Case Name: Jean Louis Prevost, Plaintiff in Error, v. Charles E. Greneaux, Treasurer of the State of Louisiana
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1856-12
Citations: 19 How. 1
Docket Number: 
Parties: Jean Louis Prevost, Plaintiff in Error, v. Charles E. Greneaux, Treasurer of the State of Louisiana.
Judges: 
Reporter: United States Reports
Volume: 60
Pages: 1–7

Head Matter:
Jean Louis Prevost, Plaintiff in Error, v. Charles E. Greneaux, Treasurer of the State of Louisiana.
The laws of Louisiana impose a tax of. ten per cent, on the value of all property-inherited in that State by any person not domiciliated there, and not being a citizen of any State or Territory of the- United States.
In 1853, a treaty was made between the United States and Prance, by which' ■ Frenchmen were placed, as regards property, upon the same footing as citizens ' • of the United States, in all the States of the Union whose laws permit it.
This treaty has no effect'upon the succession of a person who died in 1848.
This case was brought up - from, the Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana by a writ , of error 'issued under the 25th section of the judiciary act.
/The facts, in the cáse were very few, and are stated in -the opinion of the court.
See also 8 Howard, 490, and 18 Howard, 182.
It was argued , by Mr. Jmdn fpr the plaintiff in error, and by Mr. Benjamin for the defendant.
Mr. Janin made the' following.point:
The plaintiff in error submits. — and that is the only point in. the case — that his heirship was only recognised in 1854; and that when the law imposing a fax or penalty is repealed before that tax is collected, the right to recover it is lost.
This principle was recognised by the former Supreme Court of Louisiana. .
In the case of the city of New Orleans v. Mrs. Grailhe,. decided December 4, 1854, it was contended that the right to- ' ' collect the tax levied by the ordinance of 1852 was lost by the repeal of that ordinance under the 5th. condition of the 2d section of the acts of the Legislature of 'March 15, 1854, page 73, authorizing the city of Hew Orleans to subscribe to the Opelousas and Jackson railroads. This position was taken under the authority of the principles recognised in three decisions: one in the case of Cooper v. Hodge, 17 L., 476, and two others referred to in that decision. Judge-Martin was the organ of the-,court in these thrce^cases. In that of Cooper v. Hodge, the principle is expressed- m this -form:
“■We have held, that if a judgment be correctly given under a law which is repealed pending-the appeal, this court is. bound to reverse it.”
The Supreme Court of the United States have acted on this principle in cases of much more difficulty than that now before the court.
The Legislature'of Virginia, by an act passed in 1779, during the wav, had ■ authorized Virginia debtors of British subjects-' to discharge the debt by payment into an office existing under the State Government. The defendants in, error, under this act, had paid into this office a portion of their ihdebtédness to the plaintiffs, and pleaded their discharge pro tanto under the act. „ The plaintiffs replied the 4th article' of the definitive treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States, of September 3,1783, in which, it was stipulated that creditors on either side should meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in ■ sterling money of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted. ' -,
The State was held to hare had full power to make the law, but it had been annulled by the treaty, and the - defendants in error were liable to the full. amount,, notwithstanding partial payment to the State. - ■ ,
1 Craneh, 103. The United States v. The Schooner Peggy. The schooner Peggy was captured by a United States armed .vessel, and libelled as prize, ordered to bo restored by the District Court, condemned by the Circuit Court on appeal as lawful prize, when the owners of the Peggy prosecuted "a writ of error ■to the Supreme Court. She had been captured as sailing.undér the authority of the French Republic. On the 30th of September, 1801, pending the writ- of error, a convention was signed between'the United ■ States and the'French Republic,, and was ratified on the 21st of. December, 1801, which provided ffof 'the restoration of property captured, but not yet definitively condemned. -
It-was' urged that the -court could take no notice of the -stipulation fox*, the restoration of property not yet definitively condemned; that the judge could only inquire if the sentence was correct or erroneous when delivered; and that if it was then correct, it could not he rendered otherwise by anything subsequent to its rendition. It was held by'the court, in the opinion delivered by Chief Justice Marshall, that if, subsequent to the judgment and before the decision of the appellate court, a • law intervenes and positively changes the rule which governs, the law must be obeyed, or its obligation denied; that, where a treaty is the law of the land, and, as such, binds the rights of parties litigating in court, to condemn a vessel, the' restorar tion of which was directed by it, would be a direct infraction of that law, and of consequence improper; that if thé law was constitutional, and no doubt of it had been expressed in this case, no court- could- contest its obligation.. .The effect, upon civil rights acquired under a statute, of the repeal of the statute, was most fully considered in the case of Butler v. Palmer, (1 Hill’s Rep.', 324,) in an elaborate opinion of Judge Cowen. In speaking of the effect of a repeal upon inchoate rights, he says: “I understand the rule of the writers on the civil law’ perfectly to agree with that acted on by.our courts in.all their decisions, aheiert and modern. .Those writers speak of rights which have arisen under the statute not being affected by the repeal, but the context shows at once what kind of rights they mean. The amount of the whole comes to this: that a repealing clause is such an express’enactment as necessarily, divests all inchoate rights which had arisen under the statute it' de-' stroys. - These rights are but incidents to' the statute,- and fall' with it -unless saved by the express words of the repealing clause.” He reviews the case' of Miller* (1 "W. Blackstone’s Rep., 451,) and gives a much fuller- statement of it from some' other reporter. See, also, Smith’s Commentaries on Statutory Construction, pp. 888, 889, for the same cáse, and the English, decisions in affirmance of it. • The result of these decisions is, that not only in penal and jurisdictional matters, but in civil matters, where rights that áre inchoate and set up under á repealed statute, they are divested as-fully as if the statute had never existed.
