April 3, 1949 

mmolrblo s. J. 18aaoka 

Qhalnmn, luaiaIal mmdtteo, 

Boueo of Repromntatlvos 

AWtiB, Taxaa 

Doar Sirr Opinion lfo. v-129 

I&r Oonstltmtlonnlity OS H. B. 

SS8,sotBLe&irlwmo,rolatire to dellnquemt mm&r. 

Your reqwat for UI opinion upon the abeve aubjeat matter Is na follkmw~: 

"I am haraith en01001 

bOlta@ known as lbluo Bill 52 

aeepyofeblll, , 

, with rorr 100111- 

ants whloh ha8 to do with beSUing dellnqeu&t 

par&~ pr8tIdIng that dellawent mxentm are 

gailty oi misdomsanor and gre8orIbIag a pawlOx. 

A qwstieloa ba been raised a8 to the oma%l$atlonallty OS thie pro oood loglslatlon. Aa 

ohairman of t& a410 L m Comitt.0, it ha8 wan 

oated thst X nfor this bill to 

:3&m m to its eonutleutIoMlIh~. 

you for an 

*It O~QM to the writer that tho bill u 

submIt.te& ia a llttlo bit l+wely'dra*m In at- in: 

t-cllrpting to dof,itns a admIti offemo. You dll 

noto that It say@1 'who fall8 or odte to l xord~~dyso~le &IUgonao In tha oontxel of roah 

It oeoum to tho writer that the 

tlon k *reasowblo dIllgoaoo* when a 

ma0x3 JMl 

ofionse or penalty la sought to be defined s&&l4 

bo a llttlo am?e o%plIeIt. It itwther pratidoa? 

* * * wh o fa lls or o mits to l xeroluo nasoaable 

dlll~otepxwent ouoh ohild fromboeosiag doliaquent in morals or integrlt~ are guilty of 

jmonlle delinquonaj. 
Honorable :i. J. 18Sr;OkS - tage 2 

*Aa to thla quotation we bollevc that tho 

0fra00 ia not suirieim3tiy doflccd and 31cdo ecrtaln. It furthor pmvldcc * *** end nb~ ahcll 

wllfully pennIt auoh ehlld to csaeoletc with 

vloIouc or lmmrcl perconc or pcrconc who aro 

erimlaclc .* It cppeerc to uc that thla olcuco 

would noooaaltcto a doflnltlon of *vlaic+uc or 

lmorrl QOIUOM* with rruoh oortclcty thct the 

person ohcrgoQ would know who rloiocc and l&moral 

ponona am. He thfak IIU'ther that those *orha 

are orImlmla*, - tkct ft should acrtalnl~ say: 

‘who w 

penaita such ohlld Tao assooisto 

with v o out or imicorsl persona or persons who 

are orlmkuclo.~ 

"Thr bill fcxther pr~ldoc: 1 t 0 0 or 

pornit cuoh ohlld to wcndcr'tho ctrcotc in Idloma8 or to boeoma c bcbltccl tmcct fromaahoel.* 

It eoourc to ua that lf suoh olauce la cuftlolintlg oe~clc, waioh we hcrdly bclfsve It ifi, 

It oor Sa I.ul hedia ly prorido that the parout should 

'kuowI~&' pormlt the ohlld to da these t;hI?~m.~ 

Wo bavo oerofully oxomlmod Hoaco Bill So. 5X3 whloh 

aooorpaalsd your roqtmct - Bltlo end body. Tho title to the 

Bill la good, end oomondably ahoti. Wo find no ?ault wI8h It. 

Nor IO there au]r.ooaatItutloncl or atctctorJI viac in tho boar 

or tkc Bill. 

