MERWIN F. WOOTEN, APPELLANT,
v.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's decree due to an equal division among the justices, establishing a precedent for affirming judgments when the court is permanently deadlocked.
When the members of the Supreme Court are permanently and equally divided in opinion and there is no prospect of immediate change in personnel, the judgment of the lower court should be affirmed.
“When the members of the Supreme Court sitting sis members in a body and after full consultation it appears that the members of the Court are permanently and equally divided in opinion as to whether the judgment should' be affirmed or reversed, and there is no prospect of an immediate change in the personnel of the Court, the judgment should be affirmed”
This quote establishes the rule for affirming a judgment when the court is equally divided.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe case involved an appeal of a decree from the Circuit Court of Brevard County. The Florida Supreme Court heard the case, but the justices were equa…
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Per Curiam.
The Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Whitfield and Mr. Justice Terrell, are of opinion that the decree should be reversed. Mr. Justice Strum, Mr. Justice Brown and Mr. Justice Buford are of the opinion that the decree should be affirmed. When the members of the Supreme Court sitting sis members in a body and after full consultation it appears that the members of the Court are permanently and equally divided in opinion as to whether the judgment should' be affirmed or reversed, and there is no prospect of an immediate change in the personnel of the Court, the judgment should be affirmed; therefore it is considered, ordered and decreed under the authority of State ex rel. Hampton v. McClung, 47 Fla. 224, 37 South. Rep. 51, that the decree of the Circuit Court in this cause be and the same is hereby affirmed.
Ellis, C. J., and Whitfield, Terrell, Strum, Brown and Buford, J. J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- The State of Fla. ex rel. Hiram J. Hampton v. McClung, 47 Fla. 224 (Fla. 1904)