Rudeen v. Cenarrusa
| Citation | 136 Idaho 560,38 P.3d 598 |
| Decision Date | 13 December 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 26976., No. 26975 |
| Parties | Kent RUDEEN, Power County Commissioner; Valerie Hoybjerg, Power County Commissioner; Ken Estep, Power County Commissioner; Douglas Glascok, Power County Assessor; Paul Laggis, Power County Prosecuting Attorney; Howard A. Sprague, Power County Sheriff; Bobbie J. Mauch, Power County Treasurer; Bud Kelly, Power County Coroner; John Cotant, Mayor of the City of Chubbuck; Jack Buell, Benewah County Commissioner; John Dyer, Boise County Commissioner; Robert S. Fort, Twin Falls County Clerk; Harley Hinshaw, Valley County Assessor; Brent R. Bunn, Bear Lake County Sheriff; Marilyn Frasier, Gem County Treasurer; Walt Femling, Blaine County Sheriff; Philip A. Brown, Gooding County Prosecuting Attorney; Duane Smith, Minidoka County Clerk; Kirk Hansen, Mayor of Soda Springs; Howard Allen, Twin Falls City Councilman; Armand Eckert, School Board Trustee, School District No. 412 Buhl; and Vern Newby, School Board Trustee, School District No. 271, Coeur d'Alene, each named individually and not in an official capacity, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. Pete CENARRUSA, Secretary of State, Christine Steinlicht, Power County Clerk; Kay Sather, Benewah County Clerk; Rora A. Canody, Boise County Clerk; Susan Howard, Gem County Clerk; Leland G. Heinrich, Valley County Clerk; Joan P. Eborn, Bear Lake County Clerk; Marsha Reimann, Blaine County Clerk; Helen Edwards, Gooding County Clerk; Priscilla Bolton, Twin Falls County Deputy Clerk; Lola Clark, Minidoka County Deputy Clerk, Ron Conlin, Chubbuck City Clerk; Tausha Vorwaller, Soda Springs City Clerk; Sharon Bryan, Twin Falls Deputy City Clerk; Dr. Dan Nofziger, Clerk for School District No. 412 and Fran Bischof, Clerk for School District No. 271, each named in his or her official capacity and not as individuals, Defendants, and Citizens for Term Limits, Intervenor-Appellant, and Bruce Newcomb; Wayne Hurst; Robert L. Geddes; and Rhett M. Price, Invervenors-Respondents. Kent Rudeen, Power County Commissioner; Valerie Hoybjerg, Power County Commissioner; Ken Estep, Power County Commissioner; Douglas Glascok, Power County Assessor; Paul Laggis, Power County Prosecuting Attorney; Howard A. Sprague, Power County Sheriff; Bobbie J. Mauch, Power County Treasurer; Bud Kelly, Power County Coroner; John Cotant, Mayor of the City of Chubbuck; Jack Buell, Benewah County Commissioner; John Dyer, Boise County Commissioner; Robert S. Fort, Twin Falls County Clerk; Harley Hinshaw, Valley County Assessor; Brent R. Bunn, Bear Lake County Sheriff; Marilyn Frasier, Gem County Treasurer; Walt Femling, Blaine County Sheriff; Philip A. Brown, Gooding County Prosecuting Attorney; Duane Smith, Minidoka County Clerk; Kirk Hansen, Mayor of Soda Springs; Howard Allen, Twin Falls City Councilman; Armand Eckert, School Board Trustee, School District No. 412 Buhl; and Vern Newby, School Board Trustee, School District No. 271, Coeur d'Alene, each named individually and not in an official capacity, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. Pete Cenarrusa, Secretary of State, Defendant-Appellant, and Christine Steinlicht, Power County Clerk; Kay Sather, Benewah County Clerk, Rora A. Canody, Boise County Clerk; Susan Howard, Gem County Clerk; Leland G. Heinrich, Valley County Clerk; Joan P. Eborn, Bear Lake County Clerk; Marsha Reimann, Blaine County Clerk; Helen Edwards, Gooding County Clerk; Priscilla Bolton, Twin Falls County Deputy Clerk; Lola Clark, Minidoka County Deputy Clerk; Ron Conlin, Chubbuck City Clerk; Tausha Vorwaller, Soda Springs City Clerk; Sharon Bryan, Twin Falls Deputy City Clerk; Dr. Dan Nofziger, Clerk for School District No. 412 and Fran Bischof, Clerk for School District No. 271, each named in his or her official capacity and not as individuals, Defendants. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Idaho |
Hon. Alan G. Lance, Attorney General, Boise, for appellant State of Idaho. James D. Carlson, Deputy Attorney General, argued.
Paine Hamblen, Coffin, Brooke & Miller, Coeur d'Alene; Stephen J. Safranek, Ann Arbor, Michigan, for intervenor-appellant Citizens For Term Limits. Stephen J. Safranek argued.
Jerry D. Mason, Coeur d'Alene; Scott W. Reed, Coeur d'Alene, for respondents Rudeen, et al., Scott W. Reed argued.
