Case Title: State v. Fisher

Citation: 230 Kan. 192, 631 P.2d 239

Docket Number: 52,744

State: kansas

Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Date: 1981-07-17T00:00:00Z

Document:
230 Kan. 192 (1981)
631 P.2d 239
STATE OF KANSAS, Appellant,
v.
KATHLEEN FISHER, Appellee.
No. 52,744

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed July 17, 1981.
Susan Ellmaker, assistant district attorney, argued the cause, and Dennis W. Moore, district attorney, and Robert T. Stephan, attorney general, were with her on the brief for the appellant.
Louis S. Wexler, of Wexler, Wingfield & Zemites, of Shawnee Mission, argued the cause and was on the brief for the appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
MILLER, J.:
The State brings this appeal as a matter of right from an order of the Johnson District Court dismissing a complaint charging the defendant, Kathleen Fisher, with endangering a child, K.S.A. 21-3608(1)(b), and holding that statute unconstitutionally vague. We reverse.
The statute reads:
We held subsection (a) unconstitutional in State v. Meinert, 225 Kan. 816, 594 P.2d 232 (1979), finding the words "unjustifiable physical pain or mental distress" undefined in the statutes and too vague to pass constitutional muster. We noted that the title of the statute was "endangering a child" and that in State v. Kirby, 222 Kan. 1, 563 P.2d 408 (1977), we found the language "endangering of life" without further statutory definition too indefinite to pass the vagueness test applicable to criminal statutes. We said at p. 4:
We now turn to subsection (b) of the statute. It defines "endangering a child" as "[u]nreasonably causing or permitting a child ... to be placed in a situation in which its life, body or health may be injured or endangered." (Emphasis supplied.)
The action forbidden must be unreasonably done  it must not be reasonable. "Reasonable" and "unreasonable" are words of common usage, readily understood. Reasonableness is used as a standard of conduct throughout our statutes and our jury instructions.
Driving a vehicle at speeds greater than is reasonable is a misdemeanor. See K.S.A. 8-1335, -1557, and L. 1913, ch. 65, § 7. The reasonableness of the belief of the accused is an essential element in the defenses of compulsion, K.S.A. 21-3209, self-defense, K.S.A. 21-3211, -3214, and defense of property, K.S.A. 21-3212, -3213, -3214. A law enforcement officer is authorized to use such force as "he reasonably believes to be necessary" in making an arrest. K.S.A. 21-3215. Disorderly conduct is defined in our statute as "engaging in noisy conduct tending reasonably to arouse ... anger ... in others." K.S.A. 21-4101(c). Similar statutes of other states prohibiting unreasonable noise as disorderly conduct have been upheld when challenged as unconstitutionally vague. See People v. Fitzgerald, 194 Colo. 415, 573 P.2d 100 (1978); State v. McDermott, 135 Vt. 47, 373 A.2d 510 (1977).
Vehicular homicide is the killing of a human being by the operation of a vehicle "in a manner which creates an unreasonable risk of injury to the person or property of another and which constitutes a material deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would observe under the same circumstances." K.S.A. 21-3405. We upheld that statute in the face of a charge that it was unconstitutionally vague and indefinite in State v. Randol, 226 Kan. 347, 351, 597 P.2d 672 (1979). Justice Holmes, speaking for a unanimous court, said:
We conclude that "unreasonably," as that word is used in K.S.A. 21-3608(1)(b), is the doing or the omitting of some action contrary to reason, the doing of or omitting to do something that the average person, possessing ordinary mental faculties, would not have done or would not have omitted doing under all of the attendant and known circumstances.
Next we turn to the word "may." In ordinary usage it is permissive; it connotes a possibility, however remote; it means to be in some  perhaps small  degree likely, or to stand a chance of occurring. We have narrowly construed the word, as used in some statutes, and have held it to be mandatory and to mean "must," where that construction was necessary to reflect the intention of the legislature. See Johnson v. Connelly, 88 Kan. 861, 129 Pac. 1192 (1913); National Bank v. City of St. John, 117 Kan. 339, 230 Pac. 1038 (1924). In other instances we have given the word a broad and permissive construction. See In re McCort, Petitioner, 52 Kan. 18, 34 Pac. 456 (1893); and Foster v. Harper County Comm'rs, 143 Kan. 361, 55 P.2d 349 (1936). Other jurisdictions have given the word restrictive construction where necessary and appropriate. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in International Air Ind., Inc. v. American Excelsior Co., 517 F.2d 714, 728 (5th Cir.1975), cert. denied 424 U.S. 943 (1976), approved a trial court instruction that the phrase "may be substantially to lessen competition," as used in the Robinson-Patman Act, means "a reasonable probability or possibility, not imaginary or elusive, of lessening competition ...."
