Court Opinion

ID: 9625329
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:36:41.204997+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:24:04.377201
License: Public Domain

GIVENS and TAYLOR, Justices
(dissenting) .
The Federal statutes prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquor to Indians have been upheld uniformly because of specific authority to Congress to so legislate in Article I, Section 8(3) of the Constitution:
“To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes”.
No such provision is in our State Constitution and the only authority for our statute, Section 18-4201, I.C., is to be found in the exercise of the police power. Brown v. United States, 9 Cir., 8 F.2d 433. Therefore, the Federal statutes or decisions are not pertinent and need not be discussed.
The justification for upholding the constitutionality of this statute thereby classing Indians with drunkards, insane persons, idiots, and minors is assertedly based on pronouncements in the following cases:
People v. Gebhard, 151 Mich. 192, 115 N.W. 54, decided in 1908, traced the history of such legislation in Michigan from 1812 to determine what constituted “ ‘a person of Indian descent,’ ” and the only statement with reference to the classification interdicting the sale of liquor to Indians is:
“The Indian blood, like the blood of all savage races, is liable to much greater inflammation and excitation than that of civilized races, rendering people otherwise friendly when sober ferocious and ungovernable when under the influence of intoxicating drink.”
citing People v. Bray, 105 Cal. 344, 38 P. 731, 733, 27 L.R.A. 158, wherein the statement on the point involved is as follows:
“Whatever may be true in respect to particular individuals of that race, it is certainly true that Indians as a class are not refined, cultured,—civilized in the same degree as persons of the white race,—and doubtless, in the judgment of the legislature, they are less subject to moral restraint, and therefore more liable to be dangerous to themselves or others when under the influence of liquor, or less able to resist the desire for such liquors, and for that reason they, as well as the community in which they move, were thought entitled to the protecting influence of this statute. We have no doubt the law under consideration falls within the proper exercise of the police power of the state. It was so stated by Sanderson, J., in Ex parte Smith, 38 Cal. [702] 708, and a statute in all respects similar to it was upheld by the supreme court of the territory of Montana as a valid exercise of the police *69power in the case of Territory v. Guyot, [9 Mont. 46] 22 P. 134, the court there saying: ‘The act under consideration is clearly within the police power of the territorial government as defined by the courts, and is not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States.’ ”
In Ex parte Smith, 38 Cal. 702, therein cited in support of the generalization as to the effect of intoxicating liquor upon Indians, the court was considering an ordinance of the City of Sacramento, as follows:
“ ‘Ordinance No. 91—To prohibit noisy amusements and to prevent immorality. Passed May 11, 1868.
“ ‘The Board of Trustees of the City of Sacramento ordain as follows:
“ ‘Section 1. It shall be unlawful within the city, in the nighttime, after twelve o’clock midnight, for any person to play or make a noise upon any musical instrument in any drinking saloon, or beer cellar, or to permit or allow the same by the proprietor, agent or manager thereof.
“ ‘Sec. 2. It shall be unlawful for any female person, in the nighttime, after twelve o’clock midnight, to be in any public drinking saloon, beer cellar or billiard room within said city, where vinous, malt or spirituous liquors are sold or given away, to be drank on the premises.’ ”
After reviewing the general right of the legislature to pass statutes under the police power, the court stated:
“In view of these fundamental principles, Legislatures have enacted a variety of laws which, undoubtedly, in a general sense, affect the rights of life, liberty, property, safety and happiness, by way of restraint. Of such are laws regulating the slaughter of animals, the interment of the dead, the erection of buildings in cities and towns of inflammable materials, the manufacture and keeping of gunpowder and other explosive compounds, the vending of poisons and other noxious drugs, the sale of intoxicating beverages to certain classes of persons, as Indians, and even to all classes of persons—as in the case of the Prohibitory Liquor Laws of Maine and Massachusetts.”
It will be noted that none of the activities regulated involved question of classes, except as to Indians and then only by way of passing notice and not a definite holding.
Territory v. Guyot, 9 Mont. 46, 22 P. 134, 136, decided in 1889, after considering generally the relative right of Congress to pass inhibitory liquor statutes as to Indians and territories, contains no statement justifying putting the Indians in an interdicted class, the only statement being:
“There is no limitation upon the authority of a territory to pass laws for the regulation and restriction of ‘the sale of articles deemed injurious to *70tbe health'or morals of the community.’ The act under consideration is clearly within the police power of the territorial government, as defined by the courts, and is not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States.”
Thus, while the above cases sustained the constitutionality of such a statute, they did not in any way consider or pass upon or justify the classification, except on the basis of asserted general knowledge with no scientific sustaining determination of the truth or Soundness of the assertion.
People v. Lemon, 105 Cal. XVII, 38 P. 905 and People v. Goodrich, 105 Cal. XVII, 38 P. 954, merely follow the Bray case without elaboration.
