Brennan v. Kirby

• Decision Date: 28 July 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86-401-A,86-401-A
• Citation: 529 A.2d 633
• Parties: Timothy BRENNAN et al. v. Patrick G. KIRBY et al. v. Paul PREUIT et al. v. TOWN OF MIDDLETOWN et al. ppeal.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 633

529 A.2d 633

Timothy BRENNAN et al. v. Patrick G. KIRBY et al. v. Paul PREUIT et al. v. TOWN OF MIDDLETOWN et al.

No. 86-401-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

July 28, 1987.

Kathleen Managhan, Newport, for Brennan et al.

Joseph R. Palumbo, Middletown, for Preuit et al.

Alan P. Jurista, Middletown, Maryjo Carr, Newport, for Kirby et al.

James E. O'Neil, Atty. Gen., A. Peter Loveley, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen. for the State of Rhode Island.

Sandra Blanding, Providence, for FOP.

B. Mitchell Simpson, Middletown, for Town of Middletown, et al.

Joseph A Kelly, Adrienne G. Southgate, Providence, for Governor DiPrete.

Lynette Labinger, Ina P. Schiff, Providence, for R.I. State Police Associates.

Norman Benoit, Providence, for R.I. League of Cities and Towns.

OPINION

FAY, Chief Judge.

This case is before the court on a question certified to it by the Superior Court pursuant to G.L. 1956 (1985 Reenactment) § 9-24-27. ¹ The backdrop for this action is as follows.

The plaintiffs in Brennan v. Kirby filed suit for declaratory relief against the city manager, treasurer, and councilors of the city of Newport on March 26, 1985. ² In their complaint plaintiffs asked the Superior Court to render a determination of their seniority rights under G.L. 1956 (1982 Reenactment) §§ 30-21-3 and 30-22-3, and to issue a writ of mandamus to the city officials ordering them to extend seniority credits to eligible plaintiffs. On June 24, 1985 the General Assembly enacted P.L. 1985, ch. 181, art. 64, which purported retroactively to repeal § 30-21-3.

On June 5, 1986, the plaintiffs in Preuit v. Town of Middletown filed suit in Newport County Superior Court to enforce seniority rights under §§ 30-21-3 and 30-22-3 and to declare P.L. 1985, ch. 181, art. 64 unconstitutional. ³ On June 5, 1986, the Attorney General moved the court to permit the department to intervene in the case of Brennan v. Kirby. On June 17, 1986, the town of Middletown filed a motion in its case, pursuant to §§ 9-24-25 ⁴ and 9-24-27, to certify the question of the constitutionality of P.L. 1985, ch. 181, art. 64 to this court. The city of Newport filed a similar motion in its case on June 20, 1986. The Attorney General, on June 25, 1986, filed a motion to intervene in the case of Preuit v. Middletown and joined in both Middletown's and Newport's respective motions to certify. ⁵

Hearings on the certification motions were entertained by a justice of the Superior Court on June 25, July 21, and September 12, 1986. The trial justice indicated his willingness to certify the constitutionality question to this court pursuant to § 9-24-27 if the Attorney General indicated that the issue raised a "question of law * * * of such doubt and importance * * * [so affecting] the merits of the controversy that it ought to be determined by the supreme court before further proceedings * * *." See § 9-24-27. The Attorney General so indicated and the following question was certified to this court:

"Is Section 64 of Chapter 181 of the Public Laws of 1985 (which repealed R.I.G.L. § 30-21-3) valid under Article 1 Sections 12 and 16 of the Constitution of the State of Rhode Island; Article I Section 10 and the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; and pursuant to R.I.G.L. § 43-3-22; as to all persons whose claims are based upon assertions that they satisfied the statutory criteria of R.I.G.L. § 30-21-3 and § 30-22-3 prior to June 25, 1985?" ⁶

Section 30-21-3 reads:

"Seniority in new employment.--Any member of the armed forces of the United States or any citizen of the United States who served in the armed forces of the United Nations during World War II shall, upon proper proof of his service and the length thereof, upon applying for employment within one (1) year after his honorable discharge from said forces, shall possess and be given credit for seniority rights equal to the time he served in said forces."

