Opinion ID: 1905072
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The denial of due process.

Text: Even if it be conceded for argument that there was no unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority to the Board as a result of the broad and general authority conferred by Section 2223, the fact remains that Section 2223 is unconstitutional for another reason. The statute permitted the Board to impose this protracted and ruinous quarantine without according plaintiff notice or a hearing, thus denying him due process of law. Surely plaintiff has a valuable property right to raise cattle on his land to earn his livelihood free of unreasonable and unconstitutional restraint. The effect of the quarantine was to deprive him of this substantial property right. The economic loss resulting from the quarantine is uncontested in this record. Nor is it established in this record that any basis existed for the quarantine. To the contrary, in three separate and fully litigated cases in which the Board sought to establish the infection of plaintiff's herd to compel him to submit to inoculation, the judgments were against the Board. Yet the quarantine remained against plaintiff's herd. A study of the legislation enacted by Congress outlining the Federal Government's approach to eradication of dangerous, contagious and infectious diseases in animals discloses nothing by way of policy or mandate which would approve what has taken place. Nor is it implied or implicit in the Act of Congress (21 U.S.C. §§ 114-130) that the owner of a cattle herd should have his herd quarantined for prolonged periods of time without being given an opportunity to challenge the reason for the quarantine or the facts upon which it is based. Nothing in the federal legislation requires that due process be denied this plaintiff. And Congress may not require such a result for the federal and state constitutions guarantee that no person shall be deprived of property without due process of law. U.S.Const. 5th & 14th Amends.; La.Const. Art. I, 2. To fulfill the constitutional due process requirement legislation must embody fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all our civil and political institutions. French v. Barber Asphalt Paving Co., 181 U.S. 324, 21 S.Ct. 625, 45 L.Ed. 879 (1901). The guaranty of due process of law is one of the most important to be found in the federal or state constitutions. It is the very essence of a scheme of ordered justice, without it the right of private property could not be said to exist in the sense in which it is known to our laws. No government, federal or state, may deprive a person of property except by observing its requirements. The effect of the guaranty is to inhibit the taking of a person's property contrary to settled usages and modes of procedure without notice and opportunity for a hearing. Ochoa v. Hernandes v. Morales, 230 U.S. 139, 33 S.Ct. 1033, 57 L.Ed. 1427 (1912). In determining whether the requirement has been observed, regard must be had to substance rather than form, for the mere form of the proceeding cannot convert the process used into due process of law, if the necessary result is illegally to deprive a person of his property without compensation. Essential to due process are notice and an opportunity to be heard and to defend in an orderly proceeding adapted to the nature of the case. Mongogna v. O'Dwyer, 204 La. 1030, 16 So.2d 829 (1943). See also Bell v. Burson, 402 U.S. 535, 91 S.Ct. 1586, 29 L.Ed.2d 90 (1971); United States v. Steel Tank Barge H. 1651, 272 F.Supp. 658 (E.D.La.1967). Due process is an elusive concept, and its exact boundaries are undefinable. Thus its content varies according to specific factual contexts. However, it is universally recognized that when governmental agencies adjudicate or make binding determinations which directly affect legal rights of individuals, it is imperative that those agencies use procedures which have traditionally been associated with judicial process. Hannah v. Larche, 363 U.S. 420, 80 S.Ct. 1502, 4 L.Ed.2d 1307 (1960). Other states which have Bang's disease eradication laws do not confer a blanket authority to administrative bodies to impose quarantine the way Section 2223 does. See Smith Hurd, Illinois Stat.Anno., Chap. 8 ¶ 134 et seq.; Ore.Laws 1939 Chap. 503; 1 Okla.Ann.Stat. 2 ¶ 6-91 et seq.; N.C.Gen.Stat.1943 Sec. 106-388, et seq.; Ohio Rev.Code 1953, 941.21 et seq.; N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law, § 90 et seq., McKinney's Consol.Laws, c. 69; Neb.Rev.Stat.1943, 54-767; Ark.Stat.1947, 78-423 et seq.; Wash.Rev.Code 1951, Chap. 16:36-44; R.I.Gen.Laws 1956, 4-4-1 et seq.; Mo.Rev.Stat.1959, 267.010 et seq.; Utah Code Ann. 1953 4-8-1 et seq.; Vermont Stat.Ann.1959, Title 6 ¶ 1531 et seq. In all of the above statutes the legislatures either gave comprehensive guidelines or, in one statute (Okla.Ann. 2 ¶ 6-91 et seq.) the guidepost was an approved plan composed of a plan or combination of plans adopted or recommended by the United States Livestock Sanitary Association and approved by the United States Agricultural Research Service and the State Board of Agriculture. New York gave the cattle owner the right to a review or hearing if his livestock health permit was revoked. North Dakota also grants a right to review where an animal health permit is revoked, as do Kentucky, Minnesota, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Puerto Rico. See Ky.Rev.Stat.1962, 257.090; N.J.Rev.Stat.1937, 4:5-93.23; Fla.Stat.Ann., ¶ 585.45; N.D.Code of 1943, 36-01-14; P.R.Laws Anno.1954, Title 5, ¶ 821; Minn.Stat.1965, 35.26 and 35.27; N.Y. Agriculture and Markets Law ¶ 90-f. In my view the quarantine in this case offends every concept of due process. The board's actions were arbitrary and without legislative or administrative guidelines. The quarantine was imposed without notice or hearing. Plaintiff has suffered grevious loss of property and has had no opportunity to present his side of the case to the administrative body responsible for the quarantine. It is the failure of the Court to adhere to the fundamental principles referred to here which results in this decision. I would revoke the quarantine and declare Section 2223 unconstitutional insofar as it authorizes quarantine without fixing standards, including notice and hearing, for its imposition over a prolonged period of time.