Bateman v. Board of Examiners

HENRIOD, Justice.

I concur. However I cannot subscribe to the concurring opinion of Mr. Justice WADE where he says “in certain instances in the past, Examiners, Finance and/or Governor have, by arbitrary actions, and contrary to the law as set forth in the opinion, infringed upon the -prerogatives of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Board of Education by unjustifiably interfering in their functions. A long list of such grievances are complained of. I set out but a few by way of example.”

Such language assumes that each and every one of the grievances complained of by respondent was an unlawful usurpation of power, including the four instances pointed out by Mr. Justice WADE. Such assumption cannot be indulged, since most of the fifteen grievances which were claimed by respondent to have been unlawful usurpations of power represent factual situations giving rise to highly debatable legal questions, and most of which, in similar situations, have been held by this Court not to have been any usurpation of power at all, but a proper exercise thereof.

The sweeping statement of Mr. Justice WADE, if taken literally, would dispossess the Board of Examiners and Finance Commission of any control whatsoever as to any and all existing or proposed salaries or personnel irrespective of budgetary control, statutory restriction, necessity, amount of compensation or number of personnel, since most of such grievances had to do with salaries and personnel.