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LOUISIANA. The name of one of the new states of the United States of
America. This state was admitted into the Union by the act of congress, entitled
"An act for the admission of the state of Louisiana into the Union, and to
extend the laws of the United States to the said state," approved April 8, 1812,
2 Story's L. U. S. 1224; the preamble of which recites and the first section
enacts as follows, namely:
2. Whereas the representatives of the people of all that part of the
territory or country ceded, under the name of "Louisiana," by the treaty made at
Paris, on the thirtieth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and three,
between the United States and France, contained within the following limits;
that is to say: beginning at the mouth of the river Sabine; thence, by a line to
be drawn along the middle of said river, including all islands to the
thirty-second degree of latitude; thence, due north, to the northernmost part of
the thirty-third degree of north latitude, thence, along the said parallel of
latitude, to the river Mississippi; thence, down the said river, to the river
Iberville; and from thence, along the middle of the said river, and lakes
Maurepas and Ponchartrain, to the gulf of Mexico; thence, bounded by the said
gulf, to the place of beginning; including all islands within three leagues of
the coast; did, on the twenty-second day of January, one thousand eight hundred
and twelve, form for themselves a constitution and state government, and give to
the said state the name of the state of Louisiana, in pursuance of an act of
congress, entitled "An act to enable the people of the territory of Orleans to
form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of the said
state into the Union, on an equal footing with the original states, and for
other purposes: And the said constitution having been transmitted to congress,
and by them being hereby approved; therefore,
3. - §1. Be it enacted, &c. That the said state shall be one, and is
hereby declared to be one of the United Staies of America and admitted into the
Union on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatever, by
the name and title of the state of Louisiana: Provided, That it shall be taken
as a condition upon which the said state is incorporated in the Union, that the
river Mississippi, and the navigable rivers and waters leading into the same,
and into the Gulf of Mexico, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well
to the inhabitants of the said state as to the inhabitants of other states, and
the territories of the United States, without any tax, duty, impost, or toll,
therefor, imposed by the said state; and that the above con- dition, and also
all other the conditions and terms contained in the third section of the act,
the title whereof is hereinbefore recited, shall be considered, deemed, and
taken, fundamental conditions and terms, upon which the said state is
incorporated in the Union. See 11 M. R. 309.
4. By the present constitution of the state of Louisiana, which was adopted
in 1845; the powers of the government of the state of Louisiana, are divided
into three distinct departments, each of them confined to a separate body of
magistracy, to wit: The legislative to one, the executive to another, and the
judicial to a third. Title I.
5.-1st. The legislative power is vested in a general assembly, which consists
of a senate and house of representatives.
6. - §1. The senate will be considered with reference to the qualification of
the electors; the qualification of the members the length of time for which they
are elected and the time of their election. 1. In all elections by the people,
every free white male, who has been two years a citizen of the United States,
who has attained the age of twenty-one years, and resided in the state two
consecutive years next preceding the election, and the last year thereof in the
parish in which he offers to vote, shall have the right of voting: Provided,
That no person shall be deprived of the right of voting, who, at the time of the
adoption of this constitution, was entitled to that right under the constitution
of 1812. Absence from the state for more than ninety conse- cutive days, shall
interrupt the acquisition of the residence required in the preceding section,
unless the person absenting himself shall be a housekeeper, or shall occupy a
tenement for carrying on business, and his dwelling house or tenements for
carrying on business, be actually occupied during his absence, by his family or
servants, or some portion thereof, or by some one employed by him. No soldier,
seaman, or marine in the army or navy of the United States, no pauper, no person
under interdiction, nor under conviction of any crime punishable by hard labor,
shall be entitled to vote at any election in this state. 2. No person shall be a
senator, who, at the time of bis election, has not been a citizen of the United
States ten years, and who has not attained the age of twenty-seven years and
resided in the state four years next preceding his election, and the last year
thereof, in the district in which he may be chosen. The number of senators shall
be thirty-two. 3. The members of the senate shall be chosen for the term of four
years. 4. Their election takes place on the first Monday in November, every two
years, so that one half of their number are elected every two years, and a
perpetual rotation thereby kept up.
