Chapter 16. To enjoin and abate houses of lewdness, assignation, and prostitution; to declare the same to be nuisances; to enjoin the person or persons who conduct or maintain the same and the owner or agent of any building used for such purpose; and to assess a tax against the person maintaining said nuisance
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CHAP. 16.— An Act To enjoin and abate houses of lewdness, assignation, and prostitution; to declare the same to be nuisances; to enjoin the person or persons who conduct or maintain the same and the owner or agent of any building used for such purpose; and to assess a tax against the person maintaining said nuisance and against the building and owner thereof.February 7, 1914.[[S. 234](/us/bill/63/s/234).][[Public, No. 52](/us/pl/63/52).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,District of Columbia.Houses for prostitution, etc.User, etc., of, guilty of a nuisance.
That whoever shall erect, establish, continue, maintain, use, own, occupy, or release any building, erection, or place used for the purpose of lewdness, assignation, or prostitution in the District of Columbia is guilty of a nuisance, Premises, etc., declared a nuisance.and the building, erection, or place, or the ground itself in or upon which such lewdness, assignation, or prostitution is conducted, permitted, or carried on, continued, or exists, and the furniture, fixtures, musical instruments, and contents are also declared a nuisance, and shall be enjoined and abated as hereinafter provided.
Sec. 2. Action to perpetually enjoin, etc. That whenever a nuisance is kept, maintained, or exists as defined in this Act the attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia, or the Attorney General of the United States, or any citizen of the District of Columbia, may maintain an action in equity in the name of the United States of America, upon the relation of such attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia, the Attorney General of the United States, or citizen, to perpetually enjoin said nuisance, the person or persons conducting or maintaining the same, and the owner or agent of the building or ground upon which Temporary injunction.Procedure.said nuisance exists.
In such action the court, or a judge in vacation, shall, upon the presentation of a petition therefor alleging that the nuisance complained of exists, allow a temporary writ of injunction, without bond, if it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the court or judge by evidence in the form of affidavits, depositions, oral testimony, or otherwise, as the complainant may elect, unless the court or judge by previous order shall have directed the form and manner in which it shall be presented.
Three days’ notice, in writing, shall be given the defendant of the hearing of the application, and if then continued at his instance the writ as prayed snail be granted as a Effect.matter of course. When an injunction has been granted it shall be binding on the defendant throughout the District of Columbia, and any violation of the provisions of injunction herein provided shall be a contempt as hereinafter provided. 281 Sec. 3. That the action when brought shall be triable at the first Trials.term of court, after due and timely service of the notice has been given, and in such action evidence of the general reputation of the place shall be admissible for the purpose of proving the existence of said nuisance.
If the complaint is filed by a citizen, it shall not Complaints.Application for dismissal.be dismissed, except upon a sworn statement made by the complainant and his attorney, setting forth the reasons why the action should be dismissed, and the dismissal approved by the attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia or the Attorney General of the United States of America in writing or in open court. If the court is of the opinion that the action ought not to be dismissed, Prosecution if not dismissed.it may direct the attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia to prosecute said action to judgment; and if the action is continued more than one term of court, any citizen of the District of Columbia, or the attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia, may be substituted for the complaining party and prosecute said action to judgment.
If the action is brought by a Costs.citizen, and the court finds there was no reasonable ground or cause for said action, the costs may be taxed to such citizen. Sec. 4. That in case of the violation of any injunction granted Trials for violating injunctions.under the provisions of this Act, the court, or, in vacation, a judge thereof, may summarily try and punish the offender. The proceedings shall be commenced by filing with the clerk of the court an information, under oath, setting out the alleged facts constituting such violation, upon which the court or judge shall cause a warrant to issue, under which the defendant shall be arrested.
The trial may be had upon affidavits, or either party may at any stage of the proceedings demand the production and oral examination of the witnesses. A party found guilty of contempt, under the provisions Punishment.of this section, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $200 nor more than $1,000 or by imprisonment in the District jail not less than three nor more than six months or by both fine and imprisonment. Sec. 5. That if the existence of the nuisance be established in an Order of abatement to issue.action as provided in this Act, or in a criminal proceeding, an order of abatement shall be entered as a part of the judgment in the case, which order shall direct the removal from the building or place of Sale of property, etc.all fixtures, furniture, musical instruments, or movable property used in conducting the nuisance, and shall direct the sale thereof in the manner provided for the sale of chattels under execution, and the effectual closing of the building or place against its use for any purpose, and so keeping it closed for a period of one year, unless sooner released.
If any person shall break and enter or use a building, Entry of closed building punished as for contempt.erection, or place so directed to be closed he shall be punished as for contempt, as provided in the preceding section. Sec. 6. That the proceeds of the sale of the personal property, as Proceeds of sale.provided in the preceding section, shall be applied in the payment of the costs of the action and abatement, and the balance, if any, shall be paid to the defendant. Sec. 7.
That if the owner appears and pays all costs of the proceeding Bond for abatement.and files a bond, with sureties to be approved by the clerk, in the full value of the property, to be ascertained by the court or, in vacation, by the collector of taxes of the District of Columbia, conditioned that he will immediately abate said nuisance and prevent the same from being established or kept within a period of one year thereafter, the court, or, in vacation, the judge, may, if satisfied of his good faith, order the premises closed under the order of abatement Delivery of premises.to be delivered to said owner and said order of abatement canceled so far as the same may relate to said property; and if the proceeding be an action in equity and said bond be given and costs therein paid before judgment and order of abatement, the action 282Effect of release. shall be thereby abated as to said building only.
The release of the property under the provisions of this section shall not release it from judgment, lien, penalty, or liability to which it may be subject by law. Sec. 8. Tax for maintaining. That whenever a permanent injunction issues against any person for maintaining a nuisance as herein defined, or against any owner or agent of the building kept or used for the purpose prohibited by this Act, there shall be assessed against said building and the ground upon which the same is located and against the person or persons maintaining said nuisance, and the owner or agent of said Assessment.premises, a tax of $300.
The assessment of said tax shall be made by the assessor of the District of Columbia and shall be made within three months from the date of the granting of the permanent injunction. In case the assessor fails or neglects to make said assessment the same shall be made by the chief of police, and a return of said Lien established.assessment shall be made to the collector of taxes. Said tax shall be a perpetual lien upon all property, both personal and real, used for the purpose of maintaining said nuisance, and the payment of said tax shall not relieve the person or building from any other Collection.penalties provided by law.
The provisions of the law relating to the collection and distribution of taxes upon personal and real property shall govern in the collection and distribution of the tax herein prescribed in so far as the same are applicable and not in conflict with the provisions of this Act. Sec. 9. Immunity to witnesses. The United States district attorney or other attorney representing the prosecution for violation of this statute, with the approval of the court, may grant immunity to any witness called to testify in behalf of the prosecution.
Approved, February 7, 1914.