CHARLES WELCH, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,
v.
ATLANTIC GULF & WEST INDIES STEAMSHIP LINES, DEFENDANT-APPELLEE
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The Florida Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of Chapter 26655, Acts of 1951, which eliminated the "diploma privilege" for law school graduates, requiring instead that all applicants pass a bar examination. The court rejected challenges to the arbitrary July 25, 1951 enrollment deadline and concluded that the statute did not violate equal protection guarantees.
The statute is constitutional and validly interpreted. The legislature had power to set an arbitrary enrollment deadline of July 25, 1951 for the diploma privilege without violating equal protection, as the regulation is a reasonable exercise of legislative power over bar admissions and does not impose an undue hardship.
“That which is finally passed and promulgated as the law is what we are called on to interpret.”
Establishes that the court looks to the enacted statute, not legislative amendments during passage, for interpretation.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRichard S. Fuller and others sought a declaratory decree interpreting Chapter 26655, which established a deadline of July 25, 1951 for enrollment and …
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PER CURIAM.
Judgment is affirmed on the opinion below, D.C., 101 F.Supp. 257. The appellant’s effort to distinguish Guttmann v. Illinois Central R. Co., 2 Cir., 189 F. 2d 927, cer-tiorari denied 342 U.S. 867, 72 S.Ct. 107 cannot prevail. The sentence upon which counsel relies for the attempted distinction is a restriction upon the payment of dividends on the common stock; it docs not impose an obligation to pay passed dividends on the non-cumulative preferred. That this is the correct interpretation is confirmed by the provision giving the corporation the option to purchase preferred stock at par, as well as by the provision governing liquida!ion and dissolution of the corporation.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Rio v. State of Wash., 342 U.S. 867 (U.S. 1951)
- Guttmann v. Illinois Central Railroad, 342 U.S. 867 (U.S. 1951)
- Guttmann v. Ill. Cent. R. Co., 189 F.2d 927 (2d Cir. 1951)