State on Behalf of Forslund v. Bronson
| Citation | 305 NW 2d 748 |
| Decision Date | 16 January 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 50789.,50789. |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, on Behalf of Wendy FORSLUND (Cooper), Respondent, v. Richard BRONSON, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Gislason, Dosland, Hunter & Malecki and Steven C. Isaacson, New Ulm, for appellant.
Warren Spannaus, Atty. Gen., St. Paul, Robert Johnson, County Atty., and Robert A. Stanich, Asst. County Atty., Anoka, for respondent.
Heard, considered and decided by the court en banc.
Defendant, Richard Bronson, appeals from an order of the district court granting plaintiff's Motion to Establish an Order of Support and directing defendant to make payments for the support of his minor child.1 On August 26, 1974, when defendant and plaintiff were each 16 years of age, a child was born to plaintiff. An action to determine paternity was commenced and, upon stipulation, defendant was, on December 18, 1975, adjudged the father of the child. In its Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order for Judgment, the court included as a conclusion of law:
The issues here presented are:
1. Does Minn.Stat. § 257.251 (1971) (repealed 1980) deny fathers of illegitimate children equal protection of the laws on the basis of gender?
2. Does Minn.Stat. § 257.251 (1971) (repealed 1980) deny fathers of illegitimate children equal protection of the laws on the basis of marital status?
Minn.Stat. § 257.251 (1971) provides:3 "The father of a child born out of wedlock is liable * * * for the * * * necessary support * * * of the child."
A gender-based classification, to survive judicial scrutiny under the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment, U.S.Const. amend. XIV4, must "serve important governmental objectives and must be substantially related to achievement of those objectives." Craig v. Boren, 429 U.S. 190, 197, 97 S.Ct. 451, 456, 50 L.Ed.2d 397 (1977); see, Caban v. Mohammed, 441 U.S. 380, 99 S.Ct. 1760, 60 L.Ed.2d 297 (1979); Orr v. Orr, 440 U.S. 268, 99 S.Ct. 1102, 59 L.Ed.2d 306 (1979).
Defendant argues that section 257.251 is violative of the equal protection clause for two reasons: (1) it purports to place the entire obligation for the support of illegitimate children upon the male parent and (2) the statute does not require the female parent to contribute financially to the child's support nor does it direct the court to consider the respective earning capacities of each parent in determining the amount of the child support to be paid by the father. Defendant further argues that no legitimate governmental objective is served by making the father exclusively liable for child support regardless of which parent has custody and that the statute is based upon sexist and outmoded notions of the male as the provider and of the female as the childrearer. In support of his argument, defendant cites several United States Supreme Court decisions in which sex-based classifications were invalidated on equal protection grounds.5
A challenge to the constitutionality of a statute meets formidable statutory construction opposition. This court, in City of Richfield v. Local No. 1215, 276 N.W.2d 42, 45 (Minn.1979) delineated the role of the courts in considering the constitutionality of legislative enactments:
In cases that challenge the constitutionality of a statute, the law is presumed to be constitutional. Head v. Special School District No. 1, 288 Minn. 496, 506, 182 N.W.2d 887, 894 (1970), certiorari denied sub nom., Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59 v. Spannaus, 404 U.S. 886, 92 S.Ct. 196, 30 L.Ed.2d 168 (1971). An act will not be found unconstitutional unless its invalidity is clear or it is shown beyond a reasonable doubt to violate the constitution. E. g., Grobe v. Oak Center Creamery Co., 262 Minn. 60, 61, 113 N.W.2d 458, 459 (1962); State v. Lanesboro Produce & Hatchery Co., 221 Minn. 246, 255, 21 N.W.2d 792, 796 (1946). We declare a law unconstitutional only if absolutely necessary, and then only with great caution. E. g., City of Pipestone v. Madsen, 287 Minn. 357, 363, 178 N.W.2d 594, 598 (1970); Minneapolis Gas Co. v. Zimmerman, 253 Minn. 164, 173, 91 N.W.2d 642, 650 (1958); State v. Lanesboro Produce & Hatchery Co., 221 Minn. 255, 21 N.W.2d 796.
