Opinion ID: 1752155
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Right of Action

Text: We have considered and adjudicated each of the issues presented by the pleadings and briefs, because all parties have urged us to do so, and for the further reason that the statutes have been declared unconstitutional by the trial court. Once this has occurred the aggrieved party has a constitutional right to an appeal directly to this Court on that question whether the statutes are constitutional or not. (La.Const. art. 7 § 10[1]). The statutes are, moreover, essential links in the chain of authority conferring upon the department the right to establish the correctional institution the parish seeks to enjoin. However, the question of the parish's right to contest the constitutionality of these acts has been raised in this Court. At the same time, no doubt exists that the parish has a right to seek injunctions for violations of its zoning ordinances. Cf. La. R.S. 33:4728; 3 Rathkopf, Law of Zoning and Planning, § 66-1 (3d ed. 1971). On this rehearing we adhere to the view that the parish of Jefferson has standing in court to challenge the constitutionality of those statutes. Any questioning of the right of the parish to contest the constitutionality of these statutes must be based upon the rule announced in Article 681 of the Code of Civil Procedure that Except as otherwise provided by law, an action can be brought only by a person having a real and actual interest which he asserts. The question may be raised by the Court on its own motion. La.Code Civ.P. art. 927(5). The suit before us is a suit by the parish of Jefferson, not a class action. The parish sues to assert its right. That right is a right to enjoin the violation of its zoning ordinance. The action which will constitute the zoning ordinance violation is authorized by, and based upon, statutes which will permit the department to buy the property and establish the institution. If legislative enactments authorize actions which would result in violations of its ordinances, the parish may properly question the constitutionality of those statutes in aid of its undoubted right to enjoin violations of its zoning ordinances. In essence this means that the parish may question the right of the department to violate its zoning ordinance just as it may enjoin the violation itself. There is little difference between this result and the cases which accord a local government entity the right to bring suit to enjoin as unconstitutional the enforcement of a statute changing its form of government. Mr. Chief Justice O'Niell stated the principle which is controlling here: It would be an absurdity to hold that a corporation created by the Legislature, with authority to prosecute and defend suits in the courts, cannot invoke the protection afforded by the Constitution to prevent a violation of the rights granted to it. (City of Gretna v. Bailey, 141 La. 625, 75 So. 491 [1917]). See also State ex rel. Tulare Homestead Ass'n v. Montgomery, 185 La. 777, 171 So. 28 (1936); State ex rel. Board of School Directors v. City of New Orleans, 42 La. Ann. 92, 7 So. 674 (1890). For the reasons here assigned the former decree is reinstated as the final judgment of this Court. SANDERS, J., takes no part.