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Laney v. Fairview City8/9/2002
lready guarantees, among other things, the right to judicial dispute resolution. On the other hand, though, to give the Open Courts Clause a substantive interpretation arguably renders the Open Courts Clause provision meaningless as surplusage to substantive due process rights. Instead of relying on the Open Courts Clause for authority, one could just as credibly argue a substantive due process right to a remedy for injury done to one's person, property, or reputation. That said, regardless of one's view as to whether the language guarantees procedural rights to open courts or whether it guarantees the right to a remedy, the responsibility before us is simply to interpret the Open Courts Clause so as to give it meaning and effect without doing violence to other constitutional doctrines. In my view, the current interpretation goes beyond the language of the provision, which I deem unnecessary, and crosses bounds set forth in the separation of powers clause of the Utah Constitution.
It is my position that Berry indeed broke new ground and charted a course that, although well-intentioned, has proven to be misguided. The constitutional problems that have arisen and will continue to arise through application of the Berry test, particularly the separation of powers problem, should be averted by overturning Berry and returning to the more procedural interpretation that existed prior to Berry. For me, the case law prior to Berry, a contextual analysis of the Open Courts language, problematic decisions since Berry, and the responsibility to interpret the constitution in such a way so as to recognize the proper role of each branch of government in relation to each other all point toward abandoning Berry.
In my opinion, the text of the Open Courts Clause clearly supports a more procedural guarantee. "In interpreting the state constitution, we look primarily to the language of the constitution itself . . . ." Grand County v. Emery County, 2002 UT 57, 28, ___ P.3d ___ (quoting State v. Gardner, 947 P.2d 630, 633 (Utah 1997)). "Therefore, our starting point in interpreting a constitutional provision is the textual language itself." Gardner, 947 P.2d at 633.
The text of the Open Courts Clause indicates that article I, section 11, guarantees procedural rights; to the extent that it limits legislative authority, it prevents the legislature from restraining or otherwise inhibiting the ability of the people to go to the courts to have their cases and controversies adjudicated. The Open Courts Clause can be separated into "four interrelated phrases: (i) 'All courts shall be open,' (ii) 'every person, for an injury done to him in his person, property or reputation,' (iii) 'shall have remedy by due course of law,' and (iv) 'which shall be administered without denial or unnecessary delay.'" Craftsman, 974 P.2d at 1235 (Zimmerman, J., concurring in the result). The phrases are interrelated, and must be read together, in light of one another. These phrases, as a whole, guarantee a right to judicial adjudication where one has been injured to his or her person, property, or reputation. The first and fourth phrases are procedural in nature. "All courts shall be open" is an admonition that a court system shall be available for seeking redress. " hich shall be administered without denial or unnecessary delay" directs the courts to conduct their business without undue delay. When read together, these phrases direct that a system of courts shall exist, that the court system shall be accessible, and that the system shall function so as to administer justice under the law without unnecessary delay.
The second phrase, "every person, for an injury done to him in his person, property or reputation,
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