Osmunson v. State

• Decision Date: 31 October 2000
• Docket Number: No. 24918.,24918.
• Citation: 17 P.3d 236,135 Idaho 292
• Parties: Willard OSMUNSON, as a Bonner County School District # 82 "Patron"; and individually; and as guardian ad litem on behalf of his two children, Evie Osmunson and Kristy Osmunson, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. STATE of Idaho, Defendant-Appellant, and Bonner County School District # 82, a municipal corporation, Defendant.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

17 P.3d 236

135 Idaho 292

Willard OSMUNSON, as a Bonner County School District # 82 "Patron"; and individually; and as guardian ad litem on behalf of his two children, Evie Osmunson and Kristy Osmunson, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. STATE of Idaho, Defendant-Appellant, and Bonner County School District # 82, a municipal corporation, Defendant.

No. 24918.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Coeur d'Alene, April 2000 Term.

October 31, 2000.

Rehearing Denied December 28, 2000.

Hon. Alan G. Lance, Attorney General; Boise, for appellant. Michael S. Gilmore, Deputy Attorney General argued.

Huntley & Olson, Boise, for respondents. Robert C. Huntley, Jr., argued.

WALTERS, Justice.

This is a permissive appeal from the district court's interlocutory ruling that several provisions of the Constitutionally Based Education Claims Act, I.C. § 6-2201 et seq. (CBECA) are unconstitutional and that the CBECA's severability clause cannot save it from being struck down in its entirety. This Court upholds the constitutionality of the CBECA and, accordingly, we reverse the district court's ruling and remand the case for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

The CBECA was enacted in 1996 to provide procedures for adjudicating claims that public schools do not provide the educational services required under Idaho Constitution Article IX, § 1 (the Education Article). The CBECA delegates to the local school districts the primary responsibility for fulfilling the legislature's duty to provide constitutionally required educational services. Consistent with this delegation, the CBECA prescribes procedures that are geared toward finding local solutions to claims that may arise under the Education Article.

Only local school districts may be sued, initially, under the CBECA. The state, the legislature, and any of the state's agencies may be sued or added as defendants only if the district court determines that the local school district cannot provide the constitutionally required educational services with the school district's available resources. The Act further provides that only patrons of the school district and the state, as parens patriae, have standing to bring an action to furnish constitutionally required education services. School districts are declared to be agents of the state for the purpose of providing a general uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools. As the state's agents, school districts have no standing to sue the state, the legislature, or state agencies regarding matters governed by the CBECA. I.C. § 6-2205.

In January 1997, Willard Osmunson filed suit on behalf of himself and his children against Bonner County School District # 82 and the State of Idaho. Osmunson challenged the constitutionality of the procedures prescribed by the CBECA and also alleged that the School District was under-funded in violation of the CBECA and the Education Article.

Before reaching the merits of Osmunson's under-funding claims, the district judge ruled in favor of Osmunson's constitutional challenge to the CBECA. The court held: (1) the procedures mandated by the CBECA place significant barriers to a patron's right to bring an action against the state to enforce the Education Article in violation of the right of access to the courts found in Article I, § 18; (2) Osmunson had standing to challenge the CBECA's restriction on suits by school districts because the prohibition impacts patrons by preventing school districts from fulfilling their obligation to "provide a thorough education for their pupils;" (3) the CBECA violates constitutional separation of powers; and (4) the unconstitutional provisions of the CBECA are indispensable to its meaningful operation and the CBECA must be struck down entirely despite its severability clause.

The district court has yet to reach the merits of Osmunson's under-funding claim. The district judge granted the state's motion to Certify Issues for Appeal by Permission, and this Court subsequently granted the state's petition for authority to file an appeal by permission. Pursuant to that order, the state has appealed from the interlocutory determination rendered in the district court.

ISSUES ON APPEAL

Does the CBECA's requirement that a patron first bring an action against the school district, before suing the State under the Education Article, violate the open court or speedy-remedy provisions of Article I, § 18 of the Idaho Constitution?

Do patrons have standing to challenge or a constitutional right to challenge CBECA's prohibition against school districts suing the state under the Education Article?

Do the CBECA's procedures violate the separation of powers doctrine by encroaching upon the judicial power?

If any provision of the CBECA is unconstitutional, is CBECA severable so that its constitutional provisions may survive?