State v. Mamlock, 58 Wash. 631, 109 P. 47, decided in 1910, states:
“The validity of state laws prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors to certain classes of persons who are peculiarly liable to be injured morally or physically by their use, such as minors, persons already intoxicated, habitual drunkards, idiots, and insane persons, has so often been affirmed by the courts that the question is no longer an open one. Black on Intoxicating Liquors, § 42; 23 Cyc. 163. That the American Indian' falls within the classes thus defined, whether he be a citizen of the United States or otherwise, is equally well settled. (Cases.) As said by the Supreme Court of Minnesota in State v. Wise, supra (70 Minn. 99, 72 N.W. 843): ‘The statute is a police regulation. It was enacted in view of the well-known social condition, habits, and tendencies of Indians as a race. While there are doubtless notable individual exceptions to the rule, yet it is a well-known fact that Indians as a race are not as highly civilized as the whites; that they are less subject to moral restraint, more liable to acquire an inordinate appetite for intoxicating liquors, and also more liable to be dangerous to themselves and others when intoxicated. In view of these considerations, it was thought wise to protect persons of that race as well as the community at large by prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors to them altogether. We are therefore of opinion that the statute applies to and includes all Indians as a race, without reference to their political status. Thus construed, the statute is a valid exercise of the police power of the state. It is neither arbitrary class legislation, nor does it abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, or deprive any person- of liberty or property without due process of law, within the meaning of the 14th amendment of the federal Constitution. The difference in conditions- between Indians as a race and the -white race constituted a sufficient basis for classification.’ ”
*71The general statements therein with regard to the exercise of police power have no definitive bearing whatsoever upon classifying Indians with drunkards, minors, and insane persons.
That this statute is clearly class legislation is proved by the statements in the cases relied on by the majority.
“The right to sell or drink liquor is not a constitutional right, but a privilege which the state may grant to one class of its citizens and deny to another class. This proposition is so well established that it will require no citation of authorities to prove that it is in no way obnoxious to the federal Constitution.” State v. Nicolls, 61 Wash. 142, 112 P. 269, at page 270.
To the same effect is State v. Kenney, 83 Wash. 441, 145 P. 450.
There is no question but what the state, under the police power, has the right to control and regulate or prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor. However, the statute under consideration denies the right to sell to Indians; thus, it interdicts the right to buy, intoxicating liquors— a right which is not denied to any other class because of race distinction. Other citizens, no matter of what ancestry, and any foreigner, regardless of his citizenship and regardless of race or ancestry, may legally purchase intoxicating liquor, if, in Idaho, they have a permit.
Much misconception has arisen and consequent misstatements have been made with regard to the right to manufacture and sell intoxicating liquor. Absent a constitptionr al or statutory regulation or prohibition, the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor is not unlawful; was not an offense at common law; was not a crime, and under the common law anyone had the right to manufacture and sell intoxicating liquor. The authorities that have definitively considered the proposition all so hold.
“The business of selling liquor is not of itself wrongful and a nuisance per se. (Cases.) It is the unrestricted and unregulated sale of it that the courts have regarded as tending to pauperism and crime. (Cases.) Its sale was lawful at common law; and, if it were not for the restrictions that have been placed upon it by legislative enactments, every person in the state would be as free to engage in the business as he would be to engage in the business of selling any other property. Sopher v. State [169 Ind. 177], 81 N.E. 913, 915 [14 L.R.A.,N.S., 172], and cases there cited. As this was the common-law right of every citizen, it is plain to be seen that statutes commonly spoken of as license laws are not, strictly speaking, grants of special privileges, but rather restrictions upon the exercise of a previously existing right.” State v. Roberts, 74 N.H. 476, 69 A. 722, at page 723, 16 L.R.A.,N.S., 1115.
In Sopher v. State, 169 Ind. 177, 81 N.E. 913, 915, 14 L.R.A.,N.S., 172, the defend*72ant was charged with maintaining an alleged public nuisance by selling intoxicating liquor. On the matter of inherent rights, the court said:
“The first general statute restricting and regulating the keeping of alehouses and tippling-houses was passed by the British Parliament in 1552, and was the act of fifth and sixth Edward the Sixth. This statute constitutes chapter 25, page 391, of the English Statutes at Large 1540 to 1552. The preamble to this statute declares: ‘For as much as intolerable hurts and troubles to the commonwealth of this realm doth daily grow and increase through such abuses and disorders as are had and used in common ale houses and other houses called tippling houses, it is therefore enacted by the king, our Sovereign Lord,’ etc. At common law, prior to the passage of this statute, any person had the right or privilege, without a license, to keep and maintain alehouses and tippling-houses. Such business was not regarded as a public offense, but was considered and held to be a means of livelihood which any one was free to follow. In support of this proposition, see (cases cited). In the authority last cited (Bishop on Statutory Crimes (3d Ed.) §§ 984, 985) it is said: ‘It is at common law lawful to keep a properly regulated inn, alehouse, or tippling-house; which severally are indictable only when disorderly.’ ”
“It (manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor) was recognized as a legitimate business at common law. (Cases.) To hold otherwise is to shut our eyes both to the development of the law of England and her American colonies and the history of the English speaking world.” Campbell v. Jackman Bros., 140 Iowa 475, 118 N.W. 755, at page 759, 27 L.R.A.,N.S., 288; Vol. 1, The Law of Intoxicating Liquors by Woollen and Thornton, 1910, Section 89, page 103, citing numerous cases and authorities.