7. - §2. The house of representatives will be treated of in the same manner
as that of the senate. 1. The electors are qualified in the same manner as those
of the senate. 2. No person shall be a representative, who, at the time of his
election, is not a free white male, and has not been for three years a citizen
of the United States, and has not attained the age of twenty-one years, and
resided in the state for three years next preceding the election, and the last
year thereof in the parish for which he may be chosen. The number of
representatives shall not be more than one hundred, nor less than seventy. 3.
They are chosen every two years. 4. Their election is on the first Monday in
November, every two years. Title II.
8. - 2d. The supreme executive power of the state shall be vested in a chief
magistrate, who shall be styled the governor of the state of Louisiana. He is
elected by the qualified electors at the time and place of voting for
representatives; the person having the greatest number of votes, shall be
declared elected. But if two or more persons shall be equal in the highest
number of votes polled, one of them shall immediately be chosen governor by the
joint vote of the members of the general assembly. 2. No person shall be
eligible to the office of governor, who shall not have attained the age of
thirty-five years, been fifteen years a citizen of the United States, and a
resident within the state for the same space of time next preceding his
election. 3. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, but shall
be ineligible for the succeeding four years after its termination. 4. His
principal functions are as follows: He shall be commander-in-chief of the army
and navy of this state, and of the militia thereof, except when they shall be
called into the service of the United States. He shall take care that the laws
be faithfully executed. From time to time give to the general assembly
information respecting the situation of the state, and recommend to their
consideration such measures as he may deem expedient. Shall have power to grant
reprieves for all offences against the state. With the consent of the senate,
have power to grant pardons and remit fines and forfeitures, after conviction,
except in cases of impeachment. In cases of treason, may grant reprieves until
the end of the next session of the general assembly, in which the pardoning
power shall be vested. Shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of
the senate, appoint all officers established by this constitution, whose mode of
appointment is not otherwise prescribed by the constitution, nor by the
legislature. Have power to fill vacancies during the recess of the senate,
provided he appoint no one whom the senate have rejected for the same office.
May, on extraordinary occasions convene the general asserably at the seat of
government, or at a different place, if that should have become dangerous from
an enemy or from an epidemic; and in case of disagreement between the two houses
as to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he may think
proper, not exceeding four months. He shall have the veto power. Title III.
9. - 3d. The judicial power is vested by title IV of the constitution, as
follows:
10. - §1. The judicial power shall be vested in a supreme court, in district
courts, and in justices of the peace.
11. - §2. The supreme court, except in cases hereinafter provided, shall have
appellate jurisdiction only, which jurisdiction shall extend to all cases when
the matter in dispute shall exceed three hundred dollars, and to all cases in
which the constitutionality or legality of any tax, toll, or impost of any kind
or nature soever, shall be in contestation, whatever may be the amount thereof;
and likewise to all fines, forfeitures, and penalties imposed by municipal
corporations, and in criminal cases on questions of law alone, whenever the
punishment of death or hard labor may be inflicted, or when a fine exceeding
three hundred dollars is actually imposed.
12. - §3. The supreme court shall be composed of one chief justice, and of
three associate justices, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum. The
chief justice shall receive a salary of six thousand dollars, and each of the
associate judges a salary of five thousand five hundred dollars annually. The
court shall appoint its own clerks. The judges shall be appointed for the term
of eight years.
13. - §4. When the first appointments are made under this constitution, the
chief justice shall be appointed for eight years, one of the associate judges
for six years, one for four years, and one for two years and in the event of the
death, resignation, or removal of any of said judges before the expiration of
the period for which he was appointed, his successor shall be appointed only for
the remainder of his term; so that the term of service of no two of said judges
shall expire at the same time.
