Title: Ebony Club, Inc. v. STATE EX REL. SIMPSON

State: alabama

Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court

Document:

318 So. 2d 282 (1975)
The EBONY CLUB, INC., et al.
v.
STATE of Alabama ex rel. Fred B. SIMPSON, District Attorney, Twenty-Third Judicial Circuit of Alabama.
SC 1290.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
September 11, 1975.
Watson, Moore & Mason, Huntsville, for appellants.
Fred B. Simpson, Dist. Atty., Twenty-Third Judicial Circuit, Huntsville, for appellee.
SHORES, Justice.
The facts were stipulated and are basically as follows:
The Ebony Club is a nonprofit corporation with its principal place of business in *283 Triana, Alabama. It exists as a private club for the sale of alcoholic beverages, including liquor, wine, and beer. The City of Triana approved a liquor application and the ABC Board issued a liquor license to the club.
The City of Triana is located in Madison County and has a population of less than 135,000.
In December, 1974, the state brought a quo warranto proceeding in the Circuit Court of Madison County asking that court to enjoin The Ebony Club from operating a drinking establishment in the City of Triana.
The trial court found that the City of Triana had no authority to issue a license to The Ebony Club for the sale on premises of alcoholic beverages; that the ABC Board had no authority under the laws of the State of Alabama to issue a license for the sale of such beverages; and permanently enjoined the club from operating a drinking establishment in Triana.
The appeal is from this judgment. It is affirmed.
The 1971 legislature passed the following act, which relates to Madison County:
"Act No. 2490
"Be It Enacted by the Legislature of Alabama:
*284 The 1973 Legislature passed Act No. 998, also relating to Madison County, which provides:
"Be It Enacted by the Legislature of Alabama:
Appellant contends that these acts violate Art. 1, § 22 (relating to laws impairing the obligation of contracts and to laws granting special privileges or immunities); Art. 4, § 103 (prohibiting monopolies); Art. 4, § 104 (prohibiting any special, private or local law in specified cases); and Art. 4, § 105 (prohibiting special, private or local laws); Constitution of Alabama 1901.
The 1971 Act, based upon a population classification, was a general act. We perceive no need to consider the objections made by appellant as to the validity of this act, since the City of Triana is also prohibited from authorizing or approving a liquor license under the 1973 Act, which is a local act. It is true that § 104 of the Constitution does prohibit the legislature from passing a special, private or local law in thirty-one enumerated cases. However, that section of the Constitution also includes the following language:
It is conceded that § 106 was complied with in so far as Act No. 998 is concerned.
The legislative power to regulate the sale of liquor is absolute. The legislature may regulate it as it sees fit, or prohibit it entirely. Fulton v. State, 171 Ala. 572, 54 So. 688 (1911); Dowda v. State, 203 Ala. 441, 83 So. 324 (1919); Armstrong v. State, 248 Ala. 124, 26 So. 2d 874 (1946).
*285 In Paulson's Steerhead Restaurant, Inc. v. Morgan, 273 Ala. 235, 239, 139 So. 2d 330, 333 (1962), this court quoted, with approval, the following:
Appellant contends that the state should be estopped to deny it a license, since it has been operating under one issued by the City of Triana for several years. We do not agree. The legislature has the right under the State Constitution to change the law with regard to regulating intoxicating liquors at any time. In F. W. Cook Brewing Co. v. Garber, 168 F. 942, 948 (M.D.Ala., N.D. 1909), the following appears:
We have considered other assignments of error and find no basis for reversal. The judgment appealed from is, therefore, affirmed.
Affirmed.
HEFLIN, C.J., and MERRILL and MADDOX, JJ., concur.
JONES, Justice (concurring specially):
Although I concur in the opinion, the name of the club here enjoined suggests to me discriminatory application of the statute involved. This issue, however, is not raised or developed by the record.