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Craftsman Builder's Supply Inc. v. Butler Manufacturing Co.3/5/1999
cle I, section 11 supported it or if the history of this state suggested that the ambiguous language should be interpreted to achieve this result. However, neither is the case.
The plain language of article I, section 11 does not mandate a substantive interpretation that constitutionalizes the common law. That provision states:
"All courts shall be open, and every person, for an injury done to him in his person, property or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law, which shall be administered without denial or unnecessary delay; and no person shall be barred from prosecuting or defending before any tribunal in this State, by himself or counsel, any civil cause to which he is a party." Utah Const. art. I, ยง 11 (emphasis added). The emphasized language is central to understanding the scope of protection afforded by the open courts provision in the context of immunity statutes and damage caps. The emphasized portion contains 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." The last phrase, requiring the courts to administer a person's right to a remedy by due course of law "without denial or unnecessary delay," is plainly a procedural guarantee, directing the courts to provide due process of law without denial or unnecessary delay. See id. (emphasis added). The command " ll courts shall be open" is also a procedural right: The courts shall be available to provide remedies for legal injuries. This leaves the two phrases, here stated as a single phrase, "every person, for an injury done to him in his person, property or reputation shall have remedy by due course of law," as the only possible justifications for a substantive interpretation constitutionalizing the common law. I therefore next address the meaning of these phrases.
I dismiss from the start any notion that these two phrases guarantee a remedy for every injury . The law simply does not recognize that every harm suffered should be compensated. The principle damnum absque injuria, that there can be damage without the violation of a legal right, is too well established in our jurisprudence to give such an expansive interpretation to the obscure phrasing of the open courts provision. See Demman v. Star Co., 497 P.2d 1378, 1380 (Utah 1972); Taylor v. United Homes, Inc., 445 P.2d 140, 141 (Utah 1968); Tiller v. Norton, 253 P.2d 618, 620 (Utah 1953); Gibbs v. Blue Cab, Inc., 249 P.2d 213, 216 (Utah 1952). A more thoughtful analysis is required to understand these phrases. For the sake of analytical clarity, I will examine each phrase separately.
I first consider the meaning of the phrase "every person, for an injury done to him in his person, property or reputation," because until there has been such an injury, the remedy issue does not arise. To understand the meaning of this phrase, one must determine what is an "injury." Unfortunately, the word "injury" is ambiguous, and the open courts provision does not provide any guidance as to the meaning of "injury." I have already rejected interpreting "injury" to mean any harm to person, property, or reputation; therefore, "injury" must have a more restrictive definition. The obvious solution is to define "injury" as any "legal injury." In other words, an "injury" is a harm to person, property, or reputation that will support a cause of action.
This interpretation of "injury" is to this point consistent with Berry's interpretation. However, I diverge from Berry in my method for determining what is a "legal injury." Berry erred by i
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