William Taylor v. Beckham

Citation20 S.Ct. 1009,178 U.S. 548,44 L.Ed. 1187
Decision Date21 May 1900
Docket NumberNo. 603,603
PartiesWILLIAM S. TAYLOR and John Marshall, Plffs. in Err. , v. J. C. W. BECKHAM, Dft. in Err
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

This was an action in the nature of quo warranto brought, under the statutes of Kentucky, by J. C. W. Beckham against William S. Taylor and John Marshall, for usurpation of the offices of governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky, in the circuit court of Jefferson county, in that commonwealth.

The petition averred that at a general election held on the 7th of November, 1899, in the commonwealth of Kentucky, William Goebel was the Democratic candidate for governor and J. C. W. Beckham was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, and that at said election William S. Taylor and John Marshall were the Republican candidates for the said offices respectively; that after said election the state board of election commissioners, whose duty it was to canvass the returns thereof, canvassed the same, and determined on the face of the returns that said Taylor and said Marshall were elected governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, for the term commencing December 12, 1899, and accordingly awarded them certificates to that effect, whereupon they were inducted into those offices.

The petition further alleged that within the time allowed by law said William Goebel and J. C. W. Beckham gave written notices to Taylor and Marshall that they would each contest the said election on numerous grounds set out at large in the respective notices; that said notices of contest were duly served on said Taylor and Marshall, filed before each house of the general assembly, and entered at large on the journals thereof; that thereafter boards of contests were duly selected by each house of the general assembly, and sworn to try said contests as required by law; that at the time appointed for the hearing the said Taylor and Marshall appeared, and each filed defenses and counter notices, and the evidence of contestants and contestees was heard by the boards from January 15, 1900, until January 29, 1900, inclusive, and upon January 30, 1900, said contests were submitted without argument to the boards for decision.

That thereafter the boards, having considered the matters of law and fact involved in the contests, did each separately decide the contest submitted to it, and made out in writing its decision, and reported the same to each house of the general assembly for action thereon.

That in the contest for governor the board determined, and so reported to each house of the general assembly, that William Goebel had received the highest number of legal votes cast for governor atth e election held on November 7, 1899, and that he was duly elected governor for the term beginning December 12, 1899; and that in the contest for lieutenant governor the board determined and so reported that the contestant Beckham had received the highest number of legal votes cast at said election, and was duly elected to the office of lieutenant governor for said term.

The petition also alleged that the reports and decisions of the contest boards were thereafter duly adopted and approved by both houses of the general assembly in separate and in joint sessions; that there were present in the house of representatives at said time 56 members and in the senate 19 members, which was a quorum of each house, and that there were present 75 members in joint session, and that the general assembly did then and there decide and declare that William Goebel and J. C. W. Beckham had each received the highest number of legal votes cast at said election for the offices of, and were duly elected, governor and lieutenant governor as aforesaid. The journals of both houses of the general assembly, showing the proceedings and facts aforesaid, were referred to and made part of the petition, and attested copies thereof filed therewith.

It was futher averred that, after the determination of said contest by the general assembly, the said William Goebel and J. C. W. Beckham were duly sworn and inducted into the offices of governor and lieutenant governor of the commonwealth and at once entered upon the discharge of their respective duties. That thereafter, on the 3d of February, 1900, William Goebel died, and by law said Beckham was required to discharge the duties of the office of governor, and accordingly on that day he took the oath prescribed by law, and immediately entered on the discharge of the duties of said office.

It was further alleged that the powers of Taylor as governor and of Marshall as lieutenant governor immediately ceased on the determination of the contest by the general assembly, but that, notwithstanding the premises, the said Taylor and Marshall had usurped the said offices of governor and lieutenant governor, and had refused to surrender the records, archives, journals, and papers pertaining to the office of governor, and the possession of the executive offices in the capitol in the city of Frankfort.

The prayer of the petition was 'that the defendant, William S. Taylor, be adjudged to have usurped the office of governor of this commonwealth, and that he be deprived thereof by the judgment of this court; that this plaintiff be adjudged entitled to the said office, and be placed in full possession of said office of governor, the executive offices provided by the commonwealth for the use of the governor, and that all the records, archives, books, papers, journals, and all other things pertaining to the said office be surrendered and delivered to this plaintiff by the said Taylor, and that the said Taylor be enjoined and restrained from further exercising or attempting to exercise the office of governor of this commonwealth; that the said John Marshall be adjudged to have usurped the office of lieutenant governor of the commonwealth, and that he be deprived thereof, and declared not entitled to the same by the judgmjent of this court, and enjoined from assuming to act as such lieutenant governor; that plaintiff, Beckham, be adjudged the lawful incumbent of said office; and, finally, the plaintiff prays for his costs in this behalf expended, and for all proper relief.'

