Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Railroad Commissioners

Citations

• 63 Fla. 491

Syllabus

<p>1. When officers of the State act under invalid authority or exceed or abuse their lawful authority and thereby invade private rights that are secured by the constitution, an action to redress injuries caused by the unauthorized act is not a suit against the State, since the acts of officials that are not legally authorized or that exceed or abuse authority or discretion conferred upon them are not acts of the State.</p> <p>2. Where action taken by State officials is unauthorized and substantially impairs private rights in violation of the constitution, such action will not be enforced.</p> <p>3. Illegal action taken by State officials may be enjoined when the ordinary remedies afforded by courts of law are inadequate.</p> <p>4. Where the Railroad Commissioners exceed or abuse the authority and discretion conferred upon them by making an order that illegally invades the property rights of a railroad company the illegality of the order is available as a defense in proceedings at law to compel the company to obey the invalid order or in an áction for a statutory penalty for a violation of the order, therefore the remedy at law is adequate, and an injunction will not be granted in the absence of some ground for equitable relief.</p> <p>5. Where it clearly appears that the remedy at law is adequate and no equitable ground for relief is shown, an injunction is not the proper remedy.</p> <p>6. Allegations that an order of the Railroad Commissioners is exceptional, unreasonable and imposes an unjust tax on the resources of the complainant railroad company in that it requires the company at great expense to increase and improve its depot facilities by enlarging the waiting rooms, baggage room and sheds and by reconstructing the toilet rooms and substituting electric lights for kerosene lamps, when the company deems its present facilities are adequate, do not make a case for an injunction even though the order in some of its particulars may be an excess or abuse of author