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Keywords

plaintiffstatuteequityinjunctionwillcomplianceequitable relief
plaintiffdefendantstatuteequitywillcompliancerespondentequitable relief

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Shuman v. Gilbert, 229 Mass. 225, 118 N.E. 254, L.R.A. 1918C, 135, Am.Ann.Cas. 1918E, 793

Facts

The plaintiffs, six merchants with permanent businesses in Boston and Springfield, occasionally hired rooms in a Northampton hotel to display goods as samples, taking orders for future delivery rather than making sales on-site. The Chief of Police threatened to prosecute them for violating a statute that prohibits hawking and peddling without a license. The plaintiffs sought an injunction to prevent the Chief from interfering with their business activities, arguing that their conduct did not violate the statute as it was intended to be construed.

The allegation of the bill in the case at bar is, that to determine the question whether they ‘come within the purview of the statutes' as contended by the defendant, ‘will take several months before a decision relative thereto can be had from the Supreme Court; that the said respondent has stated that he will arrest and prevent the complainants from exhibiting as aforesaid in said city of Northampton, even during the time a test case is awaiting a decision by the Supreme Court, unless the complainants are duly licensed forthewith by the said commissioner of weights and measures either as itinerant vendors or as hawkers and peddlers; that by reason of the respondent's threats and arbitrary attitude relative thereto, the complainants would be prevented from carrying on their usual business as aforesaid in said city of Northampton while the said question would be pending before the Supreme Court; and that the complainants would thereby sustain irreparable damage in that the seasons for exhibitions and sales by sample for future delivery as advertised will have passed, in that the profits therefrom would be wholly lost and in that the complainants would be compelled at considerable expense to cancel reservations of accommodations heretofore made in said city of Northampton, and would otherwise be greatly damaged.

Issue

Whether the plaintiffs' activities constituted a violation of the statute prohibiting hawking and peddling without a license, and whether they were entitled to equitable relief from potential prosecution.

The plaintiffs do not allege nor argue that the statute under which the defendant proposes to prosecute them is unconstitutional on any ground, nor that its enforcement as to them would be an unlawful interference with interstate commerce.

Rule

The general rule is that courts of equity will not restrain the prosecution of crimes, but there is an exception for cases where prosecutions are based on unconstitutional or void statutes that would result in irreparable harm to property rights.

It is the general rule that the prosecution and punishment of crimes will not be restrained by a court of chancery. But there is an exception to this comprehensive statement.

Analysis

The court analyzed the plaintiffs' claims and determined that they did not sufficiently demonstrate that their activities fell outside the purview of the statute. The court noted that the plaintiffs did not argue that the statute was unconstitutional or that its enforcement would interfere with interstate commerce. As such, the court found that the mere possibility of prosecution did not warrant equitable relief, and the plaintiffs' allegations of potential harm were deemed insufficient.

The allegations as to property damage are nothing more than the ordinary averments which might be made by anybody engaged in business, undertaking a branch of commercial adventure believed by the officers charged with enforcing the law to be in contravention of some penal statute confessedly valid in itself.

Conclusion

The court affirmed the decree dismissing the plaintiffs' bill, concluding that they did not establish a cause for equitable relief and that the question of their compliance with the law should be resolved in the criminal court.

The conclusion is that the allegations of the bill do not make out a cause for equitable relief, but fall within the general principle that courts of equity will not enjoin the institution of proceedings to punish alleged crimes.

Who won?

George W. Gilbert, Chief of Police of Northampton, prevailed in the case because the court found that the plaintiffs did not provide sufficient grounds for equitable relief against potential prosecution.

The court affirmed the decree dismissing the plaintiffs' bill, concluding that they did not establish a cause for equitable relief and that the question of their compliance with the law should be resolved in the criminal court.

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