Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

April 3, 1949 mmolrblo s. J. 18aaoka Qhalnmn, luaiaIalmmdtteo, Boueo of Repromntatlvos AWtiB, Taxaa Doar Sirr Opinion lfo.v-129 I&r OonstltmtlonnlityOS H. B. SS8,sotBLe&irlwmo,rola- tire to dellnquemtmm&r. Your reqwatfor UI opinionupon the abeve aub- jeat matter Is na follkmw~: "I am haraith en01001 aeepyofeblll, , bOlta@ known as lbluoBill 52 , with rorr 100111- ants whloh ha8 to do with beSUing dellnqeu&t par&~ pr8tIdIng that dellawent mxentm are gailty oi misdomsanorand gre8orIbIaga pawlOx. A qwstieloaba been raiseda8 to the oma%l$a- tlonalltyOS thie pro oood loglslatlon.Aa ohairman of t& a410 L m Comitt.0, it ha8 wan oated thst X nfor this bill to you for an :3&m m to its eonutleutIoMlIh~. *It O~QM to the writer that tho bill u ia a submIt.te& bit l+wely'dra*mIn at- in: llttlo t-cllrpting to dof,itns a admIti offemo. You dll noto that It say@1 'who fall8 or odte to lxor- d~~dyso~le &IUgonao In tha oontxelof roah It oeoum to tho writer that the ma- tlon k *reasowblo dIllgoaoo*when a 0x3JMl ofionse or penalty la sought to be defineds&&l4 bo a llttlo am?e o%plIeIt. It itwtherpratidoa? * * * wh o fa llso r o mitsto lxeroluo nasoaable dlll~otepxwent ouoh ohild fromboeosiagdo- liaquent in morals or integrlt~ are guilty of jmonlle delinquonaj. Honorable :i. J. 18Sr;OkS - tage 2 *Aa to thla quotationwe bollevc that tho 0fra00 ia not suirieim3tiy doflccd and 31cdoecr- taln. It furthor pmvldcc * *** end nb~ ahcll wllfully pennIt auoh ehlld to csaeoletc with vloIouc or lmmrcl perconc or pcrconc who aro erimlaclc .* It cppeerc to uc that thla olcuco would noooaaltctoa doflnltlonof *vlaic+ucor lmorrl QOIUOM* with rruohoortclcty thct the person ohcrgoQ would know who rloiocc and l&moral ponona am. He thfak IIU'ther that those *orha are orImlmla*, - tkct ft should acrtalnl~ say: penaita such ohlld Taoassooisto with v o out or imicorslpersona or persons who ‘who w are orlmkuclo.~ "Thr bill fcxther pr~ldoc: 1 t 0 0 or pornitcuoh ohlld to wcndcr'tho ctrcotc in Idlo- ma8 or to boeoma c bcbltccl tmcct fromaahoel.* It eoourc to ua that lf suoh olauce la cuftl- olintlg oe~clc, waioh we hcrdly bclfsve It ifi, It o o r Sa I.uly lhedia prorido that the parout should 'kuowI~&' pormlt the ohlld to da these t;hI?~m.~ Wo bavo oerofully oxomlmod Hoaco Bill So. 5X3 whloh aooorpaalsdyour roqtmct - Bltlo end body. Tho title to the Bill la good, end oomondably ahoti. Wo find no ?ault wI8h It. Nor IO there au]r.ooaatItutlonclor atctctorJIviac in tho boar or tkc Bill. Wo thoak you ror your odtlocl cncl~lo of tits all1 aa to its legs1 coftioleney. ft hcc beet helpful to ca. Eew- ever, tho points as to phrcclng sup&pctod by fi~a e to tha mer- ltc of tkc El11 rather thn ot Its valldlty. Ta othor wotic, lt la moroly a qucctlon of the sccl lntcntloa of tin Le&alcturc co to what they want to srko cc offeace, l.o., whother thef wect t or the parent an ot?ence;~or tho erd to pmpcr ccfcgucrdlngof the ohlld, Oorpas Jurlc Seouudum,Vol. 88, Seatlon'SO,doallng with tho tl%le CRIMSNeL LA%, b8 thla to oaf: "By the esprosstOn!iCof a statute gullfy knowlodgo la cwotiaac amQe an eacenflal j.n- gredlont of the effetice, ac whcro it reqnlma the cot to bo lono .