State v. Scoville, 6373

Decision Date30 April 1973
Docket NumberNo. 6373,6373
Citation113 N.H. 161,304 A.2d 366
PartiesSTATE of New Hampshire v. Ann SCOVILLE.
CourtNew Hampshire Supreme Court

Warren B. Rudman, Atty. Gen., and David W. Hess, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State of New Hampshire.

Winer, Lynch, Pillsbury & Howorth, Nashua, and Thomas M. Haughey, for the defendant.

GRIFFITH, Justice.

The defendant was charged with knowingly being in the company of persons in illegal possession of a controlled drug on January 15, 1972, in violation of RSA 318-B:26 II(b) (Supp.1972). On the date of the alleged offense defendant was seventeen years old. At a hearing in the Nashua District Court on January 17, 1973, the defendant moved that her case be heard as a juvenile proceeding under the provisions of the Neglected and Delinquent Children statute. RSA ch. 169. The motion was denied by Gormley, J. who reserved and transferred all questions of law raised by the denial.

RSA ch. 169 authorizes the exercise of the powers of the State as 'parens patriae' over limited classes of minors termed 'delinquent children' in the statute. A 'delinquent child' is defined as (a) a child under the age of seventeen 'who violates any law of the state or any city or town ordinance or who so deports himself as to injure or endanger the health or morals of himself or others'; or (b) a child under the age of eighteen 'who is wayward, disobedient or uncontrolled by his parent, guardian or custodian.' RSA 169:1, 2 II (Supp.1972). The district court correctly ruled that as a matter of law under the provisions of this statute defendant could not be adjudicated a 'delinquent child' because she was charged with violation of a criminal statute and had reached the age of seventeen at the time of the alleged offense.

Prior to 1965, chapter 169 applied uniformly to neglected and delinquent children under the age of eighteen years. In 1965, the statute was revised to apply to neglected children under the age of eighteen and delinquent children under the age of seventeen. Laws 1965, 256:1, 2. The statute was amended to its present form in 1969 when the definition of 'delinquent child' was changed and the chapter was again made applicable to 'wayward, disobedient or uncontrolled' children under the age of eighteen while retaining the age limit of under seventeen for children who have violated state or local laws. Laws 1969, 348:1-3. This last amendment has the effect of extending the power to classify as 'delinquent' 'wayward, disobedient or uncontrolled' seventeen-year-old children who otherwise could not be proceeded against as either juveniles or adults. The State does not allege that defendant is 'wayward, disobedient, or uncontrolled by his parent or custodian' and since 1965, all children of her age have been subject to treatment as adults for violations of the law.

Defendant contends in this court that by establishing these jurisdictional criteria RSA ch. 169 denies her equal protection of the laws under the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution because 'there is no reasonable basis for denying the protection of the act to appellant while extending such protection of the act to persons seventeen years of age who are not charged with violating a law.' A major legislative program, such as that providing specialized treatment and protection for delinquent and neglected children, requires a multitude of policy decisions which are expressed as statutory classifications. Petition of Morin, 95 N.H. 518, 68 A.2d 668 (1949). The equal protection guarantee requires that such classifications 'have some relevance to the purpose for which such classifications are made.' Baxstrom v. Herold, 383 U.S. 107, 111, 86 S.Ct. 760, 763, 15 L.Ed.2d 620, 624 (1965); Allen v. Manchester, 99 N.H. 388, 111 A.2d 817 (1955). The classification under review 'must be reasonable, not arbitrary, and must rest upon some ground of difference having a fair and substantial relation to the object of the legislation, so that all persons similarly circumstanced shall be treated alike.' F. S. Royster Guano Co. v. Virginia, 253 U.S. 412, 415, 40 S.Ct. 560, 566, 64 L.Ed. 989, 990 (1920), quoted with approval in Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71, 76, 92 S.Ct. 251, 254, 30 L.Ed.2d 225, 229 (1971).

Our statute excludes from juvenile...

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23 cases
  • People in Interest of L. V. A.
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of South Dakota
    • 16 Diciembre 1976
    ...Court of Fourth Judicial District, 1973, 161 Mont. 287, 505 P.2d 896; Sherfield v. State, Okl.Cr.1973, 511 P.2d 598; State v. Scoville, 1973, 113 N.H. 161, 304 A.2d 366; State v. Jimenez, 1972, 84 N.M. 335, 503 P.2d 315; In re Weidner, 1971, 6 Or.App. 317, 487 P.2d 1385; State v. Williams, ......
  • Gonya v. Commissioner Ins. Dept., 2005-170.
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of New Hampshire
    • 18 Mayo 2006
    ...having a fair and substantial relation to the object of the legislation." Carson, 120 N.H. at 932, 424 A.2d 825 (citing State v. Scoville, 113 N.H. 161, 163, 304 A.2d 366 (1973), in turn quoting Page 290 F.S. Royster Guano Co. v. Virginia, 253 U.S. 412, 415, 40 S.Ct. 560, 64 L.Ed. 989 (1920......
  • Gonya v. Comm'r, N.H. Ins. Dep't
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of New Hampshire
    • 18 Mayo 2006
    ...having a fair and substantial relation to the object of the legislation." Carson, 120 N.H. at 932, 424 A.2d 825 (citing State v. Scoville, 113 N.H. 161, 163, 304 A.2d 366 (1973), 153 N.H. 536 in turn quoting 899 A.2d 290 F.S. Royster Guano Co. v. Virginia, 253 U.S. 412, 415, 40 S.Ct. 560, 6......
  • State v. Brosseau, s. 82-064
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of New Hampshire
    • 1 Diciembre 1983
    ...order to satisfy State equal protection guarantees." Carson v. Maurer, 120 N.H. at 932, 424 A.2d at 831, quoting State v. Scoville, 113 N.H. 161, 163, 304 A.2d 366, 369 (1973); see Heath v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 123 N.H. at ---, 464 A.2d at The continued existence of any application of the ......
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