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Laney v. Fairview City8/9/2002
Jensen, the plaintiffs failed to file proper state income tax returns beginning in 1978. 835 P.2d at 967. The State Tax Commission requested further information, to which Mr. Jensen claimed he was not required to file a state return. Id. In 1990, the Tax Commission sued the plaintiffs for $16,608 in back taxes. Id. at 968. The plaintiffs petitioned for a redetermination, to which the Collection Division responded by increasing the demand of back taxes to $344,419. Id. The Commission sustained the deficiency, and plaintiffs appealed to this court. Id. As a preliminary issue, the court considered whether it had jurisdiction to review the Commission's ruling because plaintiffs failed to deposit the full amount of taxes, interest, and penalties as required by statute to obtain judicial review. After discussing the Open Courts Clause and Industrial Commission v. Evans, 52 Utah 394, 174 P. 825 (1918), the court stated, "[Plaintiffs] are in a position similar to the employer in Evans and have the right to test the legality of their liability under the ruling of the Tax Commission in a court of law." Jensen, 835 P.2d at 969. "The requirement that they deposit the full amount of the deficiency assessed by the Commission is, on the facts of this case, an effective bar to judicial review." Id. "Thus, to the extent that [the statute requiring tax protesters to deposit the amount of the deficiency assessed] precludes reasonable access to judicial review, it violates the open courts provision and is unconstitutional as applied." Id. This opinion clearly suggests a procedural guarantee within the Open Courts Clause, and, in my view, this is the type of case that the Open Courts Clause is equipped to address.
In Maryboy v. Utah State Tax Commission, members of the Navajo Native American Tribe protested income tax assessments. 904 P.2d 662, 664 (Utah 1995). They appealed the Utah State Tax Commission's decision that required them to pay $10,855.38 in taxes, penalties, and interest before they were allowed to appeal. Id. The protesters asserted that the Commission's order that they deposit the alleged tax deficiency "violated their constitutional right to have open access to the courts of this state." Id. at 670. The court then discussed the Open Courts Clause and its application in Jensen, but held that in the Maryboys' case, the statute requiring that the deficiency be deposited did not preclude reasonable access to judicial review because, unlike the protesters in Jensen, the Maryboys were able to pay the alleged deficiency.
In Jenkins v. Percival, 962 P.2d 796 (Utah 1998), this court cites Jensen and reads article I, section 11 as a procedural guarantee. This court said, "To impose liability on an insured for an amount over the policy limit in an arbitration proceeding would violate the insured's right of access to the courts under article I, section 11." 962 P.2d at 799 (emphasis added). Jenkins describes the Open Courts guarantee as one of "a day in court to all parties with potential liability in disputed insurance claims." Id.
Undoubtedly those who favor the Berry interpretation find both procedural and substantive guarantees within the language of the Open Courts Clause. It is my view, however, that the substantive Berry interpretation of the Open Courts Clause construes the Open Courts Clause in such a way as to infringe upon the province of the legislature, creating separation of powers problems that should be avoided.
Critics of the procedural interpretation of the Open Courts Clause insist that a more procedurally-oriented interpretation renders the Open Courts Clause meaningless, mere surplusage to procedural due process rights. The contention being that due process a
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