Opinion ID: 890183
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Academic Questions; Futility of Rendering a Decision

Text: ¶ 26 The foundational precedent is State ex rel. Begeman v. Napton, 10 Mont. 369, 25 P. 1045 (1891). A juror (Begeman) applied to the district court for a writ of mandamus requiring Napton, clerk of the district court, to issue Begeman a certificate of his mileage and attendance as a trial juror in that court. The district court ordered the writ to issue, and Napton appealed to this Court. Meanwhile, Napton obeyed the writ and issued the certificate. Given these circumstances, we observed that [a] judgment of any kind from this court would present a peculiar result. An affirmance would be to direct the District Court to issue a writ, which that court has already issued, and which has been obeyed. A reversal would be to say to the lower court, you may not order the clerk to do that which he has already fully performed. It is apparent that there is no controversy before us. The case is fictitious. Begeman, 10 Mont. at 370, 25 P. at 1046. Napton acknowledged that a decision from the Court would not affect this case. He explained that he was pursuing the appeal only for the purpose of having this Court provide guidance for the future. We refused, however, to depart from the rule that courts will hear only genuine controversies, and will not tender advice upon matters not in litigation. Begeman, 10 Mont. at 370, 25 P. at 1046. We accordingly dismissed the appeal. ¶ 27 To the same effect is Snell v. Welch, 28 Mont. 482, 72 P. 988 (1903). There, the defendants (members of the textbook commission) filed an appeal from an order of the district court enjoining them from letting contracts under an act of the Legislature which provided for a uniform series of textbooks for use in public schools. The parties then settled their differences and the contracts were let. Citing Begeman, this Court dismissed the appeal, observing that [t]here is nothing in this case now for us to decide. It has been disposed of by the parties themselves pending the appeal. Snell, 28 Mont. at 483, 72 P. at 988. ¶ 28 Likewise, in State ex rel. Hauswirth v. Beadle, 90 Mont. 24, 300 P. 197 (1931), Hauswirth applied for a writ of prohibition to restrain the Butte mayor and city council from enacting an ordinance that would permit Montana Power Company to supply natural gas to the city's inhabitants. The district court denied the application, and Hauswirth did not request a stay. Thereafter, the city council enacted and the mayor approved the ordinance. Accordingly, this Court held that the issue had become moot, since nothing would be achieved by reversing the district court and directing it to issue the writ. Under the circumstances the writ of prohibition cannot undo that which has been done. Hauswirth, 90 Mont. at 27, 300 P. at 198. ¶ 29 In State ex rel. Brass v. Horn, 36 Mont. 418, 93 P. 351 (1908), Brass was charged in the police court of Helena with disturbing the peace. When the police judge (Horn) denied Brass' request for a transfer of the cause to the nearest justice of the peace, Brass applied to the district court for a writ of mandamus to compel the transfer. The district court granted the writ, and Horn appealed. Yet, on the same day that he filed his appeal, Horn also complied with the district court's mandate. As a result, this Court dismissed the appeal as moot. The Court observed that it would serve no useful purpose to reverse the judgment appealed from, because the cause was, immediately upon the issuance of judgment and service of the writ, transferred to the justice, and has doubtless long since been disposed of. Brass, 36 Mont. at 420, 93 P. at 352. ¶ 30 A similar situation arose in Johnson v. Rosenbeck, 141 Mont. 72, 375 P.2d 221, (1962). There, the district court (in a mandamus proceeding) found that the judgments of conviction entered against Johnson in the police court of Superior were null and void. Thus, the district court ordered the police judge (Rosenbeck) to return the fines Johnson had paid. The district court also stated, however, that it was not prohibiting the Town of Superior from filing proper charges against Johnson. On the parties' appeals to this Court (Rosenbeck from the district court's order; Johnson from the denial of his request for damages and attorney's fees), we noted that sworn complaints had since been filed and the prosecution against Johnson instituted anew in the police court. Thus, the [district court] judgment anulling the previous proceedings in the police court was recognized and carried into effect. A reversal of the district court judgment would be futile. The ostensible effect of the reversal would be to reinstate the original judgments entered by the police judge, but that result is now impossible because the original judgments have been superseded and abrogated by new proceedings in the police court. Johnson, 141 Mont. at 74-75, 375 P.2d at 223. We accordingly dismissed Rosenbeck's appeal. Johnson, 141 Mont. at 75, 76, 375 P.2d at 223, 224. ¶ 31 The foregoing cases involved the grant or denial of injunctive-type relief where subsequent events mooted the original dispute and left this Court unable to issue anything more than an advisory opinion on the matter. A slightly different situation arose in Fox v. Hacker, 68 Mont. 413, 220 P. 749 (1923). There, Fox brought an action against Hacker to enforce a contract for the sale of land. During the pendency of the action, Hacker conveyed the land in question to Fox, and Fox paid the purchase price therefor with the exception of a portion of the price that was in dispute. The district court determined that Hacker was entitled to the disputed amount, and Fox appealed. On appeal, however, Fox argued that the district court's judgment should be reversed because the instrument in question was not a valid contract in the first place. Noting difficulty in understanding Fox's position, this Court concluded that no practical result could follow from a decision on Fox's contention. Fox, 68 Mont. at 418, 419, 220 P. at 750, 751. [W]hether the instrument referred to in the complaint was a valid contract, subject to enforcement as such in an action for its specific performance, has become a moot question, interesting perhaps from an academic point of view, but its decision could not result in any practical relief to the parties to this suit, since ... they have by stipulation consummated the deal contemplated in the instrument, irrespective of any defects which may have existed therein. Fox, 68 Mont. at 418, 220 P. at 750. We acknowledged that the parties had agreed in their stipulation that the case shall proceed as though the land had not been conveyed and no part of the purchase money paid. But we held that the parties to litigation cannot by stipulation present a moot question to this Court as the basis of a judicial decision. Fox, 68 Mont. at 419-20, 220 P. at 751.