But can it with any propriety be said in any case that the Staté acquires a vested civil right to a tax? To impose, levy, and collect a tax is an exercise of the sovereign power, as much as the levying and collecting a fine for a misdemeanor. The repeal.’of the statute imposing one or the other at once stops all action under it. A- sovereign never pleads a vested civil right to a tax; he simply takes it by virtue of his inherent pQwer. A statute is simply an exertion of that power; its repeal, the withdrawal of the application of the power. The machinery for its collection provided by the statute is paralyzed by the repeal. ' 1
We are entitled to the benefit of a strict construction of the statute, as being not only partial and odious, even as it. regards citizens of the State, but, as was held by the Supréme Court of the State- of Louisiana in the case of’ the widow and heirs of Benjamin Poydras de la Lande against the Treasurer of the State, even penal in its character.
So far as statutes for the regulation of trade impose fines or create forfeitures, they are doubtless to be construed strictly as penal, and not liberally as remedial laws. Mayor v. Davis, 6 Watts and Serg., 269.
Statutes levying duties. or taxes upon subjects ór citizens are to be construed most strongly against the Government, and, in favor of the subjects and citizens, and their provisions are not to be extended by implication beyond the clear import of the language, used. U. S. v. Wigglesworth, 2 Story, 869.
hTo judgment can be rendered for a penalty given by a statute after the statute is repealed, although the action was commenced before the repeal. Pope v. Lewis,’ 4 Ala., 487.
From these- principles and authorities it follows, that the right of the State to claim or recover the foreign succession tax of 1842 is lost from the momeiit of the promulgation of the consular convention of 1853, although the tax might have been claimed and recovered, if proceedings had been instituted, perfected, and executed, before that convention.
Mr. Benjamin stated the points as follows:
The case is clearly within the, jurisdiction of this court; and the only question' is, whether the court of Louisiana has rightfully construed the treaty. Its decisions under, it have been—
First. That wherever the rights of the heir vested after the - consular convention went into effect, the tax. could not be recovered. ■ Succession Dufour, Annual, 392. •
Secondly. That wherever the right of the heir vested anterior to the' date, of the treaty, the right of the State, vested at the sanee-time.
The latter proposition is the one now in dispute.
I. At what time, -under the Jaws of Louisiana, did the rights, of the State to the-tax of ten per cent, vest?
Fortunately, the response to this question is entirely fine from difficulty, as the point -had been settled by a series of adjudications long prior to the controversy in this cause.
The Supreme Court, of that State .has held, ever since the year 1831, that, under the State statute, the-rights of .the heir and of-the State both vested' at the instant of the testator’s J death. Armand’s Heirs v. His Executors, 3 L. R., 337; Ques-sart’s Heirs v. Canonge, 3 L. R., 561; Succession of Oyon, 6 •Rob. R., 504; Succession of Blanchard, 17 Annual, 392; Succession of Dufour, 18 Annual, 392;. Succession of Deyraud, 9 Rob. R., '358.
The question had arisen in Louisiana under every aspect.
In the first two cases cited, the law imposing the tax had been repealed before the collection of 'the tax, but subsequent to. the death of the party under whom the heirs claimed. The' court held, that the title of the State had vested at the death, and that the tax could be collected, notwithstanding the repeal' of the statute.
In the two case i next cited, the law imposing the tax was passed after the testator’s death, but before the heirs had received the succession.' The court held, that the right of .the heirs had vested in the whole of the estate at the death of the testator, and that the tax could not be collected.
In the fifth case cited, the convention with France was passed before the testator’s death; and the court held, that the tax could not be collected, because the heir’s right vested at the death.
In the sixth case, the death occurred before the passage of the convention; and the court held, that the right of the State hacbaccrued at the death, and the tax could be collected.
And the whole series of adjudications on the construction of a State statute, during a period of twenty-five years, is unbroken by a single contradicting case, or even by the dissent of a single judge.'
