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Coppernoll v. Reed9/8/2005
Concurring: Barbara A. Madsen, Bobbe J Bridge, Charles W. Johnson, Gerry L Alexander, Richard B. Sanders, Susan Owens, Tom Chambers, Mary Fairhurst
En Banc
Petitioners seek reversal of a King County Superior Court order dismissing their action to enjoin the secretary of state from placing three sections of Initiative 330 (I-330) on the general election ballot. Petitioners argue that these sections would be unconstitutional if enacted, and thus exceed the scope of the legislative power under article II, section 1 of the Washington Constitution. We hold that I-330 does not exceed the scope of the legislative power and that the secretary of state must place it on the general election ballot. We express no opinion as to the general constitutionality of the initiative's challenged provisions.
I. Facts and Procedures
In July 2004, Jeffrey Collins, M.D., on behalf of the Washington State Medical Association and Doctors for Sensible Lawsuit Reform filed with the secretary of state proposed I-330 to the legislature. The attorney general's office prepared a ballot title, which the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association (WSTLA) subsequently challenged in Thurston County Superior Court. The statement of subject, concise description, and ballot summary that emerged from this legal challenge are as follows: Statement of Subject . . .
{Initiative Measure No. 330 concerns} claims for personal injury or death arising from healthcare services.
Concise Description . . .
{This measure would} change laws governing claims for negligent healthcare, including restricting non-economic damages to $350,000 (with exception), shortening time limits for filing cases, limiting repayments to insurers and limiting claimants' attorney fees.
Ballot Summary . . .
This measure would change healthcare liability laws by: limiting recovery for non-economic damages; limiting attorney fees; requiring advance notice of lawsuits; shortening time for filing cases; expanding evidence of payment from other sources and eliminating subrogation for those sources; authorizing mandatory arbitration without trial; authorizing periodic payments of future damages and terminating those payments under certain circumstances; eliminating liability for other persons or entities in some cases; and limiting damage recovery from multiple healthcare providers. Br. of Intervenors/Resp't, App. A, Ex. 2 (Order Aug. 6, 2004) (alterations in original).
In August 2004, as the I-330 sponsors were about to commence signature gathering, Camille Coppernoll, Geraldine King, Richard King, Russell Foster, Marilyn Foster, C.G., and M.G.-P. (collectively petitioners) filed an action in King County Superior Court against respondent secretary of state seeking declaratory and injunctive relief on the grounds that three sections of I-330 were unconstitutional and thus should not be placed on the November 2005 ballot. Initiative sponsor Jeffrey Collins, M.D., on behalf of the Washington State Medical Association and Doctors for Sensible Lawsuit Reform (collectively intervenor medical groups) intervened. As is relevant here, the complaint challenged three of the twenty sections of I-330: sections 1, 2, and 4(2). Section 1 imposes a formula limiting recovery of non-economic damages for personal injury or death in medical malpractice suits. '{I}n no action seeking damages for personal injury or death may a claimant recover a judgment for non-economic damages exceeding an amount determined by multiplying 0.43 by the average annual wage and by the life expectancy of the person incurring non-economic damages . . . .' Br. of Petitioners,
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