Dennis C. Colson, Moscow; Clements, Brown & McNichols, Lewiston, for intervenor-respondents Newcomb, et al., Dennis C. Colson argued.
Appellants appeal the district court's order granting summary judgment in favor of Respondents Kent Rudeen, et al. (Rudeen), which found the Idaho Term Limits Act of 1994 unconstitutional. We reverse.
An initiative establishing term limits for elected "federal, state, county, municipal and school district officials" (Term Limits Act) appeared on the ballot at the general election held in Idaho on November 8, 1994. The effect of the Term Limits Act is to prohibit the names of certain incumbents from appearing on the ballot. Fifty-nine percent of the votes cast favored the initiative, and on November 23, 1994, the Governor issued a proclamation declaring it to have been approved by the people. 1995 Idaho Sess. Laws 1371. The Term Limits Act added three new sections to the Idaho Code: I.C. §§ 34-907, 50-478, and 33-443. The Term Limits Act established that certain persons "shall not be eligible to have his or her name placed upon the primary or general election ballot." The persons barred from having their names on the ballot were those who had served in the office for a given length of time.1 The Act did not prohibit qualified voters from casting a write-in ballot for the candidate of their choice, nor did it prohibit any candidate from conducting a write-in campaign.
On January 24, 2000, a complaint was filed in the sixth judicial district by multiple county officials, mayors and school district trustees, naming Secretary of State Pete Cenarrusa and numerous county, city and school district clerks in their official capacities as defendants. As amended, the complaint sought to enjoin the application of the 1994 initiative and to declare Idaho Code §§ 34-907(e)(f), 33-443, and 50-478 to be in violation of the Idaho and U.S. Constitutions.
Rudeen filed a motion for preliminary injunction on February 22, 2000. On March 17, 2000, the district court issued its Memorandum Decision and Order granting injunctive relief only as to those incumbent county commissioner candidates who would otherwise be precluded from having their names placed on the ballot that year. Thereafter, Rudeen moved for summary judgment. On August 23, 2000, the district court issued a Memorandum Decision and Order granting Rudeen's motion for summary judgment, holding that Idaho Code §§ 34-907(e)(f), 33-443, and 50-478, impermissibly infringe upon the fundamental right of suffrage guaranteed by the Idaho Constitution.
On September 26, 2000, a petition for intervention was granted, allowing Bruce R. Newcomb, Robert L. Geddes, Wayne Hurst and Rhett M. Price (Newcomb) to intervene as respondents, extending this appeal to cover the constitutionality of the remaining provisions of the Term Limits Act, those provisions applicable to state legislators and state elected officials. On October 23, 2001 Ron G. Crane and James D. Williams were also permitted to intervene.
Defendant Secretary of State Pete T. Cenarrusa (the State) and Defendant Intervenor Citizens For Term Limits (CFTL) appealed the district court's order granting summary judgment. On October 18, 2001, Newcomb filed a motion for writ of prohibition. This Court issued an Order deferring the decision on the writ of prohibition until after oral argument.
Summary judgment is appropriate when "the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." I.R.C.P. 56(c). This Court's standard of review of a district court's ruling on a motion for summary judgment is the same as that required of the district court when ruling on the motion. Friel v. Boise City Housing Authority, 126 Idaho 484, 485, 887 P.2d 29, 30 (1994). If the evidence reveals no disputed issues of material fact, a question of law remains, over which this Court exercises free review. Id.
"`It is fundamental that the judicial power to declare legislative action invalid upon constitutional grounds is to be exercised only in clear cases.'" State ex rel. Brassey v. Hanson, 81 Idaho 403, 406, 342 P.2d 706, 709 (1959) (citations omitted). "`In the case of statutes passed by the Legislative Assembly and assailed as unconstitutional the question is not whether it is possible to condemn, but whether it is possible to uphold; and we stand committed to the rule that a statute will not be declared unconstitutional unless its nullity is placed, in our judgment, beyond reasonable doubt.'" Hellar v. Cenarrusa, 104 Idaho 858, 664 P.2d 765 (1983) (citations omitted). The same standard applies to initiatives passed by the people as to legislative actions, and the two methods of enacting laws are placed on "equal footing." See Westerberg v. Andrus, 114 Idaho 401, 404, 757 P.2d 664, 667 (1988) (citing Luker v. Curtis, 64 Idaho 703, 136 P.2d 978 (1943)).
We are committed to the belief that it is not this Court's place to pass on the wisdom of the statutes in question, but rather, simply to make a legal determination whether they are unconstitutional. With this judicial canon in mind, we set forth the following.
The Idaho Term Limits Act Initiative of 1994 added three new sections to the Idaho Code as follows:
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...We do not agree. In interpreting the Idaho Constitution, the rules of statutory construction apply. Rudeen v. Cenarrusa , 136 Idaho 560, 567, 38 P.3d 598, 605 (2001) ("The general rules of statutory construction apply to constitutional provisions as well as statutes."). These rules of const......
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