The Colorado Supreme Court, in People v. Hoehl, 193 Colo. 557, 568 P.2d 484 (1977), upheld a section very similar to the *195 Kansas statute when it was challenged on constitutional grounds. The Colorado statute read:
The court cited a rule for situations in which a statute may be interpreted in several ways, one of which is constitutional, concluding that in those situations the constitutional interpretation should be adopted. The court discussed the statutory language, including the construction to be placed on the word "may," as follows:
We agree with the rationale of the Colorado Supreme Court, and we hold that the word "may" as used in K.S.A. 21-3608(1)(b) means something more than a faint or remote possibility; it means that there is a reasonable probability, a likelihood that harm to the child will result.
Many states have statutes similar to K.S.A. 21-3608(1)(b), and *196 many courts have upheld such statutes. We cite just a few of such cases.
The California Court of Appeals, in an often cited opinion, People v. Beaugez, 232 Cal. App. 2d 650, 43 Cal Rptr. 28 (1965), upheld a statute very similar to K.S.A. 21-3608(1)(b) upon a vagueness challenge. Section 273a of the California Penal Code (in effect at that time) provided:
The court construed the section and considered the type of conduct which the statute sought to reach; it said at 656-658:
The New Mexico Court of Appeals upheld that state's child abuse statute in State v. Coe, 92 N.M. 320, 587 P.2d 973 (Ct. App.), cert. denied 92 N.M. 353, 588 P.2d 554 (1978), saying:
"`(3) exposed to the inclemency of the weather.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania considered a vagueness challenge to a Pennsylvania child welfare statute in Commonwealth v. Mack, 467 Pa. 613, 359 A.2d 770 (1976). Justice Roberts authored the court's opinion. He said:
"The statute provides:
....
....
See also People v. Ewing, 72 Cal. App. 3d 714, 140 Cal. Rptr. 299 (1977), People v. Peabody, 46 Cal. App. 3d 43, 119 Cal. Rptr. 780 (1975), People v. Vandiver, 51 Ill. 2d 525, 283 N.E.2d 681 (1971), and People v. Bergerson, 17 N.Y.2d 398, 271 N.Y.S.2d 236, 218 N.E.2d 288 (1966).
The predecessor of our present statute was K.S.A. 1967 Supp. 38-713, which made it a misdemeanor for any person to wilfully cause or permit any child under the age of 16 years "to be placed in such a situation that its life or limb may be endangered or its health likely to be injured." It was originally enacted as a part of Chapter 277 of the Laws of 1965, entitled CRIMES AFFECTING CHILDREN. It remained a part of the juvenile code until 1969 when the section was reworded and made a part of the Kansas Criminal Code. L. 1969, ch. 180, § 21-3608.
The purpose of K.S.A. 21-3608(1)(b) is salutary. It is to protect children, and to prevent their being placed where it is reasonably certain that injury will result. While the facts in this case have not been established, the State contends that Kathleen Fisher left her infant daughter, Sabrina, in the care of Robert Fisher, knowing that Robert had subjected Sabrina to violent physical abuse twice previously, and knowing that he had similarly abused and assaulted his own children and the children of his second wife. Wilfully leaving a tiny child with a person, knowing that he has previously and repeatedly beaten and otherwise abused the child and other children, is without question unreasonable; it obviously places the child "in a situation in which its life, body or health may be injured or endangered," and in which injury appears likely and probable. Whether upon trial the State can establish to a jury's satisfaction the facts it alleges are true, we do not know.
The wording of the statute is broad, but the purpose is likewise broad; to prevent people from placing children in situations where their lives and bodies are obviously in imminent peril. The phrase "or endangered" adds little, if anything to the statute; if a child is endangered, it may be injured; it is the likelihood of *200 injury against which the statute speaks. We conclude that K.S.A. 21-3608 (1)(b) is clear and understandable; that ordinary persons can determine what conduct is proscribed by a common-sense reading of the statute; that the statute conveys a sufficiently definite warning when measured by common understanding; and that it is not void for vagueness.
The judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings.