Case Title: Butterworth v. Caggiano

Citation: 605 So. 2d 56

Docket Number: 78377

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 1992-07-09T00:00:00Z

Document:
605 So. 2d 56 (1992)
Robert A. BUTTERWORTH, etc., Petitioner,
v.
Louis A. CAGGIANO, Respondent.
No. 78377.

Supreme Court of Florida.
July 9, 1992.
Rehearing Denied October 9, 1992.
*57 Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Roberta Fox, Keith P. Vanden Dooren, Steven H. Parton and J. Mark Kraus, Asst. Attys. Gen., Tallahassee, for petitioner.
Joseph A. Eustace, Jr. of Anthony J. LaSpada, P.A., Tampa, for respondent.
Robert Augustus Harper, Chairman, Tallahassee, James T. Miller, Co-Chairman, Jacksonville, George E. Tragos, FACDL President, Clearwater, and Robert S. Griscti of Turner & Griscti, P.A., Gainesville, amicus curiae for Florida Ass'n of Crim. Defense Lawyers.
BARKETT, Chief Justice.
We have for review Caggiano v. Butterworth, 583 So. 2d 347, 348 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991), in which the district court certified the following question of great public importance:[1]
We answer the certified question in the affirmative and approve the decision below.[2]
Caggiano was convicted in 1986 of one count of racketeering in violation of the Florida Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (Florida RICO Act), chapter 895, Florida Statutes (1983 & Supp. 1984), and fifteen counts of bookmaking in violation of chapter 849, Florida Statutes (1983 & Supp. 1984). Three of the bookmaking incidents occurred at Caggiano's personal residence. The State later sought forfeiture of the residence in separate civil proceedings under the Florida RICO Act on the grounds that the property was "used" in the course of racketeering activity in violation of section 895.05(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1989). The trial court, relying on DeRuyter v. State, 521 So. 2d 135 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988), found that the homestead exemption in article X, section 4 of the Florida Constitution did not protect Caggiano's residence against RICO forfeiture, and entered final summary judgment for the State. Caggiano appealed to the Second District Court of Appeal, which reversed the trial court's entry of summary judgment and held that homestead property is not subject to forfeiture under the Florida RICO Act. The Second District noted conflict *58 with DeRuyter and certified the question to this Court. The State seeks review of the Second District's decision.
Article X, section 4 of the Florida Constitution provides in relevant part:
The "civil remedies" section of the Florida RICO Act provides:
§ 895.05(2)(a), Fla. Stat. (1989). "Real property" is defined as "any real property or any interest in such real property, including, but not limited to, any lease of or mortgage upon such real property." § 895.02(9), Fla. Stat. (1989).
In DeRuyter the Fifth District Court of Appeal held that constitutional homestead property was not exempt from RICO forfeiture. The court reasoned:
521 So. 2d  at 138.
The State argues that a forfeiture is not a "forced sale" and that the homestead exemption was not intended to apply outside the debtor context, and urges that, like the Fifth District, we interpret the constitutional provision as inapplicable to forfeiture. In light of the purpose and language of the provision, we are unable to do so.
A settled rule of constitutional interpretation is that:
City of Jacksonville v. Continental Can Co., 113 Fla. 168, 172, 151 So. 488, 489-90 (1933); see also Wilson v. Crews, 160 Fla. 169, 175, 34 So. 2d 114, 118 (1948); City of Jacksonville v. Glidden Co., 124 Fla. 690, 692-93, 169 So. 216, 217 (1936).
Additionally, Florida courts have consistently held that the homestead exemption in article X, section 4 must be liberally construed. E.g., Graham v. Azar, 204 So. 2d 193, 195 (Fla. 1967); Hill v. First Nat'l Bank, 79 Fla. 391, 401, 84 So. 190, 193 (1920). A liberal construction of the homestead exemption is particularly appropriate in the context of forfeiture. Forfeitures are considered harsh penalties that are historically disfavored in law and equity, and courts have long followed a policy of strictly construing such statutes. Department *59 of Law Enforcement v. Real Property, 588 So. 2d 957, 961 (Fla. 1991); General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. State, 152 Fla. 297, 302, 11 So. 2d 482, 484 (1943); see Michael Paul Austern Cohen, Note, The Constitutional Infirmity of RICO Forfeiture, 46 Wash. & Lee.L.Rev. 937, 939 (1989).
Applying these principles, we first note that all property forfeited[3] under the Florida RICO Act is required by statute to be sold at a state auction. Section 895.05(2)(c), Florida Statutes (1989), provides:
In any event, there is no indication that the word "sale" in article X, section 4 is being used in its technical, legal sense in isolation from the surrounding language. To the contrary, it appears that the homestead exemption uses broad, nonlegal terminology that was intended simply to guarantee that the homestead would be preserved against any involuntary divestiture by the courts, without regard to the technicalities of how that divestiture would be accomplished.
The Iowa Supreme Court has likewise so viewed the protection of a homestead and held forfeiture to be a "judicial sale" within the meaning of its statutory homestead exemption.[4]
In re Property Seized from Bly, 456 N.W.2d 195, 199 (Iowa 1990) (alterations in original) (citations omitted). This logic is even more persuasive when the operative language is elevated to the level of a constitutional *60 exemption, as is Florida's homestead provision.