*kn~wl~&y’ , do. bn tb other hand, tho Logiolaturomay torbld the doing or er the failure to do en sat and make its oomcIcclon or omlsslo,n arlml~a1 without regard to the intent or knowlodqo or the door, and If auoh lexlalativeintention sppeexs the oourtc met dive ft.erreot, mnd in suoh oasec, Honorable S. J. Isaaoks - Page 3 ths dolng of the lnhlblted mot oonstltatasthe orlme, and the moral turpitude or parity of fhs motive by whloh lt was pronpted, and knowledge or l~oranoe of lta orlmlnel ohazaoter,are lm- nmterlal olrowtanser on the qaestlon of guilt; suoh lsglslatlonIs enaoted and la sustained, for the most part, on grounds of naoessity, and le,n~t~v~olatlveof the federal oonsfito- tion. . Pappas v. State, 188 S. '$.52, by the Suprems Court of Tanne0see, deolaras: *It being olear that in statutory offenors a orlmlnal intent or fraudulent intent 1s not always essential, it 1s equally olear that whsther thr solenter is a material element of the oriar or not atit bo determined by the languagr used by the Legislaturein dsflninrJthe offsnse. *In the statuts under oousldrratlonths word8 *wlilfuiiy*or ~knowlnglg*are nowhars to be found. Thsse are ths usual words wed by the law-making power whsn it fs oontsmpla6ed by tham that the Intention of the person vlo- latlng the'statnteshould be oonslderedas %he material 61ement.n In Tsxar Liquor Control Board v. Duvi~ll,~ 170 S. W. (Ed) gZ0, a oasa of sanosllatS.onof a llosnes for eaployiag l mlnor less than 16 years of age, it 1s said: "The prohlbltsd aot of employinga minor In a position fraught with ttiptetlonsthat may lsad to a life of dleslpatlon,la deolared in unquallfled$slies,unrsllev,ed by any langsag :~. lmpertlngthat knowledge of the age of the minor, or that either good faith or Intent wee an element of the offense. In authorlz- lnr the oanoellatlonof a llosnse for the sporadlo sale of~beer to a person under twenty-oneyears of ago, the sama Artlels of the statute, in Subd. l(a), provides that sush sale must be knowingly mado; but with refarsnoe to the offense of sreater enormity, .that14, of amplo~lng a minor In 8 business where he is oonstantly,day after day, ax- posed to a tsmptatlon that my result in his beoomlng an lnebrlate, no snob qualifying language la found. Honorable S. J. Isaaoks - Page 4 “This oon6txuotlonof the statute 14 in llno with that (~iron slmllar statutu, not only by our oourts but by ooartr the eeuntryover. In Peaooak v. LImburger, 9% Tax. 858, 66 8. IV.TM, our Supreme Court atiwerlng oertlfled question, held that a sale of liquor to a n&nor oonatituted a brsaoh of ths dsaler's bond, whether thz :e$lp knsr the faot of inorlty or not, . House Bill 538, 50th Legislature,orsat- lne;tb offsim8 of dsllnqoenoyof pars&, mak- ing if an offense by ona *who falls or omltr to exerolss reasonable dlllgsnse in the ooatrol of such ohlld* without prssorlblagfurther that suoh failure or omlsslon was %uowlngliym,does not make the atetuto void. This present4merely a mattsr of oohstruotloa as to the ma1 lnteu- tlon of'the Legislatureas to.what would oonsM- tee the offsuse, and goss to ths merlto rather than the oonstittitloualltyof the Bill. Yours very truly, hl?I!CRRBYOERERAL OF TBZAS By (Signed)0010 spew Aasl8taat APPROVED APB 7, 1847 /a/ Prloe Dan101