Seaton v. Wayne County Prosecutor, Docket No. 191685

• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan (US)
• Citation: 590 N.W.2d 598,233 Mich.App. 313
• Docket Number: Docket No. 191685
• Parties: Parnell SEATON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WAYNE COUNTY PROSECUTOR, Defendant-Appellee. (On Second Remand)
• Decision Date: 29 December 1998

Page 598

590 N.W.2d 598 233 Mich.App. 313 Parnell SEATON, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
WAYNE COUNTY PROSECUTOR, Defendant-Appellee. (On Second Remand) Docket No. 191685. Court of Appeals of Michigan. Submitted Oct. 9, 1998, at Lansing.
Decided Dec. 29, 1998, at 9:50 a.m.
Released for Publication March 12, 1999.

Page 599

[233 Mich.App. 314] Parnell Seaton, in propria persona.

John D. O'Hair, Prosecuting Attorney, and Frank J. Bernacki, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the defendant.

Before: TAYLOR, P.J., and RICHARD ALLEN GRIFFIN and SAAD, JJ.

ON SECOND REMAND

RICHARD ALLEN GRIFFIN, J.

On second remand from the Supreme Court, this case is before us for the issuance of an amplified opinion on the question whether 1994 PA 131 is retroactive. We hold that the statute is remedial in nature and therefore retroactive.

233 Mich.App. 315] I

Plaintiff, a prisoner proceeding in propria persona, appeals an order of the Wayne Circuit Court dismissing his 1993 complaint brought under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), M.C.L. § 15.231 et seq.; MSA 4.1801(1) et seq. On March 1, 1995, this Court denied plaintiff's application for leave to appeal for lack of merit in the grounds presented. Thereafter, in response to plaintiff's delayed application for leave to appeal, the Supreme Court remanded to this Court for consideration on leave granted. Seaton v. Wayne Co. Prosecutor, 450 Mich. 969, 548 N.W.2d 635 (1996).

In our previous opinion, Seaton v. Wayne Co. Prosecutor (On Remand), 225 Mich.App. 1, 570 N.W.2d 125 (1997), remanded 459 Mich. 876, 586 N.W.2d 743 (1998), the majority ¹ of this Court affirmed the grant of summary disposition in favor of defendant on the basis that the FOIA does not apply to a prisoner's request for records of his own criminal trial. Jones v. Wayne Co. Prosecutor, 165 Mich.App. 62, 418 N.W.2d 667 (1987). On second remand, we reaffirm our previous decision and accordingly again affirm the order of the circuit court granting summary disposition in favor of defendant. Nonetheless, pursuant to the directive from the Supreme Court, we now address an issue that we previously considered unnecessary for our disposition.

II

Effective May 19, 1994, the Legislature amended the FOIA to specifically exclude incarcerated prisoners from the class of persons entitled to obtain public [233 Mich.App. 316] records. Section 1(2) of the FOIA, M.C.L. § 15.231(2); MSA 4.1801(1)(2), now provides:

It is the public policy of this state that all persons, except those persons incarcerated in state or local correctional facilities, are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and public employees, consistent with this act. The people shall be informed so that they may fully participate in the democratic process. [Emphasis added.

Further, at the time applicable in this case subsection 2(a), M.C.L. § 15.232(a); MSA 4.1801(2)(a), exempted prisoners from the class of persons entitled to invoke the FOIA:

"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, firm, organization, or association, except that person does not include an individual serving a sentence of imprisonment in a state or county correctional facility in this state or any other state, or in a federal correctional facility. ² [Emphasis added.]

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Under Michigan law, the general rule of statutory construction is that a new or amended statute applies prospectively unless the Legislature has expressly or impliedly indicated its intention to give it retrospective effect. People v. Russo, 439 Mich. 584, 594, 487 [233 Mich.App. 317] N.W.2d 698 (1992). However, an exception to the general rule is recognized where a statute is remedial or procedural in nature. Id. In In re Certified Questions, 416 Mich. 558, 570-571, 331 N.W.2d 456 (1982), the Supreme Court established rules for determining whether a statute is to be retroactively applied:

First, is there specific language in the new act which states that it should be given retrospective or prospective application. See headnote no. 1, Hansen-Snyder Co. v. General Motors Corp., 371 Mich. 480, 124 N.W.2d 286 (1963). Second, "[a] statute is not regarded as operating retrospectively [solely] because it relates to an antecedent event." Hughes v. Judges' Retirement Board, 407 Mich. 75, 86, 282 N.W.2d 160 (1979). Third, "[a] retrospective law is one which takes away or impairs vested rights acquired under existing laws, or creates a new obligation and imposes a new duty, or attaches a new disability with respect to transactions or considerations already past." Hughes, supra, p. 85, 282 N.W.2d 160; Ballog v. Knight Newspapers, Inc., 381 Mich. 527, 533-534, 164 N.W.2d 19 (1969). Fourth, a remedial or procedural act which does not destroy a vested right will be given effect where the injury or claim is antecedent to the enactment of the statute. Rookledge v. Garwood, 340 Mich. 444, 65 N.W.2d 785 (1954).

See also Flynn v. Flint Coatings, Inc., 230 Mich.App. 633, 636, 584 N.W.2d 627 (1998).

In the present case, 1994 P.A. 131 is silent regarding whether its amendments of the FOIA are to be retrospectively or prospectively applied. Rule one is therefore not relevant to the present circumstances. In addition, rule two is not applicable because the statute does not relate to an antecedent event. Accordingly, the present question is determined by either rule three or rule four. The third rule "define[s] those retrospective situations that are not legally acceptable,[233 Mich.App. 318] whereas the fourth rule defines those that are acceptable." In re Certified Questions, supra at 572, 331 N.W.2d 456. In other words, "rule four establishes the corollary to the general proscription found in rule three." Id. at 575, 331 N.W.2d 456. As explained by the Certified Questions Court:

The third rule states that retrospective application of a law is improper where the law "takes away or impairs vested rights acquired under existing laws, or creates a new obligation and imposes a new duty, or attaches a new disability with respect to transactions or considerations already past." Hughes, supra, p. 85, 282 N.W.2d 160. The fourth rule was stated in Hansen-Snyder, supra (headnote no. 1):

"1. STATUTES--REMEDIES--RETROSPECTIVE OPERATION--AMENDMENT. Statutes related to remedies or modes of procedure which do not create new or take away vested rights, but only operate in furtherance of a remedy or confirmation of rights already existing will, in the absence of language clearly showing a contrary intention, be held to operate retrospectively and apply to all actions accrued, pending or future, there being no vested right to keep a statutory procedural law unchanged and free from amendment." [Id. at 572, 331 N.W.2d 456.]

After reviewing In re Certified Questions and the cases discussed therein as examples of rules three and four, id. at 572-576, 331 N.W.2d 456, we hold that the present statute falls within the category of rule four cases and that therefore the fourth, not the third, rule of retroactivity applies. Reaching this conclusion, we have again looked to In re Certified Questions for guidance:

E. Rule Four Cases

The case law development of rule four establishes the corollary to the general proscription found in rule three. A remedial or procedural statute may operate

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retrospectively if it does not "take away vested rights." Ballog v. Knight [233 Mich.App. 319] Newspapers, Inc., supra, pp. 533-534, 164 N.W.2d 19, quoting from headnote no. 1 of Hansen-Snyder Co. v. General Motors Corp., 371 Mich. 480, 124 N.W.2d 286 (1963).

Moreover, in...