14. - §5. The supreme court shall hold its sessions in New Orleans, from the
first Monday of the month of November, to the end of the month of June,
inclusive. The legislature shall have power to fix the sessions elsewhere during
the rest of the year; until otherwise provided, the sessions shall be held as
heretofore.
15. - §6. The supreme court, and each of the judges thereof, shall have power
to issue writs of habeas corpus, at the instance of all persons in actual
custody under process, in all cases in which they may have appellate
jurisdiction.
16. - §7. In all cases in which the judges shall be equally divided in
opinion, the judgment appealed from shall stand affirmed; in which case each of
the judges shall give his separate opinions in writing.
17. - §8. All judges, by virtue of their office, shall be conservators of the
peace throughout the state. The style of all processes shall be, "The State of
Louisiana." All prosecutions, shall be carried on in the name and by the
authority of the state of Louisiana, and conclude, against the peace and dignity
of the same.
18. - §9. The judges of all the courts within this state shall, as often as
it may be possible so to do, in every definite judgment, refer to the particular
law in virtue of which such judgment may be rendered, and in all cases adduce
the reasons on which their judgment is founded.
19. - §10. No court or judge shall make any allowance by way of fee or
compensation in any suit or proceedings, except for the payment of such fees to
ministerial officers as may be established by law.
20. - §11. No duties or functions shall ever be attached by law to the
supreme or district courts, or to the several judges thereof, but such as are
judicial; and the said judges are prohibited from receiving any fees of office
or other compensation than their salaries for any civil duties performed by
them.
21. - §12. The judges of all courts shall be liable to impeachment; but for
any reasonable cause, which shall not be sufficient ground for impeachment, the
governor shall remove any of them on the address of three-fourths of the members
present of each house of the general assembly. In every such case the cause or
causes for which such removal may be required, shall be stated at length in the
address, and inserted in the journal of each house.
22. - §13. The first legislature assembled under this constitution shall
divide the state into judicial districts, which shall remain unchanged for six
years, and be subject to reorganization every sixth year thereafter. The number
of districts shall not be less than twelve, nor more than twenty. For each
district one judge, learned in the law, shall be appointed, except in the
districts in which the cities of New Orleans and Lafayette are situated, in
which the legislature may establish as many district courts as the public
interest may require.
23. - §14. Each of the said judges shall receive a salary to be fixed by law,
which shall not be increased or diminished during his term of office, and shall
never be less than two thousand five hundred dollars annually. He must be a
citizen of the United States, over the age of thirty years, and have resided in
the state for six years next preceding his appointment, and have practised law
therein for the space of five years.
24. - §15. The judges of the district courts shall hold their offices for the
term of six years. The judges first appointed shall be divided by lot into three
classes, as nearly equal as can be, and the term of office of the judges of the
first class shall expire at the end of two years, of the second class at the end
of four years, and of the third class at the end of six years.
25. - §16. The district courts shall have original jurisdiction in all civil
cases when the amount in dispute exceeds fifty dollars, exclusive of interest.
In all criminal cases, and in all matters connected with successions, their
jurisdiction shall be unlimited.
26. - §17. The jurisdiction of justices of the peace shall never exceed, in
civil cases, the sum of one hundred dollars, exclusive of interest, subject to
appeal to the district court in such cases as shall be provided for by law. They
shall be elected by the qualified voters of each parish for the term of two
years, and shall have such criminal jurisdiction as shall be provided for by
law.
LOW WATER MARK. That part of the shore of the sea to which the waters
re- cede when the tide is the lowest. Vide High Water Mark; River; Sea Shore;
Dane's Ab. h. t.; 1 Halst. R. 1.
LOYAL. Legal; according to law; as, loyal matrimony, a lawful
marriage; at- tached to the existing law.
LOYALTY. That which adheres to the law, that which sustains an
existing government. See Penal Laws of China, 3.
