People v. Reed

• Decision Date: 16 April 1992
• Docket Number: No. 71707,71707
• Citation: 148 Ill.2d 1,591 N.E.2d 455,169 Ill.Dec. 282
• Parties: , 169 Ill.Dec. 282 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Jerry REED, Appellee.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 455

591 N.E.2d 455

148 Ill.2d 1, 169 Ill.Dec. 282

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Jerry REED, Appellee.

No. 71707.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

April 16, 1992.

Roland W. Burris, Atty. Gen., Springfield (Rosalyn Kaplan, Sol. Gen., and Terence M. Madsen and Nathan P. Maddox, Asst. Attys. Gen., of counsel), for the People.

Robert E. Davison, Asst. App. Defender, of the Office of the State App. Defender, Springfield, for appellee.

Chief Justice MILLER delivered the opinion of the court:

This is a direct appeal by the State, pursuant to Rule 603 (134 Ill.2d R. 603), from an order of the circuit court of Jackson County declaring unconstitutional section 12-16(d) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, par. 12-16(d)). We find that this portion of the aggravated criminal sexual abuse statute meets constitutional requirements, and therefore reverse.

Jerry Reed was charged by information in August 1990 with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, par. 12-16(d).) The State alleged that Reed on two occasions, once when he was 19 years old and again when he was 20, knowingly engaged in acts of sexual penetration with a 13-year-old victim. Sections 12-16(d) and 12-15(c) of the Code proscribe acts of sexual penetration and sexual conduct with minors who are at least 13 years old but under age 17. If the accused is less than five years older than the victim, the offense is criminal sexual abuse. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, par. 12-15(c).) If the accused is five or more years older than the victim, the offense is aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, par. 12-16(d).

In February 1991, Reed filed a pretrial motion to dismiss the charges, arguing that the "interplay" of sections 12-15(c) and 12-16(d) violates the equal protection guarantees of the Federal and State Constitutions (U.S. Const., amend. XIV; Ill. Const.1970, art. I, § 2). Reed's memorandum of law in support of his motion included a chart purporting to illustrate how, under these statutes, the "same conduct is punished differently for individuals similarly situated." The chart noted, for example, that a 19-year-old defendant who engages in sexual acts with a 14-year-old victim would be guilty of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony punishable by three to seven years in prison and a $10,000 fine. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, pars. 12-16(d), (e).) If the victim were 15, the same defendant would be guilty of criminal sexual abuse, a Class A misdemeanor, the maximum penalty for which is 1 year in prison and a $1,000 fine. Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, pars. 12-15(c), (d).

After a hearing, the trial judge found that section 12-16(d) violates equal protection and granted Reed's motion. In a written order, the judge stated that Reed's chart illustrated the "unconstitutional results" of the statute as applied to "individuals similarly situated relative to the protected class of victims 13 to 16 years old."

On the State's appeal, Reed has asked this court to determine whether section 12-16(d) violates the constitutional requirement of due process, in addition to the guarantee of equal protection. Because Reed prevailed in the court below, we will address both the equal protection and due process issues. See People v. Franklin (1987), 115 Ill.2d 328, 336, 105 Ill.Dec. 211, 504 N.E.2d 80; People v. Sloan (1986), 111 Ill.2d 517, 522, 96 Ill.Dec. 55, 490 N.E.2d 1260.

I. Equal Protection

This court uses the same analysis in assessing equal protection claims under both the Federal and State Constitutions. (Illinois Housing Development Authority v. Van Meter (1980), 82 Ill.2d 116, 121, 45 Ill.Dec. 18, 412 N.E.2d 151.) Equal protection requires that government deal with "similarly situated" individuals in a similar manner. (Jenkins v. Wu (1984), 102 Ill.2d 468, 477, 82 Ill.Dec. 382, 468 N.E.2d 1162, citing Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972), 405 U.S. 438, 446-47, 31 L.Ed.2d 349, 358-59, 92 S.Ct. 1029, 1035.) It does not deny a State the power to draw lines that treat different classes of persons differently. (People v. Mathey (1983), 99 Ill.2d 292, 296, 76 Ill.Dec. 99, 458 N.E.2d 499.) Only when the law " 'lays an unequal hand on those who have committed intrinsically the same quality of offense' " does the equal protection clause come into play. (People v. Bradley (1980), 79 Ill.2d 410, 416, 38 Ill.Dec. 575, 403 N.E.2d 1029, quoting Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942), 316 U.S. 535, 541, 86 L.Ed. 1655, 1660, 62 S.Ct. 1110, 1113.) The guarantee of equal protection does, however, prohibit the State from according unequal treatment to persons placed by a statute into different classes for reasons wholly unrelated to the purpose of the legislation. Eisenstadt, 405 U.S. at 447, 31 L.Ed.2d at 358-59, 92 S.Ct. at 1035.

