.... the court said in Carr v. State,3 "An act which violates the Constitution has no power and can, of course, neither build up or tear down. It can neither create new rights nor destroy existing ones. It is an empty legislative declaration without force or vitality."
....
In accordance with the views expressed above it is held in Indiana that a repealing act which is unconstitutional can have no effect upon the statute sought to be repealed and the previous statute remains the law as though the legislature had not made any attempt to change it.4
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That an unconstitutional statute is to be considered as though it had never been enacted by the legislature is also the view of a number of other courts. For example, the United States Supreme Court has said,"
"That act was therefore as inoperative as if it had never been passed, for an unconstitutional act is not a law, and can neither confer a right or immunity nor operate to supersede any existing valid law." And an appellate court of Texas7 has said that an unconstitutional statute "is of no more force or validity than a piece of blank paper," while the Minnesota court" has expressed the same idea by stating that it "is simply a statute in form, is not a law, and under every circumstance or condition lacks the force of law."

In accord with this doctrine that a statute which is declared unconstitutional is void ab initio it has been held that a person accused of a crime and convicted under an unconstitutional statute is entitled to a reversal and as a consequence, his freedom. This is true even though the accused pleaded guilty, ° and even though the defective statute related only to the term of court at which the accused was tried,"' having no relation to the substantive law under which he was tried. The same rule has been applied to judgments rendered by a court in civil cases.' 2 It has also been held that unconstitutional statutes which purported to incorporate'13 or disincorporate 4 municipaites fail entirely to accomplish their purpose and as a result of this the taxes which are paid to the city may be recovered.15 However, it should be noted that the courts have gone far to defeat the recovery of taxes paid under statutes which prove to be unconstitutional by holding that if the taxes were paid voluntarily they cannot be recovered. 16 If the taxes were paid involuntarily, however, they may be recovered.