Under the rules, then, which this court has established for itself, it will take it fpr granted, without further inquiry or examination, that a right to one-tenth of Prevost’s . succession h§d vested in the State of Louisiana anterior to the date of the treaty in question.
H. The only remaining question is, whether the treaty was. intended to divest any title acquired prior to' its passage.
The terms of the treaty, are entirely prospective, and its language appears too plain to require any reference to. canons of construction.
Frenchmen, after its date, are to be considered, for all the purposes- of the treaty, as. citizens of Louisiana. But the claim of the State would be good against its own citizens after the repeal of the taxing law, because vested prior to the repeal, as already showm by the authorities cited. Ergo, that elaim is good against the Frenchman.

Opinion:
Mr. Chief Justice TAHEY
delivered the opinion of the court.
This is a writ of error to the Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana. It appears that a certain Francois Marie Prevost, an inhabitant of that State, died in the year 1848 intestate and without issue, and possessed of property to a considerable amount. He left a widow; and, as no person appeared claiming as heir of the deceased, the widow, according to the laws of the State, was put in possession of the whole of the property by the proper authorities, in December, 1851. She died in March, 1853.
In January, 1854, Jean Louis Prevost, a French subject residing in France, presented himself by his agent in Louisiana as the brother and sole heir of Fran§ois Marie Prevost, and established his claim by a regular judicial proceeding in court.
The.laws of Louisiana impose a tax of ten per cent, on the value of all property inherited in that State by any person not domiciliated there, and not being a citizen of any State or-Territory of the United States.
This tax is disputed by the plaintiff in error, .upon the ground that the law of Louisiana is inconsistent with the •treaty or consular convention with France. This treaty was signed on the 23d of February, 1853, ratified by the United States on the 1st of April, 1853, exchanged on the 11th of August, 1853, and proclaimed by the President on the 12th of August, 1853.
. The 7th article of this treaty, so far as concerns this case, is in the following words':
" In all- the States of the Union whose' laws permit it, so long and to the same extent as the said laws shall remain in force, Frenchmen shall enjoy the right of possessing personal and real property by the same title and in the same manner as the citizens of the United States. They shall be free to dispose of it as they may please, either gratuitously or for value received, by donation, testament, or otherwise, just as those citizens themselves; and in no case shall they be subjected to taxes on transfers, inheritance, or any others, different from those paid by the latter, or to taxes which shall not be equally imposed."
Proceedings werp instituted in the State courts by the plaintiff in error to try this question, which were ultimately-brought before the Supreme Court of the State. And that-court decided that the right to the tax was complete, and vested in the State .upon the death of Francois Marie Prevost, and was not affected by the treaty with France subsequently made.
"We can see no valid objection to. tbis judgment. The plaintiff in error, "in his petition to be recognised as heir, claimed title to all the separate property of Fran§ois M. Pre-vost and his widow", then in the hands, of the curator, and of all his portion of the community property, and of all the fruits and revenues of his succession from the day of the death of. his brother.- And, in adjudicating upon this claim, the court, recognised the rights of the appellant, as set forth in his petition, and decided -that he became entitled to the property, as heir, immediately upon the death of Er. M. Prevost.-
'-bTow, if the property vested in him at that time, it could vest only in the manner, upon the conditions authorized by the laws of the State. And, by the laws of the State, as they then stood, it vested in him, subject to a tax of ten per cent., payable, to the State. And certainly .a treaty, subsequently made by the' United1 States with Prance, could not- divest rights of .property already vested, in the State, even if the words of the treaty had imported such an intention. But the words of the article, which we have already set forth; /'.early apply to cases happening afterwards — not'to cases where the party appeared, after th'e treaty, to assert , his rights, but to cases where the right afterwards. accrued. And so it was decided by the Supreme Court ofthe State, .and, we think, righti ly., The constitutionality of the law-is not disputed, that point having been settled in this court in the case of Mayer v. Grima, 8 How., 490.
In affirming this judgment, it is proper to say that the obligation of the treaty and its operation in the State, after it was made, depend upon the laws of Louisiana. The treaty does not claim for the. United States the right of controlling the succession of' real or- personal property in -a State. And its operation is expressly limited "to the States of the Union whose laws permit it, so long and,to the same extent as those laws shall remain in forcé." . And, as there is no. act of the Legislature of Louisiana repealing this law and accepting the provisions of the treaty, so as to secure to her. citizens siinilaf rights in France, this court might Jfeel some difficulty in say-, ing that it was repealed by this treaty, if the State court had not so expounded its own láw, and held that Louisiana was one of the States in which the proposed arrangements of the. treaty were to be carried into effect.
Upon the whole, we think there is no error in . the judgment of the State court, and it must therefore be affirmed.