Mackie v. State
| Decision Date | 11 December 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 2006-63-M.P.,2006-63-M.P. |
| Citation | 936 A.2d 588 |
| Parties | Stephen C. MACKIE et al. v. STATE of Rhode Island et al. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
Present: WILLIAMS, C.J., FLAHERTY, SUTTELL, and ROBINSON, JJ.
In an effort to reduce the number of childhood lead poisonings in Rhode Island, the General Assembly enacted legislation intended to identify and correct lead hazards in this state. This legislation, the Lead Hazard Mitigation Act (LHMA), G.L. chapter 128.1 of title 42, has, nevertheless, sparked yet another controversy over lead paint.1
This case came before the Supreme Court for oral argument on November 5, 2007, pursuant to a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by defendants, the State of Rhode Island, Patrick Lynch, in his capacity as Attorney General of Rhode Island, David R. Gifford, M.D., M.P.H., in his capacity as director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, and Susan Baxter, in her capacity as chairwoman of the Rhode Island Housing Resources Commission (defendants or state). In their petition, defendants sought this Court's review of a Superior Court decision, in which a portion of the LHMA was declared unconstitutional, as being violative of the Equal Protection Clause of the Rhode Island Constitution. This Court granted defendants' petition, and for the reasons set forth herein, quashes the decision of the Superior Court.
Facts and Travel
To that end, the LHMA imposes several duties on owners of rental dwellings constructed before 1978. These duties include: (1) attending a lead hazard awareness seminar; (2) evaluating the dwelling unit and premises for lead hazards; (3) correcting lead hazards by meeting the lead hazard mitigation standard; (4) providing tenants with information; and (5) correcting lead hazards within thirty days after notification. Section 42-128.1-8(a).
The LHMA originally provided that the lead hazard mitigation requirements would apply to the first change in ownership or tenancy after July 1, 2004; however, in 2004, that date was postponed to July 1 2005, and in 2005, it again was postponed to November 1, 2005. See P.L. 2002, ch. 187, § 3; P.L. 2004, ch. 221, § 2; P.L. 2005, ch. 142, § 2. In 2005, the General Assembly also amended the act to include an exemption for certain property owners. P.L. 2005, ch. 142, § 2. The statute now in effect includes this exemption, which provides:
"The department of health shall report to the legislature annually on the number of children who are lead poisoned in any of the exempted dwelling units as referred to in subdivision (e)(4) of this section." Section 42-128.1-8(e).
At the center of this litigation is subsection (e)(4) of § 42-128.1-8, which exempts owner-occupied two- and three-unit dwellings from the act's mandates. The plaintiffs, owners of rental properties in various locations throughout the state, alleged that this exemption results in different treatment for similarly situated property owners without regard to any lead hazard to children. The plaintiffs asserted that the act is arbitrary in treating owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied dwellings of the same size differently and in treating owner-occupied two- and three-unit dwellings differently from owner-occupied four- or five-unit dwellings. The plaintiffs' complaint sought both declaratory and injunctive relief. More specifically, it requested that the Superior Court declare the LHMA unconstitutional and enjoin the state from enforcing the act.
A three-day hearing commenced in late 2005 in the Superior Court on plaintiffs' request for a declaratory judgment.2
The plaintiffs, to support their contention that the exemption found in the LHMA is arbitrary, relied on certain exhibits. The plaintiffs first submitted a letter from Dr. David R. Gifford, director of the Rhode Island Department of Health (DOH) to Representative Joseph A. Trillo, who served on the legislative commission that studied the LHMA in 2005. Accompanying the letter was a summary of data about childhood lead poisonings in 2004. According to this data, 175 children were significantly poisoned that year and, of those, 129 poisonings resulted in a property inspection. Of those 129 inspections, sixty-three were identified either as "owner-occupied" or "possibly owner-occupied" buildings and sixty-four involved non-owner-occupied buildings. There was insufficient data to categorize the remaining two properties.
The plaintiffs also introduced an affidavit from Eben Dowell, an urban information specialist, who studied the DOH blood lead testing records from 1998 to 2002 for children seventy-two months old or younger living in multifamily properties in Providence. In his affidavit, Dowell concluded that "the occurrence of elevated blood levels was related to the rate of owner-occupancy." Dowell's study revealed that of the properties in which at least one child had been found with a blood lead level of at least ten micrograms per deciliter, 59 percent were not owner-occupied. This percentage increases, according to Dowell's study, with a larger number of children poisoned. For example, of the properties in which at least two children were poisoned, 63 percent were not owner-occupied, and of the properties in which at least three children were poisoned, 69 percent were not owner-occupied. Dowell's study also reported that the percentage of non-owner-occupied properties was higher for more severely poisoned children. For example, of the properties in which one child had been found with a blood lead level of at least twenty micrograms per deciliter, 63 percent were not owner-occupied. This percentage also increased with a larger number of children poisoned. Of the properties in which two children were poisoned, 69 percent were not owner-occupied and of the properties in which three children were poisoned, 71 percent were not owner-occupied.
The plaintiffs additionally submitted affidavits of Stephen Mackie and Joe Sousa, both of whom are plaintiffs in this action, saying that they were harmed by the LHMA's requirements as owners of rental properties in which they do not reside. Lastly, plaintiffs submitted printouts of the Housing Resource Commission website, which addressed frequently asked questions about the LHMA.
For their part, defendants countered plaintiffs' exhibits with a number of their own. The defendants first introduced the minutes of five meetings conducted by the Special Legislative Commission to Study the Lead Hazard Mitigation Law. The minutes included updates on the LHMA's implementation and recorded statements from a public meeting at which a number of individuals expressed their favor and disfavor with the law.
Additionally, in an effort to refute statistics set forth by plaintiffs, defendants offered as exhibits affidavits from a number of professionals who indicated that plaintiffs' complaint cited data that was based solely on the 129 cases of significantly lead-poisoned children and did not reflect the more accurate number of total childhood lead poisonings in 2004.
Susan Bodington, deputy director of programs for Rhode Island Housing and director of policy at the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation, said that 1,461 children entering kindergarten in Rhode Island in 2004 tested positive for elevated blood lead levels, far more than the figure provided in plaintiffs' complaint, which alleged that 129 children tested positive for lead poisoning in 2004. Bodington also explained that "[r]isks of poisonings are reduced in owner[-]occupied buildings because the owners is [sic] on the premises and can visually identify any lead hazards, is [sic] accessible to the tenants if they observe any lead hazards, and because it is in the owner's self interest to maintain a safe and healthy property for themselves and their family." Bodington offered further explanation for the need to differentiate buildings based on the number of units. She noted that rental dwellings in structures with four or more units typically are investment properties and that it was not uncommon to distinguish such properties from buildings with fewer units. She cited, for example, the state fire code, which confers additional requirements on owners of four-unit buildings. In Bodington's opinion, in buildings with more units, "there are increased potential health and safety risks to a greater number of tenants."
Daniela Quilliam, an epidemiologist at the DOH, also took issue with the number of childhood lead poisonings plaintiffs cited. According to Quilliam, a total of 1,685 children younger than age six tested positive for lead poisoning in Rhode Island in 2004. Of those, 1,167 were children who were newly poisoned in 2004.
The defendants also...
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