Clark v. Container Corp. of America, Inc.
Decision Date | 27 September 1991 |
Citation | 589 So.2d 184 |
Parties | Billy Ray CLARK and Halliburton Industrial Services Division v. CONTAINER CORPORATION OF AMERICA, INC. 1900325. |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Richard H. Taylor and Robert J. Hedge of Jackson & Taylor, P.C., Mobile, for appellants.
Carroll H. Sullivan of Clark, Scott & Sullivan, Mobile, for appellee.
Richard W. Vollmer III of Reams, Vollmer, Phillips, Killion, Brooks & Schell, P.C., Mobile, for intervenor.
Forrest S. Latta of Pierce, Carr & Alford, Mobile, for amicus curiae Alabama Defense Lawyers Ass'n.
Matthew C. McDonald of Miller, Hamilton, Snider & Odom, Mobile, for amicus curiae Alabama Civ. Justice Reform Committee.
The following question was certified to this Court by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama:
"Is Alabama Code 1975, § 6-11-3, either on its face or as applied to the above-styled case, violative of Alabama Constitution of 1901, Article I, § 11; Article I, § 13; Article I, § 6; or Article III, § 42?"
We assume that the phrasing of the question was intended as a guide and that it was not meant to restrict our consideration only to the constitutionality of Ala.Code 1975, § 6-11-3, but was intended to extend to all portions of Article I ("Structured Damages") of Chapter 11, of Title 6 (§§ 6-11-1 through 6-11-7).
Billy Ray Clark's claim arose out of an "injury done him in his ... person," while operating high pressure cleaning equipment for his employer, Halliburton Industrial Services Division ("Halliburton"). Halliburton had been engaged by Container Corporation of America, Inc. ("Container"), to perform industrial cleaning services at a Container facility. Clark was performing these services at the time he sustained his injury. The jury returned a verdict against Container in the amount of $822,600 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, Southern Division. Of the total sum awarded, it is only the amount awarded for lost future wages ($289,800) that is in any way involved in this certified question, 1 because Container filed a post-trial motion requesting the court to structure the award of future damages in accordance with Ala.Code 1975, §§ 6-11-1 through 6-11-7, particularly § 6-11-3. The parties have stipulated as to the applicability of these statutes to this case. Clark, however, objected to the application of § 6-11-3 as violating four constitutional provisions--Article I, §§ 6, 11, and 13, and Article III, § 42.
Alabama Code 1975, § 6-11-3, provides:
Article I, § 11, of the Constitution provides:
This is not the only place within the declaration of rights (Art. I, §§ 1-36) that the word "inviolate" is used. In § 36, the following appears:
"That this enumeration of certain rights shall not impair or deny others retained by the people; and, to guard against any encroachments on the rights herein retained, we declare that everything in this Declaration of Rights is excepted out of the general powers of government, and shall forever remain inviolate."
(Emphasis added.)
"Inviolate" is defined in Black's Law Dictionary 826 (6th ed. 1990) as "Intact; not violated; free from substantial impairment."
Insofar as legislative power is concerned, § 11 of the Constitution has never been interpreted by this Court or the Courts of Appeals of Alabama as doing more than restricting the legislature from denying or impairing the fundamental requisites of a jury, which are that the jury be composed of 12 persons, that they be impartial, and that their verdict be unanimous (Kirk v. State, 247 Ala. 43, 22 So.2d 431 (1945); Baader v. State, 201 Ala. 76, 77 So. 370 (1917); Culbert v. State, 52 Ala.App. 167, 290 So.2d 235 (1974); Brown v. State, 45 Ala.App. 391, 231 So.2d 167 (1970); Dixon v. State, 27 Ala.App. 64, 167 So. 340 (1936), cert. denied, 232 Ala. 150, 167 So. 349 (1936); Judge Walter B. Jones, Trial by Jury in Alabama, 8 Ala.L.Rev. 274, 277 (1956); 16 Ruling Case Law 181 (1917)), in all cases in which the right of trial by jury existed at common law and in all cases where the right of trial by jury was secured by statute at the time the Alabama Constitution of 1901 was ratified. 2 Gilbreath v. Wallace, 292 Ala. 267, 292 So.2d 651 (1974); Alford v. State ex rel. Attorney General, 170 Ala. 178, 54 So. 213 (1910); Tims v. State, 26 Ala. 165 (1855).
In Baader v. State, 201 Ala. at 77-78, 77 So. at 371-72, Justice Thomas wrote for this unanimous Court:
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