LUCID INTERVAL, med. jur. That space of time between two fits of
insanity, during which a person non compos mentis is completely restored to the
perfect enjoyment of reason upon every subject upon which the mind was
previously cognizant. Shelf. on Lun. 70; Male's Elem. of Forensic Medicine, 227;
and see Dr. Haslam on Madness, 46; Reid's Essays on Hypochondriasis, 317 Willis
on Mental Derangement, 151.
2. To ascertain whether a partial restoration to sanity is a lucid interval,
we must consider the nature of the interval and its duration. 1st. Of its
nature.: "It must not," says D'Aguesseau, "be a superficial tranquillity, a
shadow of repose, but on the contrary, a profound tranquillity, a real repose;
it must not be a mere ray of reason, which only makes its absence more apparent
when it is gone, not a flash of lightning, which pierces through the darkness
only to render it more gloomy and dismal, not a glimmering which unites night to
the day; but a perfect light, a lively and continued lustre, a full and entire
day, interposed between two separate nights of the fury which precedes and
follows it; and to use another image, it is not a deceitful and faithless
stillness, which follows or forebodes a storm, but a sure and steady
tranquillity for a time, a real calm, a perfect serenity; without looking for so
many metaphors to represent an idea, it must not be a mere diminution, a
remission of the complaint, but a kind of temporary cure, an intermission so
clearly marked, as in every respect to resemble the restoration of health." 2d,
Of its duration. "As it is impossible," he continues, "to judge in a moment of
the qualities of an interval, it is requisite that there should be a sufficient
length of time for giving a perfect assurance of the temporary reestablishment
of reason, which it is not possible to define in general, and which depends upon
the different kinds of fury, but it is certain there must be a time, and a
considerable time." 2 Evan's Poth. on Oblig. 668, 669.
3. It is the duty of the party who contends for a lucid interval to prove it;
for a person once insane is presumed so, until it is shown that he has a lucid
interval or has recovered. Swinb. 77; Co. Litt. by Butler, n. 185; 3 Bro. C. C.
443; 1 Rep. Con. Ct. 225; 1 Pet. R. 163; 1 Litt. R. 102. Except perhaps the
alleged insanity was very long ago, or for a very short con- tinuance. And the
wisdom of a testament, when it is proved that the party framed it without
assistance, is a strong presumption of the sanity of a testator. 1 Phill. R.
90;1 Hen. & Munf. 476.
4. Medical men have doubted of the existence of a lucid interval, in which
the mind was completely restored to its sane state. It is only an abatement of
the symptoms, they say, and not a removal of the cause of the disease; a degree
of irritability of the brain remains behind which renders the patient unable to
withstand any unusual emotion, any sudden provocation, or any unexpected
pressing emergency. Dr. Combe, Observations on Mental Derangement, 241; Halsam,
Med. Jur. of Insanity, 224; Fodere, De Medecine Legale, tom, 1 , p. 205, 140;
Georget, Des Maladies Mentales, 46; 2 Phillim. R. 90; 2 Hagg. Eccl. R. 433; 1
Phillim. Eccl. R. 84.
See further, Godolph. 25; 3 Bro. C. C. 443; 11 Ves. 11; Com. Dig.
Testi-moigne, A 1; 1 Phil. Ev. 8; 2 Hale, 278; 10 Harg. State Tr. 478; Erskine's
Speeches, vol. 5, p. l; 1 Fodere, Med. Leg. § 205.
LUCRE. Gain, profit. Cl. des Lois Rom. h. t.
LUCRI CAUSA. This is a Latin expression, which signifies that the
thing to which it applies is done for the sake of gain.
2. It was supposed that when a larceny was committed the taking should have
been lucri causa; but it has been considered that it is not necessary the taking
should be lucri causa, if it be fraudulenter, with intent to wholly deprive the
owner of the property. Russ. & Ry. 292; 2 RUSS.' on Cr. 92. 1 Car. & K.