To ensure that the State has not exercised its power to classify arbitrarily, this court has used two standards of judicial review. Strict scrutiny is applied to certain "suspect" classifications, such as those based on race, and to statutes that impinge on fundamental constitutional rights; laws that do not implicate these concerns are subject to rational basis review. (People v. Eckhardt (1989), 127 Ill.2d 146, 151, 129 Ill.Dec. 82, 535 N.E.2d 847.) A law will not survive strict scrutiny unless it is necessary to promote, and is narrowly tailored to serve, a compelling State interest. (People v. R.G. (1989), 131 Ill.2d 328, 362, 137 Ill.Dec. 588, 546 N.E.2d 533.) Under the rational basis test, a statutory classification need only bear a rational relationship to a legitimate State goal. People v. Esposito (1988), 121 Ill.2d 491, 500, 118 Ill.Dec. 396, 521 N.E.2d 873.

It is clear that the rational basis standard applies to classifications based on age. (See, e.g., Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia (1976), 427 U.S. 307, 49 L.Ed.2d 520, 96 S.Ct. 2562; People v M.A. (1988), 124 Ill.2d 135, 124 Ill.Dec. 511, 529 N.E.2d 492.) An equal protection challenge governed by this standard is limited: if any state of facts may be reasonably conceived to justify the enactment, it must be upheld. People v. La Pointe (1981), 88 Ill.2d 482, 500, 59 Ill.Dec. 59, 431 N.E.2d 344.

Reed first contends that equal protection requires that defendants convicted under sections 12-15(c) and 12-16(d) be treated similarly because they have committed "intrinsically the same quality of offense." The State counters that offenders convicted under these statutes have not committed the same crime: one has engaged in sexual acts with a minor five or more years younger; the other has engaged in such acts with someone closer to his or her own age. The State argues that offenders convicted under sections 12-16(d) and 12-15(c) are no more "similarly situated" than a shoplifter convicted of a Class A misdemeanor for stealing $150 worth of merchandise and one convicted of a Class 3 felony for stealing goods worth $150.01. See Ill.Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 38, pars. 16A-10(1), (3); People v. McNeal (1983), 120 Ill.App.3d 625, 628, 76 Ill.Dec. 230, 458 N.E.2d 630 (citing cases upholding the constitutionality of the retail theft statute).

The State notes further that under no interpretation of section 12-16(d) is one 19-year-old who engages in sexual acts with a 13-year-old treated any differently than another who does the same. All persons five or more years older than their minor sexual partners are treated alike under the aggravated criminal sexual abuse statute. Likewise, all persons less than five years older than their minor sexual partners are treated alike under section 12-15(c). The State therefore initially argues that section 12-16(d) raises no equal protection issue because it does not treat similarly situated individuals differently, but only treats different classes of individuals differently.

It is true that equal protection does not require equal or proportional penalties for dissimilar conduct. (Bradley, 79 Ill.2d at 416, 38 Ill.Dec. 575, 403 N.E.2d 1029, citing McGowan v. Maryland (1961), 366 U.S. 420, 427, 6 L.Ed.2d 393, 400, 81 S.Ct. 1101, 1105-06.) Neither does it deny the State the power to draw lines that treat different classes of people in different ways. (See, e.g., Esposito, 121 Ill.2d at 502, 118 Ill.Dec. 396, 521 N.E.2d 873 (drivers whose blood-alcohol content is 0.10% or more and those whose blood-alcohol content falls below that mark are not so similarly situated as to require identical treatment).) These observations, however, do not answer the question of whether a classification is valid. If the power to classify has been exercised arbitrarily, the State cannot justify the legislation simply by labeling it a "classification." (People v. McCabe (1971), 49 Ill.2d 338, 341, 275 N.E.2d 407.) There must be a rational basis for distinguishing the class to which the law applies from that to which it does not. (People v. Coleman (1986), 111 Ill.2d 87, 95, 94 Ill.Dec. 762, 488 N.E.2d 1009.) Thus, the issue presented in this case is whether there is a rational basis for punishing sex offenders five or more years older than their victims more severely than those closer in age to their sexual partners.

To determine whether a statutory classification is justified by a rational basis, we must examine its purpose. (People v. M.A., 124 Ill.2d at 142, 124 Ill.Dec. 511, 529 N.E.2d 492.) Sections 12-15(c) and 12-16(d) make clear that their overall purpose is to protect children who are 13 to 16 years old from the consequences of premature sexual experiences. Under section 12-15(c), anyone who engages in sexual acts with a minor, including another minor, is guilty of a misdemeanor if the age difference between the parties is less than five years. The felony provisions of section 12-16(d), on the other hand, are applicable only to adults because offenders prosecuted under it must be at least five years older than their 13- to 16-year-old victims.

We agree with the State that what may...