Tuck v. Industrial Home
Before: Garoutte
Synopsis
Home fob Adult Blind—Power of Directors—Expulsion of Resident Inmates.—In the absence of provision in the statute or by-laws upon the subject, the board of directors of the Home for Adult Blind, under its general supervisory power over the institution, has a right to suspend, dismiss, or expel resident inmates who have been guilty of disorderly conduct.
Id.—Expulsion Without Hearing.—A resident inmate of the Home for Adult Blind has no such right or interest in the home that he cannot be deprived of its benefits without notice or hearing, in the absence of a statute or by-law conferring such right.
Id.—Discretion of Board of Directors—Finality of Action.—The matter of the expulsion of inmates from the Home for Adult Blind, not being regulated by a statute or by-law, is left entirely within the power and discretion of the board of directors; and where, by order entered upon the minutes of the board, it appears that an inmate was guilty of insubordination and misconduct and was expelled therefor, the action of the board must be deemed final and conclusive, and there is no appeal to the courts from such finding of fact.
Garoutte, J. This is an application for a writ of mandate to compel the board of directors of the Home for Adult Blind to reinstate as an inmate thereof the petitioner, Herbert C. Tuck. It appears by his petition that he was once an inmate of the home, regularly admitted, and there remained some months; that during his sojourn at the home he led a sober and industrious life, and obeyed all the by-laws enacted by the board of directors; that to petitioner’s knowledge no charge of [218]misconduct of any kind whatever was made against him, either in writing or orally, and that he was never informed of any charge against him prior to the introduction and adoption of the following resolution, which resolution deprived him of the benefit of the home: “ Resolved, That Herbert Tuck be, and he is hereby, removed and expelled from this institution for insubordination and conduct prejudicial to the discipline, good order, and interest of the home.” That he has asked to be reinstated, but the board of directors has denied his request.
There appears to be no provision in the statute providing for the dismissal or expulsion of intractable inmates. Neither do we find any by-law of the board of directors outlining the course to be pursued by the board in ridding the home of disreputable and intractable persons. It would certainly be the more orderly and business-like way that there should be by-laws governing the course to .be pursued by the board in such cases, and also governing the inmates in their conduct and behavior in the institution. Yet such is not the case. But, even in the absence of both statute and by-law, we have no doubt that the board of directors, under its general supervisory power over the institution, has a right to suspend, dismiss, or expel resident inmates who have been guilty of disorderly and disreputable conduct.
Petitioner’s complaint appears to be that he was not only expelled from the home without cause, but that he was expelled without a hearing, and thus deprived of any opportunity to make a defense to whatever charges may have been brought against him; and his counsel now claim that this course cannot be pursued, and that the expulsion was illegal, inasmuch as the petitioner, Tuck, had been legally admitted to the institution, and had become thereby entitled to its valuable privileges and benefits. Counsel asserts that by virtue of his admission in the regular course these valuable rights had attached to him, and had been so vested and fixed that he could not be deprived of them without notice and an [219]
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