532. Vide Inst. lib. 4, t. 1, s. 1.
LUGGAGE. Such things as are carried by a traveller, generally for his
personal accommodation; baggage. In England this word is generally used in the
same sense that baggage is used in the United States. See Baggage.
LUNACY, med. jur. A disease of the mind, which is differently defined
as it applies to a class of disorders, or only to one species of them. As a
general term it includes all the varieties of mental, disorders, not
fatuous.
2. Lunacy is adopted as a general term, on account of its general use as such
in various legislative acts and legal proceedings, as commissions of lunacy, and
in this sense it seems to be synonymous with non compos mentis, or of unsound
mind.
3. In a more restricted sense, lunacy is the state of one who has bad
understanding, but by discase, grief, or other accident, has lost the use of
reason. 1 Bl. Com. 304.
4. The following extract from a late work, Stock on the Law of Non Compotes
Mentis, will show the difficulties of discovering what is and what is not
lunacy. "If it be difficult to find an appropriate definition or comprehensive
name for the various species of lunacy," says this author, page 9, "it is quite
as difficult to find anything approximating to a positive evidence of its
presence. There are not in lunacy, as in fatuity, external signs not to be
mistaken, neither is there that similarity of manner and conduct which enables
any one, who has observed instances of idiocy or imbecility, to detect their
presence in all subsequent cases, by the feebleness of perception and dullness
of sensibility common to them all. The varieties of lunacy are as numerous as
the varieties of human nature, its excesses commensurate with the force of human
passion, its phantasies coextensive with the range of human intellect. It may
exhibit every mood from the most serious to the most gay, and take every tone
from the most sublime to the most ridiculous. It may confine itself to any
trifling feeling or opinion, or overcast the whole moral and mental
conformation. It may surround its victim with unreal persons and events, or
merely cause him to regard real persons and events with an irrational favor or
dislike, admiration or contempt. It may find satisfaction in the most innocent
folly, or draw delight from the most atrocious crime. It may lurk so deeply as
to elude the keenest search, or obtrude so openly as to attract the most
careless notice. It may be the fancy of an hour, or the distraction of a whole
life. Such being the fact, it is not surprising that many scientific and
philosophical men have vainly exhausted their observation and ingenuity to find
out some special quality, some peculiar mark or characteristic common to all
cases of lunacy, which might serve at least as a guide in deciding on its
absence or presence in individual instances. Being hopeless of a definition,
they would willingly have contented themselves with a test, but even this the
obscurity and difficulty of the subject seem to forbid.
5. Lord Erskine, who, in his practice at the bar, had his attention drawn
this way, from being engaged in some of the most remarkable trials of his time
involving questions of lunacy, has given as his test, "a delusive image, the
inseparable companion of real insanity," (Ersk. Misc. Speeches) and Dr. Haslam,
whose opportunities of observation have surpassed most other persons, has
proposed nearly the same, by saying that "false belief is the essence of
insanity." (Haslam on Insanity.) Sir John Nicholl, in his admirable judgment in
the case of Dew v. Clark, thus expresses himself: "The true criterion is, where
there is delusion of mind there is insanity; that is, when persons believe
things to exist, which exist only, or at least, in that degree exist only in
their own imagimation, and of the non-existence of which neither argment nor
proof can convince them; they are of unsound mind; or as one of the counsel
accurately expressed it, it is only the belief of facts, which no rational
person could have believed, that is insane delusion." (Report by Haggard, p. 7.)
