Court Opinion

ID: 9719208
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:45:51.755524+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:05.210508
License: Public Domain

HOOD, Chief Judge
(concurring).
Like Judge Pair, I agree in the result but solely on the basis that the Board in reaching its decision apparently relied in part on matters not of record.
With respect to the requirement that the Board must satisfy itself that the individual, whether he be the applicant or the principal officer of an applicant, be “of good moral character”, it is my opinion that to be “of good moral character” means substantially nothing more than that the individual be a *672law-abiding citizen. And I believe that the Board can satisfy itself of this requirement, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, from the fact that the individual, a mature businessman, has never been arrested. I do not believe the individual must go through the formality of having a friend or friends testify that in his or their opinion the individual is of good moral character. Of course, if the Board has any doubt on the question, it may call for evidence to remove that doubt.1 If the Board finds the individual to be a law-abiding citizen with a reasonable amount of business experience, I think the Board may find him to be “generally fit for the trust to be in him reposed.” In short, I believe the Board must satisfy itself that the individual will not abuse or misuse, the privileges of the license if granted, and that a man’s past record, as disclosed by his application, and his appearance before the Board, may furnish a sufficient basis for the Board’s conclusion.2
I also disagree with the implied holding of Judge Gallagher that it is improper for the Board, without notice to the parties, to visit the premises and make a general inspection of the neighborhood in order to more fully understand and appreciate the testimony. If such general inspection should bring to light some specific fact not disclosed at the hearing, the parties should be informed of it and be permitted to rebut it or explain it away.

. Refusal of the Board to issue a license or renew one on the ground of lack of moral character or fitness must be based on evidence which the applicant had the opportunity to rebut. Minkoff v. Payne, 93 U.S.App.D.C. 123, 210 F.2d 689 (1953).

. The question of moral character or fitness is not the ordinary factual one, but is one requiring the exercise of judgment. Minkoff v. Payne, supra note 1.