Section 30-22-3 reads:

"Extension to veterans of undeclared wars or campaigns.--The provisions of all of the statutes of this state granting benefits or privileges to veterans of any war in which the United States of America has heretofore been engaged, or to the widow or other surviving kin of deceased veterans of any such war, shall hereafter be construed to provide for like benefits and privileges for any man or woman of the armed forces, who has been engaged heretofore, is now, or may hereafter be engaged in the active conduct of and/or fighting in the Korean campaign or the conflict in Viet Nam or any following campaign or war, declared or undeclared, which the armed forces of the United States of America conduct or in which said forces have a part, and who, having been actively engaged as hereinbefore described, has heretofore or may hereafter be honorably discharged from the armed forces of this nation, and to the widow or other surviving kin of any such deceased veteran of said campaign or war. For the purposes of this section, 'Active conduct of and/or fighting in the conflict in Viet Nam' shall mean service by any man or woman of the armed forces of the United States on and after August 5, 1964."

And P.L. 1985, ch. 181, art. 64 (hereinafter article 64), as enacted by the Legislature states:

"SECTION 1. Section 30-21-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 30-21 entitled 'Employment of Veterans' is hereby repealed in its entirety.

"The remedy for any alleged violation of section 30-21-3 of the general laws including any pending cases providing for veterans' benefits in connection with employment, including, without limitation, any seniority rights, shall be limited to prospective injunctive relief and shall not include any award of damages, back pay, attorneys' fees, or any retroactive redress for any alleged past violations.

"The provisions of this article are deemed to be severable and the invalidation of any particular provision or section hereof shall not be deemed to affect the validity of any other provisions or sections, all of which are deemed to be independent.

"SECTION 2. This article shall take effect upon passage and shall be given retroactive effect."

Before addressing the specific issues raised in the certified question, we think it imperative to clarify the meaning of article 64. It has been suggested by plaintiffs that article 64 is ambiguous because it expresses two conflicting intents. The plaintiffs argue that on the one hand the first paragraph of article 64, section 1, when read in conjunction with section 2 of article 64, repeals § 30-21-3 retroactively; however, the second paragraph of section 1 also indicates that the remedy for alleged violations of § 30-21-3 is limited to prospective-injunctive relief. In light of article 64 language, plaintiffs question whether the Legislature intended to repeal and/or whether it, in fact, did repeal § 30-21-3. The fact that the Legislature prescribed a prospective-injunctive remedy for violations of § 30-21-3, according to plaintiffs, is evidence that seniority rights under § 30-21-3 still survive. We must disagree. Article 64 repealed § 30-21-3 and extinguished all pending suits brought pursuant to that statute.

The construction of legislative enactments is a matter reserved for the courts, Fruit Growers Express Co. v. Norberg, 471 A.2d 628, 630 (R.I. 1984), and, as final arbiter on questions of construction, it is this court's responsibility in interpreting a legislative enactment to determine and effectuate the Legislature's intent and to attribute to the enactment the meaning most consistent with its policies or obvious purposes. Gryguc v. Bendick, 510 A.2d 937, 939 (R.I. 1986).

In performing this function the court must attempt to ascertain the intent by considering the enactment in its entirety and by viewing it in light of circumstances and purposes that motivated its passage. Shulton, Inc. v. Apex, Inc., 103 R.I. 131, 134, 235 A.2d 88, 90 (1967). A statute or enactment may not be construed in a way that would attribute to the Legislature an intent that would result in absurdities or would defeat the underlying purpose of the enactment, City of Warwick v. Aptt, 497 A.2d 721, 724 (R.I. 1985), nor may it be construed, if at all possible, to render sentences, clauses, or words surplusage. State v. Gonsalves, 476 A.2d 108, 110-11 (R.I. 1984). Moreover, we have indicated that when apparently inconsistent statutory provisions are questioned, every attempt should be made to construe and apply them so as to avoid the inconsistency and should not be applied literally if to do so would produce patently absurd or unreasonable results. State v. Goff, 110 R.I. 202, 205, 291 A.2d 416, 417 (1972). The same principle should apply where apparent inconsistencies exist within the same statute or enactment.

The Legislature must be presumed to know how to amend and repeal statutes. Therefore, the Legislature must also be presumed to have known what it was doing when it enacted article 64. Consequently, it must follow that if the Legislature had intended merely to limit the remedies available for violations of § 30- 21-3 to prospective-injunctive relief, it would have done so by simply leaving the existing statute intact and adding the second paragraph of section 1 of article 64 to § 30-21-3. Otherwise, to suggest as plaintiffs have that article 64 does not repeal § 30-21-3 but merely attempts to limit liability renders the repeal language in article 64 meaningless.

In addition, it is likely that the Legislature knew of the existence of pending federal and state suits brought to enforce § 30-21-3 and that it was cognizant of at least the possibility that the retroactive repeal of § 30-21-3 might succumb to a constitutional challenge in the courts. Because of this, we are persuaded that the Legislature added paragraph 2 to section 1 with the intent that it would operate to limit the remedies available to prevailing claimants if the repeal proved invalid. This is the only...