The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-08-15
Walden Sues For
State License In
Hearing AT Laurel
BY Nolle T. Roberts

Laurel - The legally-entagled
effort of the State Department of
Health to deny a physicians Ii
cense to DR.. Dewy Walden of
Pascagoula continued here this
week in a mandamus proceeding
instituted by DR.. Walden to re-
quire the board to grant him a
license.
The case is being argued before
Circuit Judge Burkett Collins in
a vacation hearing and has at
tracted wide attention. The
states case is being presented by
Assistant Attorney General John
Stone, in association with Carl
Marshall of Gulfport. DR.. Walden
is represented by Jeff Collins,
brother of the presiding judge,
and A. B. Martin. Oklahoma City.
The state is seeking to prove
that DR.. Walden can and should
be denied a license to practice on
the basis of poor moral charac-
ter" DR.. Walden, asserting that
the boards case is based on
jealousy" of other Pascagoula
doctors and of the American
Medical Association, of which he
is not a member, claims the right
to practice in Mississippi on the
basis of a license he holds in
Oklahoma. Mississippi has a re-
ciprocity agreement with Okla
homa permitting licensed ply
sicians of either state to practice
in the other.
No jury is empanelled for the
trial, this being a civil hearing.
Legal Maze
Attorneys fersxboth sides this
week wound their way through a
legal maze almost impossible for
a layman to follow but generally
along these lines:
DR.. Walden, the petitioner,
based his demand for a license on
the grounds that he is a grad
uate of an accredited medical
school Northwestern University;
that he holds a license to prac-
tice medicine in Oklahoma; and
that Mississippi and Oklahoma
have a reciprosity agreement that
forces. either state to license an
accredited physician of the other.
The State Board of Health, the
defendant, holds that Moral
Character" is a continuing thing
and that the state board had a
right to investigate the character
of the petitioner and deny him a
permanent license after they con-
Sidered he was of bad moral
character during the period he
practiced medicine under his
temporary license.
The case is without precedent
in the legal history of Mississippi
and will undoubtedly be carried
to the Supreme Court, regardless
of which side is successful in the
lower court.
Judge Ruling
In frequent rulings during the
case, the presiding judge has held
that right to practice a profession
is a valuable property right"
and professional training a valu-
able property. Therefore, the
Judge ruled Wednesday, the board
must have been guided by proper
procedure to ALLEVIATE DR.. Walden
from his rights in that he must
have been appraised of evidence
against him at the time of the
board denial and have been given
an opportunity to defend himself.
He also ruled Wednesday that
the moral character" issues of
the board must be based on the
period between 1943 (when the
Oklahoma license was iSsued) and
June. 1945, and the evidence up
on which the board based their
denial of a license at that time.
Should such evidence before
the board at that time prove
"hearsay or unadmissable from
a legal standpoint" the court
will rule for DR.. Walden, the
Judge also held.