Wo thoak you ror your odtlocl cncl~lo of tits all1 

aa to its legs1 coftioleney. ft hcc beet helpful to ca. Eewever, tho points as to phrcclng sup&pctod by fi~a e to tha merltc of tkc El11 rather thn ot Its valldlty. Ta othor wotic, 

lt la moroly a qucctlon of the sccl lntcntloa of tin Le&alcturc 

co to what they want to srko cc offeace, l.o., whother thef wect 

t or the parent an ot?ence;~or tho 

erd to pmpcr ccfcgucrdlng of the ohlld, 

with 

Oorpas Jurlc Seouudum, Vol. 88, Seatlon'SO, doallng 

tho tl%le CRIMSNeL LA%, b8 thla to oaf: 

"By the espross tOn!iC of a statute gullfy 

knowlodgo la cwotiaac amQe an eacenflal j.ngredlont of the effetice, ac whcro it reqnlma 

the cot to bo lono .*kn~wl~&y’ , do. bn tb 

other hand, tho Logiolaturo may torbld the 

doing or er the failure to do en sat and make 

its oomcIcclon or omlsslo,n arlml~a1 without 

regard to the intent or knowlodqo or the door, 

and If auoh lexlalative intention sppeexs the 

oourtc met dive ft. erreot, mnd in suoh oasec, 
Honorable S. J. Isaaoks - Page 3 

ths dolng of the lnhlblted mot oonstltatas the 

orlme, and the moral turpitude or parity of fhs 

motive by whloh lt was pronpted, and knowledge 

or l~oranoe of lta orlmlnel ohazaoter, are lmnmterlal olrowtanser on the qaestlon of guilt; 

suoh lsglslatlon Is enaoted and la sustained, 

for the most part, on grounds of naoessity, 

and le,n~t~v~olatlve of the federal oonsfitotion. . 

Pappas v. State, 188 S. '$. 52, by the Suprems 

Court of Tanne0see, deolaras: 

*It being olear that in statutory offenors 

a orlmlnal intent or fraudulent intent 1s not 

always essential, it 1s equally olear that whsther 

thr solenter is a material element of the oriar 

or not atit bo determined by the languagr used 

by the Legislature in dsflninrJ the offsnse. 

*In the statuts under oousldrratlon ths 

word8 *wlilfuiiy* or ~knowlnglg* are nowhars to 

be found. Thsse are ths usual words wed by 

the law-making power whsn it fs oontsmpla6ed 

by tham that the Intention of the person vlolatlng the'statnte should be oonsldered as %he 

material 61ement.n 

In Tsxar Liquor Control Board v. Duvi~ll,~ 170 S. W. 

(Ed) gZ0, a oasa of sanosllatS.on of a llosnes for eaployiag l 

mlnor less than 16 years of age, it 1s said: 

"The prohlbltsd aot of employing a minor 

In a position fraught with ttiptetlons that may 

lsad to a life of dleslpatlon, la deolared in 

unquallfled $slies, unrsllev,ed by any langsag :~. 

lmpertlng that knowledge of the age of the 

minor, or that either good faith or Intent 

wee an element of the offense. In authorlzlnr the oanoellatlon of a llosnse for the 

sporadlo sale of~beer to a person under 

twenty-one years of ago, the sama Artlels 

of the statute, in Subd. l(a), provides that 

sush sale must be knowingly mado; but with 

refarsnoe to the offense of sreater enormity, 

.that 14, of amplo~lng a minor In 8 business 

where he is oonstantly, day after day, axposed to a tsmptatlon that my result in his 

beoomlng an lnebrlate, no snob qualifying 

language la found. 
Honorable S. J. Isaaoks - Page 4 

“This oon6txuotlon of the statute 14 

in llno with that (~iron slmllar statutu, 

not only by our oourts but by ooartr the 

eeuntry over. In Peaooak v. LImburger, 9% 

Tax. 858, 66 8. IV. TM, our Supreme Court 

atiwerlng oertlfled question, held that a sale 

of liquor to a n&nor oonatituted a brsaoh of 

ths dsaler's bond, whether thz :e$lp knsr 

the faot of inorlty or not, . 

House Bill 538, 50th Legislature, orsatlne; tb offsim8 of dsllnqoenoy of pars&, making if an offense by ona *who falls or omltr 

to exerolss reasonable dlllgsnse in the ooatrol 

of such ohlld* without prssorlblag further that 

suoh failure or omlsslon was %uowlngliym, does 

not make the atetuto void. This present4 merely 

a mattsr of oohstruotloa as to the ma1 lnteutlon of'the Legislature as to.what would oonsMtee the offsuse, and goss to ths merlto rather 

than the oonstittitlouallty of the Bill. 

Yours very truly, 

hl?I!CRRBY OERERAL OF TBZAS 

By (Signed) 0010 spew 

Aasl8taat 

APPROVED APB 7, 1847 

/a/ Prloe Dan101