Philadelphia v. Brabender

Citations

• 17 Pa. Super. 331
• 1901 Pa. Super. LEXIS 313

Syllabus

<p>Municipalities — Powers of the city of Philadelphia — Casting advertisements and hand bills in vestibules — Acts of March 11, 1789, 2 Sm. L. 462, and February 2,. 1854, P. L. 21.,</p> <p>Under the Acts of March 11, 1789, 2 Sm. L. 462, and February 2, 1854, P. L. 21, the city of Philadelphia has power to enact reasonable ordinances for the protection of the public in their right to the free and safe use of the highways of the city, and in pursuance of such power it may by ordinance forbid the easting of any paper, advertisement, hand-bills, circulars or waste paper not only upon the streets, but also into the vestibules of dwelling houses. Where such an ordinance does not forbid the delivery of circulars to individuals, and excepts from its operation circulars enclosed in addressed envelopes and newspapers, it is not open to the objection that it destroys the business of distributing circulars, and thereby violates the bill of rights. Nor does such an ordinance make an invidious discrimination impairing the equal rights of all persons.</p> <p>The limitations of the powers conferred upon municipal corpoi'ations are that they must be exercised in a reasonable, lawful and constitutional manner. If these limitations are not transgressed courts cannot interfere with the ordinances of the municipality, for to the mayor and council must be left a reasonable discretion, and for the proper and wholesome dxercise thereof, they are accountable not to the courts, but to the people.</p>