Wynehamer v People.pdf - The University of Texas at Austin
Wynehamer v People.pdf - The University of Texas at Austin
Wynehamer v People.pdf - The University of Texas at Austin
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ALBANY, MAECH, 1856. 485<strong>Wynehamer</strong> against <strong>The</strong> <strong>People</strong>.possessed by the general government, it exists withoutrestriction. <strong>The</strong> only limit<strong>at</strong>ion, then, for aught I can see,is the discretion <strong>of</strong> those who possess and aie appointed touse it, within the boundaries <strong>of</strong> human action or capacity.And whether the constitution is to be regaided as a grant<strong>of</strong> the power, or the mere recognition and acknowledgment<strong>of</strong> its existence as inherent in those bodies, the result is thesame. For, if a grant, it is plenary, and carries the entirelegisl<strong>at</strong>ive power, the power to make laws for the government<strong>of</strong> the si <strong>at</strong>e, to be enforced upon those who grantedit. However derived, it is a superior power, sovereign inits n<strong>at</strong>ure, and the rules which apply to mere deleg<strong>at</strong>edand secondary powers do not apply to it. Clothed withthis power, the corresponding duty necessarily devolvesupon the legisl<strong>at</strong>ure <strong>of</strong> determining wh<strong>at</strong> acts are comp<strong>at</strong>iblewith the safety and welfare <strong>of</strong> all classes <strong>of</strong> citizensand wh<strong>at</strong> not, and wh<strong>at</strong> acts are so far prejudicial andinjurious as to become criminal. Such acts it may declarecriminal, and forbid and fix the grade <strong>of</strong> the crime, and theappropri<strong>at</strong>e measure <strong>of</strong> punishment. Some criminal acts itpunishes with the forfeiture <strong>of</strong> life, some with th<strong>at</strong> <strong>of</strong>liberty and all civil and political rights, others with theforfeiture <strong>of</strong> property and the infliction <strong>of</strong> penalties only.It authorizes the real and personal property <strong>of</strong> one person,without his consent and against his will, to be alien<strong>at</strong>edand transferred to another, in s<strong>at</strong>isfaction <strong>of</strong> oblig<strong>at</strong>ionsunperformed and promises broken. It levies contributionsin the form <strong>of</strong> taxes upon every man's property, for thesupport <strong>of</strong> government, and to make improvements conduciveto the general convenience and prosperity. All thisis but the common, ordinary exercise <strong>of</strong> legisl<strong>at</strong>ive power.One <strong>of</strong> its first and clearest duties is to make all necessarylaws, to remedy existing and admitted evils, and to prevent their recurrence. And <strong>of</strong> this character and for thisobject is the st<strong>at</strong>ute in question.
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