Coyle v. Smith

Coyle v. Smith
Coyle v. Smith
Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 5–6, 1911
Decided May 29, 1911
Full case name W.H. Coyle v. Thomas P. Smith, Secretary of State of the State of Oklahoma
Holding
State constitutional provision prohibiting state from moving its capital city is unconstitutional.
Court membership
Case opinions
Majority Lurton, joined by White, Harlan, Day, Hughes, Van Devanter, Lamar
Dissent Holmes, joined by McKenna

Coyle v. Smith, 221 U.S. 559 (1911), was a Supreme Court of the United States case that held that the newly created state of Oklahoma was permitted to move its capital city from Guthrie to Oklahoma City, notwithstanding a state constitutional provision that prohibited it from being moved out of Guthrie.

Contents

Background

In 1907, Oklahoma was admitted as a U.S. state. The new state's capital was located in Guthrie. Section 497 of the Oklahoma Constitution stated that the terms of the U.S. Congress's enabling act of 1906—which allowed Oklahoma to create a state constitution and be admitted to the Union—were "accepted by ordinance irrevocable". Section 2 of the enabling act read:

The capital of said state shall temporarily be at the city of Guthrie ... and shall not be changed therefrom previous to Anno Domini nineteen hundred and thirteen; but said capital shall, after said year, be located by the electors of said state at an election to be provided for by the legislature; ...

On December 29, 1910, the state of Oklahoma enacted a statute which removed the state capital from Guthrie to Oklahoma City. W.H. Coyle, owner of large property interests in Guthrie, sued the state of Oklahoma, arguing that the move was performed in violation of the state constitution's acceptance of the terms of Congress's enabling act.

Holding

The Supreme Court held that preventing the state of Oklahoma the right to locate its own seat of government deprived it of powers which all other states of the Union enjoyed, and thus violated the traditional constitutional principle that all new states be admitted "on an equal footing with the original states". As a result, the provision of the enabling act which temporarily restricted Oklahoma's right to determine where its seat of government would be was unconstitutional. As stated by Mr. Justice Lurton:

Has Oklahoma been admitted upon an equal footing with the original states? If she has, she, by virtue of her jurisdictional sovereignty as such a state, may determine for her own people the proper location of the local seat of government. She is not equal in power to them if she cannot.[1]

Quoting Chief Justice Chase's opinions regarding the indestructibility of the Union and the principle of federalism contained in Texas v. White and Lane County v. Oregon, the opinion concludes:

To this we may add that the constitutional equality of the States is essential to the harmonious operation of the scheme upon which the Republic was organized. When that equality disappears, we may remain a free people, but the Union will not be the Union of the Constitution. "[2]

See also

Notes


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Coyle, Oklahoma —   Town   Location of Coyle, Oklahoma Coordinates …   Wikipedia

  • Malcolm Coyle — Malcolm Snake Coyle is a prisoner on the television show Oz played by Treach of the rap group Naughty By Nature. Character overview Prisoner #99C122. Convicted January 17, 1999 Grand larceny, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, assault… …   Wikipedia

  • Nadine Coyle — Coyle in 2004 Background information Birth name Nadine Coyle Born 15 June 1985 …   Wikipedia

  • Owen Coyle — Personal information Full name Owen Columba Coyle Date of birth 14 July 1966 (19 …   Wikipedia

  • Maurice J. "Clipper" Smith — Not to be confused with John P. Clipper Smith. Maurice J. Clipper Smith Sport(s) Football, basketball Biographical details Born October 15, 1898(1898 10 15) Place of birth Manteno, Illinois …   Wikipedia

  • Keith-Smith v Williams — is a 2006 English libel case that confirmed that existing libel laws applied to internet discussion. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/story/0,,1737445,00.html Warning to chatroom users after libel award for man labelled a Nazi] , Owen Gibson,… …   Wikipedia

  • Oklahoma City — OK City redirects here. For other uses, see OKC (disambiguation). This article is about the capital of Oklahoma. For other uses, see Oklahoma City (disambiguation). Oklahoma City   City   City of Oklahoma …   Wikipedia

  • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — Infobox Settlement official name = City of Oklahoma City settlement type = City nickname = O.K.C.; Renaissance City motto = imagesize = image caption = image mapsize = 250px map caption = Location in Oklahoma County and the state of Oklahoma.… …   Wikipedia

  • Guthrie, Oklahoma — Infobox Settlement official name = Guthrie, Oklahoma settlement type = City nickname = motto = imagesize = 250px image caption = Downtown Guthrie image mapsize = 250px map caption = Location of Guthrie, Oklahoma mapsize1 = map caption1 =… …   Wikipedia

  • Oklahoma Constitution — Oklahoma This article is part of the series: Oklahoma Constitution Articles of the Constitution Preamble I ∙ II ∙ III ∙ IV ∙ V ∙ VI ∙ VII ∙ VIII ∙ IX ∙ X ∙ XI ∙ XII ∙ XIII ∙ XIV ∙ XV ∙ XVI ∙ XVII ∙ XVIII ∙ XIX ∙ XX ∙ XXI ∙ XXII ∙ XXIII ∙ XXIV ∙… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”