Opinion
No. 37633
Decided May 22, 1963.
Courts — Jurisdiction — Order restraining police officers from enforcing law — Sunday Closing Law — Judicial functions beyond those conferred by law — Prohibition — Writ available to restrain usurpation of jurisdiction.
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Cuyahoga County.
The captain of the Police Department of the City of Euclid filed with the respondent, judge of the Euclid Municipal Court, affidavits charging two persons with having violated Section 741.01 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Euclid, commonly known as the Sunday Closing Law. The respondent issued warrants for the arrest of the accused persons who appeared before respondent and pleaded not guilty, and, upon their request, the respondent made the following entry in each case:
"Defendant's request for permission to remain open on Sunday until this case is tried granted on defendant showing that he will suffer an economic loss and must maintain his business to support his family. It is further ordered that police surveillance of the place of business and issuance of warrants for alleged violations of the Sunday law be discontinued until this case is tried on its merits and guilt or innocence of the defendant is determined by this court * * *."
Because of such entries, the relators, the Director of Law and the Police Prosecutor of the city of Euclid, instituted the instant action in prohibition in the Court of Appeals, seeking a writ restraining the respondent "from exercising judicial functions beyond those conferred upon him by law, namely, enjoining the police officers of the city of Euclid from performing their sworn duties of enforcing the Sunday Closing Law, in attempting to enjoin the enforcement of Section 741.01 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Euclid, and permitting * * * [the accused persons] to operate their business in violation of Section 741.01."
The Court of Appeals found that the authority and jurisdiction of the respondent in the above-mentioned criminal matters extend only to the allegations of facts set forth in the affidavits charging the offenses of violating the Sunday Closing Law, and that the orders in the above-quoted entries were without authority or jurisdiction and are void. The court ordered that a permanent writ of prohibition as prayed for be granted, and that respondent be prohibited from enjoining the police officers from enforcing the Sunday Closing Law.
An appeal as of right brings the cause to this court for review.
Mr. John F. Ray, Jr., director of law, and Mr. Robert Steele, for appellees.
Mr. Ronald M. Benjamin, for appellant.
The respondent, judge of the Euclid Municipal Court, was without jurisdiction to make the entries in question restraining the police officers of the city of Euclid from enforcing the Sunday Closing Law. It was an exercise of a judicial function beyond those conferred upon him by law, and the entries are a nullity.
A writ of prohibition may be employed to prevent an inferior court from usurping jurisdiction with which it has not been invested by law.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
TAFT, C.J., ZIMMERMAN, MATTHIAS, O'NEILL, GRIFFITH, HERBERT and GIBSON, JJ., concur.