Useful as these several remarks are, they are not absolutely true. It is indeed
beyond all question that the great majority of lunatics indulge in some
"delusive image," entertain some "false belief." They assume the existence of
things or persons which do not exist, and so yield to a delusive image, or they
come to wrong conclusions about persons and things which do exist, and so fall
into a false belief. But there is a class of cases where lunacy is the result of
exclusive indulgence in particular trains of thought or feeling, where these
tests are sometimes wholly wanting, and yet where the entire absorption of the
faculties in one pedominant idea, the devotion of all the bodily and mental
powers to one useless or injurious purpose, prove that the mind has lost its
equilibrium. With some passions, indeed, such as self-esteem and fear, what was
at first an engrossing sentiment, will often go on to a positive delusion; the
self-adoring egotist grows to fancy himself a sovereign or a deity; the timid
valetudinarian becomes the prey of imaginary diseases, the victim of unreal
persecutions. But with many other passions, such as desire, avarice or revenge,
the neglect and forgetfulness of all things save one, the insensibility to all
restraints of reason, morality, or prudence, often proceed to such an extent as
to justify holding an individual as a lunatic, incapable of all self-restraint,
although, strictly speaking, not possessed by any delusive image or false
belief. Much less do these tests apply to many cases of irresistible propensity
to acts wholly irrational, such as to murder or to steal without the smallest
assignable motive, which, rare as they are, certainly occur from time to time,
and cannot but be held as an example of at least partial and temporary lunacy.
It is to cases where no false belief or image can be detected, that the remark
of Lord Erskine is more particularly applicable; "they frequently mock the
wisdom of the wisest in judicial trials," (Ersk. Misc. Speeches,) and were not
the paramount object of all legal punishment the benefit of the community, which
makes it inexpedient to spare offenders against the law, if insanity be the
ground of their de-fence, except upon the clearest proof, lest skilful
dissemblers should thereby be led to hope for impunity, very subtle questions
might no doubt be raised as to the degree of moral responsibility and mental
sanity attaching to the perpetrators of many atrocious acts, seeing that they
often commit them tinder temptations quite inadequate to allure men of common
prudence, or under passions so violent as to suspend altogether the operations
of reason or free will. For as it is impossible to obtain an accurate definition
of lunacy, so it is manifestly so, to draw the line correctly between it and its
opposite rationality, or, to borrow the words of Chief Justice Hale, (1 Hale's
P. C. p. 30,) "Doubtless most persons that are felons, of themselves and others,
are under a degree of partial insanity when they commit those offences. It is
very difficult to define the indivisible line that divides perfect and partial,
insanity; but it must rest on circumstances duly to be weighed and considered
both by the judge and jury, lest on one side there be a kind of inhumanity
towards the defects of human nature, or on the other side too great an
indulgence given to great crimes."
LUNAR. That which belongs to the moon; relating to the moon as a lunar
month. See Month.
LUNATIC, persons. One who has had an understanding, but who, by
disease, grief, or other accident, has lost the use of his reason. A lunatic is
properly one who has had lucid intervals, sometimes enjoying his senses, and
sometimes not. 4 Co. 123; 1 Bl. Com. 304; Bac. Abr. Idiots, &c., A; 1 Russ.
on Crimes, 8; Shelf. on Lun. 4; Merlin, mot Demence; Fonbl. Eq. Index, h. t.; 15
Vin. Ab. 131; 8 Com. Dig. 721; 1 Supp. to Ves. jr. 94, 130, 369, 404; 2 Supp. to
Ves. jr. 51, 106, 151, 360; 1 Vern. 9, 137, 262; Louis. Code, tit. 9, c. 1; and
articles Lucid Interval; Lunacy.
LYING IN GRANT. Incorporeal rights and things which cannot be
transferred by livery of possession, but which exist only in idea, in
contemplation of law, are said to lie in grant, and pass by the mere delivery of
the deed. Vide Grant; Livery of Seisin; Seisin.
LYING IN WAIT. Being in ambush for the purpose of murdering
another.
2. Lying in wait is evidence of deliberation and intention.
3. Where murder is divided into degrees, as in Pennsylvania, lying in wait is
such evidence of malice, that it makes the killing, when it takes place, murder
in the first degree. Vide. Dane's Ab. Index, h. t.
LYNCH-LAW. A common phrase used to express the vengeance of a mob,
inflicting an injury, and committing an outrage upon a person suspected of some
offence. In England this is called Lidford Law. Toml.L. Dict. art. Lidford
Law.
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