Jenkins v. Swan

• Decision Date: 10 November 1983
• Docket Number: No. 17566,17566
• Citation: 675 P.2d 1145
• Parties: 15 Ed. Law Rep. 1333 Lynn A. JENKINS, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Karl G. SWAN, et al., Defendants and Respondents.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

Page 1145

675 P.2d 1145

15 Ed. Law Rep. 1333

Lynn A. JENKINS, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Karl G. SWAN, et al., Defendants and Respondents.

No. 17566.

Supreme Court of Utah.

Nov. 10, 1983.

Thomas S. Taylor, Provo, for plaintiff and appellant.

David L. Wilkinson, Atty. Gen., Salt Lake City, William Evans, Asst. Atty. Gen., Ted Cannon, Salt Lake County Atty., Bill Thomas Peters, Deputy S.L. Co. Atty., Felshaw King, Clearfield, David L. Church and Michael T. McCoy, Bruce Findlay, Salt Lake City, Ron Elton, Tooele, for defendants and respondents.

DURHAM, Justice:

Plaintiff/appellant, Lynn A. Jenkins (Jenkins), has filed this multi-party and multi-faceted lawsuit which defies a simple and concise explanation. In a one division complaint directed to all defendants, Jenkins seeks a judgment concerning certain aspects of the educational system of the state of Utah and five of its school districts, and concerning the taxing practices of Salt Lake County and the state of Utah. Apparently none of the defendants considered it necessary to exercise their rights under Rule 12(e) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure to require a more definite statement in light of what is arguably an ambiguous complaint. All the defendants, rather, proceeded under Rule 12(b) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, to ask that the entire complaint be dismissed for, inter alia, a lack of jurisdiction because Jenkins lacked standing to press these claims, failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, failure to comply with the Utah governmental immunity statute, U.C.A., 1953, § 63-30-1 to -38 (1978 and Supp.1981 and Interim Supp.1983), and the previous adjudication of the issues in similar suits filed by Jenkins. ¹ In response to these motions, the district court dismissed Jenkins' complaint "as to all of the defendants" because: (1) Jenkins lacked standing, (2) Jenkins failed to comply with notice and undertaking requirements of the governmental immunity act, and (3) the matter was res judicata as "most issues" have already been decided by the Utah Supreme Court. On appeal, Jenkins asks that the district court's order of dismissal be reversed.

The first set of defendants which can be identified in Jenkins' complaint are those related to the Utah educational system. These individual defendants can be matched with their respective school systems as follows: defendant Swan is a teacher for the Tooele School District; defendants Curan and Burningham are teachers for the Davis School District; defendant Bishop is a teacher and defendant Alfor is a principal for the Ogden School District; and defendant LeFevere is Director of Personnel for the Weber School District. The Jordan School District, the State of Utah, Superintendent of Public Instruction Walter D. Talbot, and the Utah Educational Association are also defendants. Jenkins' complaint prays for judgment as follows:

1. A declaration that the local School Districts and the Utah Department of Public Instruction are prohibited from hiring Utah legislators during the term of their office or continuing such legislators as employees once they become members of legislature. Article V, Section 1 and Article VI, § 6 of the Utah State Constitution, state, respectively, (a) "no person charged with the exercise of the powers properly belonging to one of these departments [of the Utah government], shall exercise any functions appertaining to either of the others," and (b) that "[n]o person holding any public office of profit or trust under authority ... of this State, shall be a member of the legislature."

2. A declaration that the educator-legislators named as individual defendants are in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 67-16 (1953) for failing to file a conflict of interest disclosure statement concerning monies allegedly received from the Utah Education Association during the time when the legislature is in session.

3. A permanent restraining order prohibiting the Utah Educational Association from paying, hiring, loaning or gifting educators-legislators during the term of their office as legislators.

4. A declaration that the "Utah State Textbook Commission" and the mandatory use of textbook provisions of Utah law, § 53-13-2 and 53-13-10, U.C.A., 1953, is unconstitutional, since it is in violation of Article X, § 9 of the Utah State Constitution, which states: "Neither the Legislature nor the State Board of Education shall have power to prescribe textbooks to be used in the common schools."

