State v. Rabourn
Decision Date | 18 March 2005 |
Docket Number | No. S-04-405.,S-04-405. |
Citation | 693 N.W.2d 291,269 Neb. 499 |
Parties | STATE of Nebraska, appellant v. Donna J. RABOURN, appellee. |
Court | Nebraska Supreme Court |
Jon Bruning, Attorney General, and J. Kirk Brown, Solicitor General, for appellant.
Mark M. Sipple, of Sipple, Hansen, Emerson & Schumacher, Columbus, for appellee.
The issue presented in this criminal appeal is whether portions of Nebraska's Abstracters Act, Neb.Rev.Stat. §§ 76-535 to 76-558 (Reissue 1996 & Cum.Supp.2000), are overbroad and therefore unconstitutional. The county and district courts for Platte County so held, and the State has timely perfected this appeal pursuant to Neb.Rev.Stat. § 29-2315.01 (Cum.Supp.2004).
On March 20, 2003, a complaint was filed against Donna J. Rabourn in the county court for Platte County alleging that she had committed a Class III misdemeanor by unlawfully failing to comply with the Abstracters Act and illegally engaging in the business of abstracting. The complaint was subsequently amended to specifically allege that Rabourn, "on or about the 21st day of November, 2001 through the 22nd day of February, 2002," failed to comply with the Abstracters Act and "illegally engaged in the business of abstracting" by "preparing reports of title to real property without an abstractor's license."
Rabourn filed a motion to quash the complaint, asserting that the Abstracters Act was void for vagueness and facially overbroad. After conducting a hearing, the county court issued an order on July 22, 2003, in which it concluded that the Abstracters Act was unconstitutionally overbroad only in the use of the term "`Report of Title'" and therefore sustained Rabourn's motion to quash. The court did not reach the issue of whether the Abstracters Act was void for vagueness, other than to note that "it is questionable that [Rabourn] has established standing to challenge the statute for vagueness." The State appealed this ruling to the district court, which affirmed.
In its sole assignment of error, the State asserts, restated, that the lower courts erred in concluding that the Abstracters Act is unconstitutionally overbroad on its face.
Whether a statute is constitutional is a question of law; accordingly, the Nebraska Supreme Court is obligated to reach a conclusion independent of the decision reached by the court below. Welvaert v. Nebraska State Patrol, 268 Neb. 400, 683 N.W.2d 357 (2004); Slansky v. Nebraska State Patrol, 268 Neb. 360, 685 N.W.2d 335 (2004).
Statutory interpretation presents a question of law. When reviewing questions of law, an appellate court has an obligation to resolve the questions independently of the conclusion reached by the trial court. Hogan v. Garden County, 268 Neb. 631, 686 N.W.2d 356 (2004); Mogensen v. Board of Supervisors, 268 Neb. 26, 679 N.W.2d 413 (2004).
Rabourn asserts that the Abstracters Act infringes on the right to freedom of speech protected by both the U.S. and Nebraska Constitutions. The parameters of the constitutional right to freedom of speech are the same under both the federal and the state Constitutions. State v. Hookstra, 263 Neb. 116, 638 N.W.2d 829 (2002); Village of Winslow v. Sheets, 261 Neb. 203, 622 N.W.2d 595 (2001); Pick v. Nelson, 247 Neb. 487, 528 N.W.2d 309 (1995). Accordingly, we apply the same analysis to the state and federal constitutional claims.
During the time period referenced in the operative complaint, the Abstracters Act was codified in the 1996 reissue of the Nebraska Revised Statutes. Section 76-537 provided in relevant part:
264 Neb. 96, 645 N.W.2d 562 (2002). A penal statute must be construed so as to meet constitutional requirements if such can reasonably be done. State v. Philipps, 246 Neb. 610, 521 N.W.2d 913 (1994). A statute is unconstitutionally overbroad and thus offends the First Amendment if, in addition to forbidding speech or conduct which is not constitutionally protected, it also prohibits the exercise of constitutionally protected speech. State v. Hookstra, 263 Neb. 116, 638 N.W.2d 829 (2002). A statute may be invalidated on its face, however, only if its overbreadth is "substantial," i.e., when the statute is unconstitutional in a substantial portion of cases to which it applies. Id.; State v. Kipf, 234 Neb. 227, 450 N.W.2d 397 (1990). Stated another way, in order to prevail upon a facial attack to the constitutionality of a statute, the challenger must show either that every application of the statute creates an impermissible risk of suppression of ideas or that the statute is "substantially" overbroad, which requires the court to find a realistic danger that the statute itself will significantly compromise recognized First Amendment protections of parties not before the court. Id. The requirement that the overbreadth be substantial arose from the recognition that the application of the overbreadth doctrine is "`"`manifestly strong medicine.'"'" State v. Hookstra, 263 Neb. at 122, 638 N.W.2d at 834, quoting State v. Kipf, supra, and Airport Comm'rs v. Jews for Jesus, Inc., 482 U.S. 569, 107 S.Ct. 2568, 96 L.Ed.2d 500 (1987).
Rabourn contends that the Abstracters Act, as it relates to the preparation of reports of title, is unconstitutionally overbroad because it criminalizes the preparation of any written summary of facts of record pertaining to real property, regardless of whether the summary purports to constitute an opinion as to the state of title and regardless of whether a fee is charged. Rabourn contends that neither § 76-538, § 76-537(3), nor § 76-537(9) requires that a report of title be done" `for a fee or other valuable consideration'" in order to come within the statutory definition of the "business of abstracting." Brief for appellee at 6. As an example of the claimed overbreadth, Rabourn argues that an unlicensed person who examines and prepares a summary of public records pertaining to real property as a favor to a relative would commit a criminal offense under the Abstracters Act as written. The State, on the other hand, argues that the Abstracters Act legitimately regulates only the "`business'" of abstracting, which it claims involves the preparation of reports of title gathered from public records and provided to members of the public for a fee or other valuable consideration. Brief for appellant at 10.
Generally, the "business of abstracting titles to real estate is affected with a public interest" such that a state may utilize its police power to regulate those who engage in such business for the protection of the public. 1 Am.Jur.2d Abstracts of Title § 5 at 368 (1994). In enacting the Abstracters Act, the Nebraska Legislature expressly stated that its purpose was "to safeguard the welfare and property of citizens of this state and to insure that abstracters serving the public meet minimum standards of proficiency and competency." § 76-536. To that end, the Abstracters Act regulates the "business of abstracting," § 76-538, by requiring that any person or entity engaged in such business be "licensed as required by the Abstracters Act," id., and by further providing that an "individual or business entity engaged in the business of abstracting in this state without having complied with the Abstracters Act shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor," § 76-558.
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