It is well established that if a statute is ambiguous, the construction which avoids constitutional conflict is preferred although such construction may be less natural. Schumann v. Commissioner of Taxation, 312 Minn. 477, 481, 253 N.W.2d 130, 132 (1977). If the act is reasonably susceptible of two different constructions, one of which would render it constitutional and the other unconstitutional, we must adopt the one making it constitutional. In re Cold Spring Granite Co., 271 Minn. 460, 467, 136 N.W.2d 782, 787 (1965). Additionally, in the interpretation of statutes, the courts are required to discover and effectuate legislative intent, to consider objects which the legislature seeks to accomplish by the statute and the mischief sought to be remedied, and to avoid the result which would be absurd or would do violence to the language of the statute. Peterson v. Haule, 304 Minn. 160, 170, 230 N.W.2d 51, 57 (1975); Minn.Stat. § 645.16 (1980).
Applying these statutory construction principles to the language of section 257.251, it must be concluded that there is nothing in the statute which requires this court to read it as imposing the duty of support exclusively upon the male parent. Rather, in light of the object to be obtained by the legislation and other legislative enactments in the area of illegitimates, the most reasonable interpretation of the statute is that it was designed not to discriminate against fathers, but to remedy the inequities of the common law by establishing that both parents, not just mothers, are legally obligated to support their illegitimate children.
Prior to the enactment of the paternity act, the sole obligation to provide for illegitimate children was that of the mother under the common law. State ex rel. Schumacher v. Hausewedell, 94 Minn. 177, 102 N.W. 204 (1905); State v. Nestaval, 72 Minn. 415, 75 N.W. 725 (1898). The father had no common law duty to support his illegitimate children. State v. Lindskog, 175 Minn. 533, 221 N.W. 911 (1928). The statute forms the basis for, and extent of, the father's legal obligation to provide support. State v. Johnson, 216 Minn. 427, 13 N.W.2d 26 (1944); Reilly v. Shapiro, 196 Minn. 376, 265 N.W. 284 (1936).
The plaintiff argues that the common law duty of the mother to support her illegitimate child was not abrogated by the passage of section 257.251 or its predecessors and that although this court has held that the paternity statute "completely supersedes the primitive common law rules with reference to illegitimate children and their fathers," State v. Sax, 231 Minn. 1, 6-7, 42 N.W.2d 680, 684 (1950), it has not held that the entire support obligation was thereby transferred to the male parent.
Consideration of the purpose of the paternity act supports plaintiff's argument. Minn.Stat. § 257.33 (1980)6 imposes upon the commissioner of public welfare a duty to safeguard the interests of an illegitimate child and to secure "for him the nearest possible approximation to the care, support and education that he would be entitled to if born of a lawful marriage." It is reasonable to assume that because the mother's duty of support was already established under common law, the legislature determined it need only to focus its attention upon the father.
Defendant argues that the mother's ability to support the child should be considered in determining the extent of the father's support obligation of an illegitimate child. In response, plaintiff points out that the statute does not prohibit such a consideration and asserts that any gender-based classification is a product of case law, not the wording of section 257.251. State v. Sax, is illustrative of cases supporting the latter assertion. In Sax the court determined:
Under § 257.23, the adjudged father is subject to all the obligations for the care, maintenance, and education of the child as the father of a legitimate child. The law is settled that the father of a legitimate child owes a primary duty to support his minor child and that the mother\'s obligation is secondary to his. * * * Therefore, the mother\'s ability to support her child is irrelevant to the question of what the father should pay. To the extent that the trial court takes the mother\'s means into consideration in modifying the amount of the father\'s liability in making the support order, it is relieving the father of his primary duty, contrary to our view of the law.
231 Minn. at 19, 42 N.W.2d at 690 (emphasis added) (citation omitted).
Sax was decided at a time when the primary duty of support of legitimate children was upon the father. Haugen v. Swanson, 222 Minn. 203, 23 N.W.2d 535 (1946). The court reasoned that the mother's obligation to support her illegitimate child, like that of a mother of a legitimate child, was secondary to the father's and that,...
To continue reading
Request your trial