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The issues on appeal in this case are questions of statutory or constitutional construction or interpretation, all of which are issues of law over which this Court exercises free review. Meisner v. Potlatch Corp., 131 Idaho 258, 260, 954 P.2d 676, 678 (1998). When a constitutional challenge is made, every presumption is in favor of the constitutionality of the statute, and the burden of establishing the unconstitutionality of a statutory provision rests upon the challenger. State v. Nelson, 119 Idaho 444, 447, 807 P.2d 1282, 1285 (Ct.App.1991).

ANALYSIS

I.

Article I, § 18

Idaho Constitution Article I, § 18 provides:

Justice to be freely and speedily administered.—Courts of justice shall be open to every person, and a speedy remedy afforded for every injury of person, property or character, and right and justice shall be administered without sale, denial, delay, or prejudice.

Section 18 does not create any new rights or remedies; its purpose is to secure existing right and remedies. Moon v. Bullock, 65 Idaho 594, 151 P.2d 765 (1944). The legislature can abolish common law causes of action entirely or impose statutes of limitation without violating Article I, Section 18. Hawley v. Green, 117 Idaho 498, 788 P.2d 1321 (1990). Idaho case law under Article I, § 18 upholds statutes altogether prohibiting suit and remedy. See Haeg v. City of Pocatello, 98 Idaho 315, 317, 563 P.2d 39, 41 (1977) (upholding restriction under the Idaho Tort Claims Act prohibiting certain actions against a city that otherwise could be brought against private parties); Cummings v. J.R. Simplot Co., 95 Idaho 465, 468, 511 P.2d 282, 285 (1973) (upholding worker's compensation statute of limitation on long-delayed disabilities); Olsen v. J.A. Freeman Co., 117 Idaho 706, 717-719, 791 P.2d 1285, 1296, 1298 (1990) (upholding products liability statute containing a rebuttable presumption that a product's useful life expires ten years after delivery of the product).

In this case, the district court found a violation of Article I, § 18 because the court determined that although the legislature can restrict or even eliminate common law causes of action, the legislature was without the power to significantly limit or eliminate causes of action based on constitutional claims. See, Olsen v. J.A. Freeman Co., supra. The court found that the CBECA impermissibly erects barriers to actions based upon the Education Article. The court particularly focused on the provision that a patron must sue the school district first and the state cannot be joined as a party to the litigation unless the plaintiff can prove that (1) the school district is offering services that are not constitutionally required, i.e., diverting its resources from offering constitutionally required educational services, and (2) the school is not providing constitutionally required services in an efficient manner. The court determined that these provisions "by themselves create a substantial impediment to a patron that wishes to bring suit against the state under the education clause of the Constitution." The court also noted that a lengthy evidentiary hearing would be required to make the requisite findings, and once the state is joined as a party, the state can challenge the court's findings and the appropriateness of joining it as a party. This could involve yet another lengthy evidentiary hearing. Thus, the district judge found that the CBECA creates significant and impermissible barriers upon the right of access to courts under Article I, § 18.

We hold that the CBECA does not violate Article I, § 18. The plaintiffs have not shown that the CBECA denies them their right to a speedy remedy. Although the CBECA does not allow patrons of a school district to immediately pursue an action against the legislature for increased funding, it does not necessarily follow that the CBECA denies or impermissibly limits a patron's right to seek redress for violations of the legislature's duty to provide constitutionally required educational services. The ultimate remedy to which the plaintiffs are entitled under the Education Article is the provision of constitutionally required educational services. Idaho Schools for Equal Educational Opportunity v. Evans, 123 Idaho 573, 850 P.2d 724 (1993) (ISEEO I). The CBECA does not impermissibly limit the patrons' rights to pursue that remedy.

The CBECA declares that creating local school districts and authorizing the districts to raise and spend money for public education is designed to provide the educational system required by Article IX, § 1 of the state constitution. I.C. § 6-2203. Consistent with this declaration, the CBECA's procedures are initially focused upon the local school districts. Under the CBECA, if the district court finds that the school district is not providing constitutionally required educational services, the court must also determine whether the school district is providing services that are not constitutionally required or is providing constitutionally required services inefficiently. I.C. § 6-2208(1). If the court finds that the school...