The second category of issues addressed in Jenkins' complaint relates to taxation and certain expenditures of public funds. It appears that Jenkins' demand for relief is directed to the Salt Lake County Attorney, the Salt Lake County Commission, the Salt Lake County Treasurer, the State of Utah, the Utah Attorney General and the Utah Tax Commission. Jenkins filed a protest with his 1980 property taxes, which were paid in the amount of $807.89. He prays for the following relief:

1. A refund of his 1980 property tax.

2. An order to Salt Lake County to prepare, publish and update a list of all exempt taxable property, itemized by owner valuation and amount of tax forgiven;

3. A declaratory judgment that the funding of the Uniform State Public Education System by local property tax is unconstitutional as not providing for equal distribution of tax throughout the state and being a denial of equal protection.

4. A declaratory judgment that providing public property and public services to religious organizations which are exempt from the payment of property tax is in violation of Article 1, § 4 of the Utah State Constitution, which states: "The State shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" and "[n]o public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise or instruction or for the support of any ecclesiastical establishment."

I.

We consider first the question of whether Jenkins had standing to raise those issues concerning the service in the Utah Legislature of Utah educators. The threshold requirement that Jenkins have standing is equally applicable whether he seeks declaratory or injunctive relief. Injunctive relief is a traditional equitable remedy in the appropriate cases, but as with other common law remedies, the moving party must have standing to invoke the jurisdiction of the court. The same jurisdictional standard applies to declaratory judgments. The statutory creation of relief in the form of a declaratory judgment does not create a cause of action or grant jurisdiction to the court where it would not otherwise exist. The Utah Declaratory Judgment Statute merely authorizes a new form of relief, which in some cases will provide a fuller and more adequate remedy than that which existed under the common law. Gray v. Defa, 103 Utah 339, 135 P.2d 251 (1943).

We have previously held that four requirements must be satisfied before the district court can proceed in an action for declaratory judgment: "(1) there must be a justiciable controversy; (2) the interests of the parties must be adverse; (3) the parties seeking relief must have a legally protectible interest in the controversy; and (4) the issues between the parties must be ripe for judicial determination." Jenkins v. Finlinson, Utah, 607 P.2d 289 (1980) (citing Baird v. State, Utah, 574 P.2d 713 (1978)). See also Main Parking Mall v. Salt Lake City Corp., Utah, 531 P.2d 866 (1975); Lyon v. Bateman, 119 Utah 434, 228 P.2d 818 (1951). Requirements (2) and (3) represent the traditional test for standing. Plaintiff must be able to show that he has suffered some distinct and palpable injury that gives him a personal stake in the outcome of the legal dispute. See Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975); Stromquist v. Cokayne, Utah, 646 P.2d 746 (1982); Sears v. Ogden City, Utah, 572 P.2d 1359 (1977); Main Parking Mall. It is generally insufficient for a plaintiff to assert only a general interest he shares in common with members of the public at large. See Stromquist; Baird v. State, Utah, 574 P.2d 713 (1978). We will not entertain generalized grievances that are more appropriately directed to the legislative and executive branches of the state government.

Unlike the federal system, the judicial power of the state of Utah is not constitutionally restricted by the language of Article III of the United States Constitution requiring "cases" and "controversies," since no similar requirement exists in the Utah Constitution. We previously have held that "this Court may grant standing where matters of great public interest and societal impact are concerned." Jenkins v. State, Utah, 585 P.2d 442, 443 (1978) (footnote omitted). However, the requirement that the plaintiff have a personal stake in the outcome of a legal dispute is rooted in the historical and constitutional role of the judiciary in Utah.

Historically, the courts were an extension of the executive branch and were developed to resolve disputes between private parties, and between the government as a land owner and private parties concerning the use and ownership of land. With the advent of mercantilism, industrialization and urbanization, the courts became increasingly concerned with disputes over the regulation of economic activity by private contract, and injuries to individuals in their daily activities in a crowded and complex society. "[T]he liability of one individual to another under the law ... is a matter of private rights ... Private-rights disputes ... lie at the core of the historically recognized judicial power." Northern Pipeline Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co., 458 U.S. 50, 102 S.Ct. 2858, 2870-71, 73 L.Ed.2d 598 (1982) (citations omitted). The courts developed ways of identifying and categorizing particular grievances, techniques for the receipt of information, and principles for arriving at a resolution of these disputes. See generally T. Plucknett, A Concise History of the...