Opinion ID: 2351327
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The State's Suit for Injunctive Relief

Text: Ficker was defeated at the primary election held May 16, 1972; he is therefore no longer a viable candidate and his name will not appear on the ballot at the general election of November 7, 1972. Ficker claims that his signs posted in violation of § 366 have all been removed so that the acts sought to be enjoined by the State have now ceased. At oral argument of the appeal, counsel for the State conceded that Ficker's signs posted in violation of § 366 have now been removed. While the State does not contend that Ficker is continuing to erect signs in violation of § 366, it suggests that the injunctive relief sought was improperly withheld because it is likely that Ficker will post political campaign signs in violation of § 366 in future elections and a permanent injunction to prohibit him from doing so should have been granted. Appellate courts do not sit to give opinions on abstract propositions or moot questions, and appeals which present nothing else for decision are dismissed as a matter of course. Potts v. Governor of Maryland, 255 Md. 445; Washburne v. Hoffman, 242 Md. 519. Since the acts sought to be enjoined have ceased and the offending signs removed, it would be an act of futility, a useless gesture of no effect whatsoever, to consider the question whether the Chancellor erred in not enjoining Ficker from violating the provisions of § 366. See State v. Sheridan, 248 Md. 320. In these circumstances, we think it manifest that the case is now moot and must be dismissed. Maryland Rule 835 (b) (8); Prucha v. Weiss, 233 Md. 479; Thom v. Cook, 113 Md. 85. We see nothing in the facts of this case which would warrant application of the rule in Lloyd v. Supervisors of Elections, 206 Md. 36, that an appeal, even though moot, will not be dismissed where the urgency of establishing a rule of future conduct in matters of important public concern is both imperative and manifest.