others, not now before the Court proceeded to and did hold what they term a convention, and assumed to nominate a candidate for the Democratic party for the office of Judge of the Intermediate Court of Kanawha County, and assumed to certify such nomination to the Clerk of the Circuit Court of said county, the effect of which was to nullify the action of this Court in awarding the injunction aforesaid. On August 17, 1942, the petition in this proceeding was filed, and on the 21st day of August this Court, acting in special term, all members being present, awarded a rule against the respondents requiring them to appear before us on August 31, 1942, to show cause why they should not be attached and punished for their alleged contemptuous acts and conduct in the particulars set out above. The petition aforesaid was copied into the rule and the same has been legally served on all the respondents.
The far reaching importance of the question presented cannot well be magnified. So far as we know, this is the first instance in the history of this state where an order of this Court has been openly disregarded and disobeyed, and affirmative action taken in an attempt to nullify and make the same ineffective. The indignity suffered by the individual members of the Court who awarded the said injunction may be waived as of secondary importance. The attack upon the Court, as such, is the broad issue presented. If men may take the law in their own hands, in defiance of the processes of the highest court in our judicial system, then of what force and effect are the decrees, orders and processes of any court, and what becomes of the power vested in courts under our constitution and laws enacted thereunder?
It should be here plainly stated that the questions considered by us when the injunction was awarded did not involve the merits of any controversy as to the legality of any magisterial district convention, or the selection of any delegate to the county judicial convention. Clearly, the purpose sought to be effected by the injunction was to preserve the status quo, and to afford to interested persons, in an appropriate proceeding under the statute, an opportunity to contest the selection of delegates to the county judicial convention. There is authority for such a proceeding. Hall v. Stepp, 105 W.Va. 487-491, 143 S.E. 153. In such proceeding, all persons, including the respondents, would have had their day in court, and the right of matters settled in due form of law. The respondents were, apparently, unwilling to submit their case to such test, and sought to accomplish the purpose by other methods.
The respondents make no denial of their participation in the county judicial convention, which our order enjoined. Their defense, aside from the factual question of notice or knowledge of the injunction order, is that this Court was without power and jurisdiction to award the injunction; that the same was void; and that its violation cannot be made the basis of a contempt proceeding against them. To this we reply, that in all cases not governed by the provisions of the federal constitution, or laws enacted thereunder, we have power to determine our own jurisdiction. If we cannot finally pass thereon, who can? We impliedly held that we had jurisdiction to enter the injunction order. Right or wrong that holding settled the jurisdictional question so far as it bears on the legality and effective force of the order we made. This Court claims no infallibility as to its judgments and decisions. If the respondents, who were parties to the cause in which the...
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