Landwehr v. Regents of University of Colorado, 21432

• Decision Date: 09 November 1964
• Docket Number: No. 21432,21432
• Citation: 396 P.2d 451,156 Colo. 1
• Parties: Lawrence J. LANDWEHR, Plaintiff in Error, v. The REGENTS OF the UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, a body corporate, and David B. Muirhead, Defendants in Error.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 451

396 P.2d 451

156 Colo. 1

Lawrence J. LANDWEHR, Plaintiff in Error, v. The REGENTS OF the UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, a body corporate, and David B. Muirhead, Defendants in Error.

No. 21432.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

Nov. 9, 1964.

Lawrence J. Landwehr, pro se.

Duke W. Dunbar, Atty. Gen., Frank E. Hickey, Deputy Atty. Gen., Denver, Raphael J. Moses, Asst. Atty. Gen., Boulder, for defendants in error.

MOORE, Justice.

We will refer to plaintiff in error as Landwehr and to the defendants in error as the defendants.

The complaint was filed in the district court of Boulder county and Landwehr alleged therein that from 1960 through the 'spring' of 1964 he was a resident and domiciliary of the State of Colorado and a student at the University of Colorado; that he was wrongfully 'required to pay tuition in excess of that paid by other residents and domiciliaries of Colorado in the following amounts:'

                                            Amount Paid
                "School year,    Amount      by other
                  Semester,      Paid by    Residents &amp
                  or Session    Plaintiff  Domiciliaries  Difference
                --------------  ---------  -------------  ----------
                Year '60-61      $ 720.00       $ 232.00    $ 468.00
                Year '61-62        835.00         262.00      573.00
                Summer '62         190.00          80.00      110.00
                Year '62-63        904.00         280.00      624.00
                Fall '62-63        452.00         140.00      312.00
                Spring, '63-64     369.00         125.00      244.00
                                ---------  -------------  ----------
                                                $1119.00    $2331.00  "
                

He alleged that the University 'unjustly has been enriched in the amount of two thousand three hundred thirty one dollars plus interest.' In addition thereto he asks 'for judgment in the amount of five thousand five hundred dollars as punitive damages * * *' and costs. He alleged that C.R.S. '53, 124-18-1 et seq. (as amended by S.L.1961, ch. 229, § 1 et seq.,) under the authority of which the defendants classified him as an 'out-of-state' student, was unconstitutional in the particulars hereinafter noted.

The statute in pertinent part reads as follows:

'Section 1.--Legislative intent.--It is the intent of the general assembly that the state institutions of higher education shall apply uniform rules, as herein prescribed and not otherwise, in determining whether students shall be classified as in-state students or out-of-state students for tuition purposes.

'Section 2.--Definitions.--* * *

'(2) The words 'in-state student' shall mean a student who has been domiciled in Colorado for one year or more immediately preceding registration at any institution of higher learning in Colorado for any term or session for which domiciliary classification is claimed, provided, however, that attendance at an institution of higher learning within the state of Colorado shall not alone be sufficient to qualify for domicile in Colorado.

'(3) The word 'domicile' shall denote a person's true, fixed, and permanent home and place of habitation. It is the place where he intends to remain, and to which he expects to return when he leaves without intending to establish a new domicile elsewhere.

* * *

* * *

'Section 3.--Presumptions and rules for determination of status. * * *

'(2)(a) To aid the institutions in deciding whether a student, or parent, or guardian of the person of a student, is domiciled in Colorado the following rules shall be applied: * * *

'(3) An unemancipated minor shall qualify for a change in status only if his parents or legal guardian or person having legal custody shall have completed the requirements for establishing domicile as defined in this article. An emancipated minor or adult student who has registered for more than five hours per term shall not qualify for a change in his classification for tuition purposes unless he shall have completed twelve continuous months of residence while not attending an institution of higher learning in the state or while serving in the armed forces.' (Emphasis supplied)

It appears on the face of the complaint filed by Landwehr that he could not qualify as an 'in-state' student under the provisions of the statute which is emphasized in the foregoing quotation. It also appears from the complaint that he had not been 'domiciled in Colorado for one year or more immediately preceding registration,' as required by the statute for 'in-state student' classification.

Landwehr argued in the trial court, and here, that the statute is unconstitutional in that it violates:

1. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (the equal protection clause and the due process clause).

2. Article 1, section 8(3) of the United States Constitution (delegating power to congress to regulate commerce among the states).

3. Article IV, section 2,...