Defendants Taylor and Marshall filed answers and amended answers and counter-claims, denying any valid proceedings in contest, and alleging in substance that the action of the boards of contests and of the general assembly in the contests was the result of a conspiracy entered into by the members of the boards and the members of the general assembly to wrongfully and unlawfully deprive contestees of their offices; that in the execution of this design the members of said boards were fraudulently selected, and not fairly daw n by lot, as required by law, and that a majority of those selected were persons whose political beliefs and feelings, inclinations, and desires on the subject of the contests were known in advance. That the entries on the journals of the general assembly were false and fraudulent and made in pursuance of said conspiracy, and that the pretended decisions were fraudulent and utterly void. That the senate lacked a quorum at the time of the pretended adoption of the contest boards' reports; and that defendant, Taylor, as governor, on January 31, 1900, refused to permit the members of the general assembly to meet as the general assembly at Frankfort, because he had previously adjourned the general assembly to meet on February 6 at London, in Laurel county.

The notices of contest were averred to have been exactly alike, mutatis mutandis, and the notice in respect of the office of governor was set out as given in the margin.1 The following are paragraphs from the answers and amended answers:

'Further answering herein, defendants, W. S. Taylor and John Marshall, say, each of them is over forty years of age has been a citizen and resident of the state of Kentucky all his life, and likewise a citizen and resident of the United States all his life. They say further that, as hereinafter more specifically stated, the said Taylor was, on November 7th, 1899, duly elected governor of the state of Kentucky, and the said Marshall duly elected lieutenant governor for the state of Kentucky, by the qualified voters thereof; that each of them afterwards received in due form a certificate to that effect from the state board of election commissioners of the commonwealth of Kentucky, and each of them thereafter duly qualified as such officers by taking the oath of office prescribed by law therefor, and thereby each of them became charged with an express public trust for the benefit of the people of the state of Kentucky. They say that the proceedings referred to in the petition herein, by which it is alleged that the contests over the offices of governor and lieutenant governor were tried and determined, and by which it is alleged that the authority of these defendants to act respectively as governor and lieutenant governor was terminated, were and are utterly void and of no effect for the reasons hereinafter stated; and if effect be given to them, and these defendants be thereby deprived of their respective offices of governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky, and plaintiff, Beckham, be thereby installed in the office of governor or lieutna nt governor of Kentucky, these defendants will be thereby deprived by the state of Kentucky of their property without due process of law, and both they and the people of Kentucky and the qualified voters thereof will be deprived of their liberty without due process of law, and will be denied the benefit of a republican form of government, all of which is contrary to the provisions of the 4th section of the 4th article of the said Constitution and to the 14th Amendment to said Constitution, the benefits of which provisions are hereby specially set up and claimed by these defendants both for themselves and for the people of...

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238 cases
  • Fugate v. Weston
    • United States
    • Virginia Supreme Court
    • 19 March 1931
    ...the cases involving the right to office have been the result of bitter political antagonism — notably the case of Taylor Beckham, 178 U.S. 548, 20 S.Ct. 890, 900, 44 L.Ed. 1187. This case involved the contest over the office of Governor of Kentucky, Goebel, the Democratic candidate, having ......
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    ... ... Constitution. Bryan v. Cattell, 15 Iowa 538; Ex ... parte Lambert, 52 Ala. 79; Taylor v. Beckham, ... 178 U.S. 548 (20 S.Ct. 890, 44 L.Ed. 1187); Donahue v ... County of Will, 100 ... ...
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    ...of the incumbent," those restrictions do not "change its character or make it property." Id. (quoting Taylor v. Beckham , 178 U.S. 548, 577, 20 S. Ct. 890, 900–01, 44 L.Ed. 1187 (1900) ). "In short, generally speaking, the nature of the relation of a public officer to the public is inconsis......
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    ...of law or by denying him the equal protection of the laws. Id. at 595, 18 S.Ct. at 439. Two years later, in Taylor v. Beckham, 178 U.S. 548, 20 S.Ct. 890, 44 L.Ed. 1187 (1900), the Supreme Court decided a contest over the offices of governor and lieutenant governor of the State of Kentucky.......
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  • VESTED RIGHTS, "FRANCHISES," AND THE SEPARATION OF POWERS.
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    • University of Pennsylvania Law Review Vol. 169 No. 5, April 2021
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    ...2 WILLIAM BLACKSTONE, COMMENTARIES *36-37. (245) See Woolhandler, supra note 3, at 1029-31 (citing cases); see also Taylor v. Beckham, 178 U.S. 548, 576 (1900) ("The view that public office is not property has been generally entertained in this (246) 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137, 162 (1803). (247)......
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    ...1976). (100) Jennifer L. Mascott. Who Are "Officers of the United States"?, 70 STAN. L. REV. 443, 493-94 (2018). (101) Taylor v. Beckham, 178 U.S. 548, 577 (1900); see also MECHEM, supra note 98, at 2 n.1 ("An office is a special trust or charge created by competent authority." (quoting Thr......
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