Washington telegraph., 1856-04-02
The Louisiana Legislature.


The N. O. Crescent commenting upon the
recent action of the Louisiana Legislature
says:
1.-The last and greatest achievement of
our stupcndous Legislature violates.the ex-
press letter OF the Constitution of the Uni
ted States, the Constitution of Louisiana,
and runs counter to the Constitution of eve-
ry other State in the Union, as we will pro-
ceed to show
The following law was approved on the
18th of February:
Relative to appeals in contested election
cases
SEC. L. Be it enacted By the Senate
and House of Representatives Of the State
of Louisiana in General Assembly convened,
That in all contested elections brought be-
/ fore the courts of this State, the party cast
shall have the right to appeal to the Supreme
Court, as in other civil cases, when it is
| shown in the records t,iat the amount of the
cmoluments of the office in contest Is over
three hundred dollars, on the appellant CIV
/ ing bond and security in such sum as the
Judge of the Court which renders the judg
ment shall direct and that such an appeal
shall be considered suspensive in its opera
tion and effect-any laws to the contrary
notwithstanding
SEC 2 Be it further enacted etc, That
this act shall have force and effect from and
after its passage. and shall apply not only
/ to cases hereafter occurring, L~t ia all
/ cases of c07afeSted elections tcItich may he
nO,1 3oeneling in the courts Of has State,
and qchich mag not haze ripencd into
judgments
SEC. 3 Be it further enacted, etc, That
all such contested cases shall have prefer
cree in the Supreme Court over all other
cases therein pcndiDg-any law to the con-
trary notwithstanding
SEC l. BE it further enacted, etc, That
all laws and parts Of laws inconsistent with
the provision of this act, be ard the same
are hereby repealed
! The foregoing is an ca post facfo law if
ever one was passed In regard TO such
laws the Constitution of the United States,
section Q, says: s'No bill of attainder or
cr post facto law shall be passed The
: Constitution of Louisiana, article l05, says:
No ca post facto law nor any law impairing
the obligation of contracts, shall be pass
Cd etc
The foregoing extracts from the organic
law of the nation and State, need no COM
mcnt, as they tell their own tale in unmis
taxable terms, and fully sustain the PROPOSE
tion we have enforced. viz that the major
ity of the existing Legislature is destined
to an Immortality of--what we shall
not pretend TO say
>! OF course the law is utterly worthless, as
The Supreme Court viii declare it unconsti-
tu;ional as soon as ii is brought properly he
fore that tribunal Why? If the Legisla-
ture can pass retroactive law in regard to
one species of legal business, the same Lc-
gisatuTe can pass retroactive laws in regard
to oi other kinds oe legal business. This
would throw everything into chaotic confu-
sion. and no man would know to a certainty
whether he had legal rights at all -
Il certainly seems to US that every man,
whose opinions arc based upon an intelligent
understanding Of the principles involved in
the subject matter under consideration
must coincide in the view taken by the Crcs-
!, cent. Nothing can be clearer, than that a
special legislative enactment passed to
reach or remedy an offcnce,-to reach or
remedy which-there existed no law at the
time of the commission of the offence-par-
takes in Its very nature Of all of the most
odious and repulSive features of an CT post
ftscto law.-which, as is justly observed by the
Crescent, is contrary TO and subversive of
our rights declared and recognized by the
highest authority known.
! we apprchend there are very few who
will fail to agree with the Crescent that
''the law is wolihless" but even in full
view of the certainty Of It's worthlesSness.
it must be deeply regretted, that SO grave a
body as The Louisiana Legislature should
set so dangerous precedent. For there
is danger in the failure to rccognize-ay-
in the utter disregard of those constitutional
obligations which are the basis of State and
national prosperity. and upon which the po-
litical superstruciurc must be raised, or be
subject at any moment, to be overthrown
by the winds cf faction and the storms of
an Incorporate and misguided partisan ex-
citemcnt.
TRV-Ty THIS Is AN AGE OF IMPROVEMENT