The gist of the majority opinion is that statutes prohibiting the sale of liquor to Indians were not enacted or upheld because of the inferiority of any race, but because the courts in the cited cases said Indians as a race were more susceptible to the bad effects of intoxicating liquors than whites. The sole basis for such inhibited race classification is the mere ipse dixit of the five or six courts in the above cases so declaring. Such race classification was by white courts of the conquering race and governments against a conquered race, who, until 1887, were not citizens and had no voice by vote in the government, state or national, thus interdicting them. A classification must rest on substantial and sustainable distinctions.
“The equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment establishes the right of citizens of the several states to equal treatment under state law. It *73recognizes the right of the state, through its legislature, to classify persons and property, based upon reasonable and natural distinctions, to accomplish the legitimate purposes of its police power. If the classification is not unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious, and under it all persons in like circumstances enjoy the same privileges and bear the same burdens, the classification does not deny equal protection of the law. (Cases.)” State v. Evans, 73 Idaho 50, at page 54, 245 P.2d 788 at page 790.
Except as to drunkards, minors, idiots and insane people, and soldiers and sailors in specific restricted situations, which classify themselves, Indians alone are singled out by this statute as incapable of self control sufficiently commensurate with white adults, to purchase and drink intoxicating liquor. Though citizens, and if accrued allottees, no longer wards or under guardianship of the Federal Government or in a state of pupilage or tutelage or other subordinate condition, and entitled to all the other rights and privileges that citizens of the state and nation have, may not purchase liquor, on the pure assumption by some half dozen courts, without any scientific investigation or justification, that being uncivilized they cannot handle liquor as well as the civilized whites.
A holding that makes classes of citizens is completely undemocratic and contrary to the fundamental concept contained in the Declaration of Independence and set out and assured in the Federal and our State Constitutions, The designation and upholding of classes of citizens, solely because of race distinctions, is invidious, archaic, and obnoxious and has been and is being stricken down by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Exercise of police power must be within constitutional limits and with due regard and recognition of what constitutes justification for classification. When this statute was passed, Indians were not, by Federal or State statutes, citizens. They were under guardianship and wards of the Federal Government, variously described as a condition of pupilage or tutelage and in the West, at least, they had not theretofore generally been allotted ownership of individual1 pieces of real property aside from Indian Reservations. Indians are now citizens of both the State and Nation under modified guardianship, still it is true by reason of tribal relationship in some instances carrying on tribal traditions and tribal government, and their allotments have in most instances accrued.
The bulk of the majority opinion is devoted to the support of propositions which are universally accepted, and are not germane to the real point in issue. The power of the Federal Government in the premises is not questioned. Authorities cited on that subject are irrelevant. The important fact to note in that connection is that there is no such comparable power in the State.
*74It is also recognized that citizenship is not a controlling factor. The Legislature may discriminate between citizens if its classifications are reasonable and based on real, established or recognized distinctions. While a government might justify itself in arbitrary discrimination against an alien, it should never tolerate such discrimination against its own. The fact of citizenship should be an added reason for the elimination of arbitrary and unfounded distinctions.
The real basis of the majority opinion is that the Indian as a race is more responsive to the baneful effects of intoxicants than any other race resident in our State. This is so because some ancient court has said so, and other courts have accepted the conclusion, all without inquiry or judicial determination. So, by means of mythology and folklore, it has become established beyond further question.
Injustice does not become venerable with age. The fact assumed cannot be said to be based -upon or established by “common knowledge.” A comparison of the effects of alcoholic beverages upon Negroes and Mexicans ’ (the ’ latter partly of Indian blood), and for that matter, the White race also, does not permit such a basis for this discrimination against Indians.
Discrimination of this kind is not now countenanced, Piper v. Big Pine School Dist. of Inyo County, 193 Cal. 664, 226 P. 926; Begay v. Sawtelle, 53 Ariz. 304, 88 P.2d 999; Bradley v. Arizona Corporation Commission, 60 Ariz. 508, 141 P.2d 524; Harrison v. Laveen, 67 Ariz. 337, 196 P.2d 456; and the judgment of the trial court, striking down the statute as unconstitutional, should be affirmed.