Contrary to the State's assertion, the plain import of the constitutional language of article X, section 4 is not limited to the debtor-creditor context. The language of the provision refers to "forced sales," not "forced sales arising from debts." The purpose of the homestead exemption has been described broadly as being to protect the family, and to provide for it a refuge from misfortune, without any requirement that the misfortune arise from a financial debt. See, e.g., Collins v. Collins, 150 Fla. 374, 377, 7 So. 2d 443, 444 (1942) ("The purpose of the homestead is to shelter the family and provide it a refuge from the stresses and strains of misfortune.").
Most significantly, article X, section 4 expressly provides for three exceptions to the homestead exemption. Forfeiture is not one of them. According to the plain and unambiguous wording of article X, section 4, a homestead is only subject to forced sale for (1) the payment of taxes and assessments thereon; (2) obligations contracted for the purchase, improvement or repair thereof; or (3) obligations contracted for house, field or other labor performed on the realty. Under the rule "expressio unius est exclusio alterious"  the expression of one thing is the exclusion of another  forfeitures are not excluded from the homestead exemption because they are not mentioned, either expressly or by reasonable implication, in the three exceptions that are expressly stated.
It makes no difference that the attempted divestiture in this case was an adjunct to a criminal proceeding. As the Supreme Court of Kansas declared in construing its state's constitutional homestead exemption:
State ex rel. Apt v. Mitchell, 399 P.2d 556, 558 (Kan. 1965) (emphasis added). Florida law likewise prohibits the implication of exceptions or limitations to article X, section 4. In Olesky v. Nicholas, 82 So. 2d 510, 513 (Fla. 1955), this Court noted:
(Emphasis added). See also Graham v. Azar, 204 So. 2d  at 195. The Florida homestead provision clearly contains no exception for criminal activity. Neither the legislature nor this Court has the power to create one.[5]See, e.g., Henderson v. State, *61 155 Fla. 487, 491, 20 So. 2d 649, 651 (1945); Crawford v. Gilchrist, 64 Fla. 41, 54, 59 So. 963, 968 (1912).
Consequently, in light of the historical prejudice against forfeiture, the constitutional sanctity of the home, and the rules of construction requiring a liberal, nontechnical interpretation of the homestead exemption and a strict construction of the exceptions to that exemption, we hold that article X, section 4 of the Florida Constitution prohibits civil or criminal forfeiture of homestead property.
Accordingly, we answer the certified question in the affirmative, disapprove DeRuyter, and approve the decision of the court below.
It is so ordered.
OVERTON, McDONALD, SHAW, KOGAN and HARDING, JJ., concur.
GRIMES, J., dissents with an opinion.
GRIMES, Justice, dissenting.
Article X, section 4(a) of the Florida Constitution, provides that homesteads "shall be exempt from forced sale under process of any court, and no judgment, decree or execution shall be a lien thereon," except those arising from certain obligations not relevant to this case. RICO forfeitures do not come within the literal language of this exemption because they do not involve a forced sale and there is no judgment, decree, or execution which purports to be a lien on the property. Therefore, the question becomes whether or not it reasonably can be said that RICO forfeitures fall within the intent of this constitutional exemption.
From the time the homestead exemption was first placed in our constitution, Florida courts have consistently pointed out that its purpose was to protect the home from loss occasioned by economic misfortune. Bigelow v. Dunphe, 143 Fla. 603, 197 So. 328 (1940); Hill v. First Nat'l Bank, 79 Fla. 391, 84 So. 190 (1920); Vandiver v. Vincent, 139 So. 2d 704 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962). After the adoption of our 1968 constitution, we reaffirmed this principle in Tullis v. Tullis, 360 So. 2d 375, 377 (Fla. 1978), when we stated:
While the homestead exemption is to be liberally construed, the law should not be applied to make it an instrument of fraud or imposition upon creditors. Milton v. Milton, 63 Fla. 533, 58 So. 718 (1912). Thus, Florida courts have not hesitated to impose equitable liens on homesteads to provide relief from fraud or other reprehensible conduct. Jones v. Carpenter, 90 Fla. 407, 106 So. 127 (1925); Gepfrich v. Gepfrich, 582 So. 2d 743 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991). In La Mar v. Lechlider, 135 Fla. 703, 711, 185 So. 833, 837 (1939), we reasoned:
If the courts are unwilling to permit the homestead exemption to protect a home which has been used as an instrument of fraud, it seems obvious that the homestead exemption should not be applied to protect *62 a home that has been an instrument of crime.
I agree with the Fifth District Court of Appeal in DeRuyter v. State, 521 So. 2d 135, 138 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988), when it said:
See In re 1632 N. Santa Rita, 801 P.2d 432 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1990), and People v. Allen, 767 P.2d 798 (Colo.Ct.App. 1988), both of which employed similar rationale.
RICO forfeitures were unknown until the 1970 enactment of the federal RICO statute. Constitutional provisions should be construed in light of the reasonable meanings according to the subject matter, but in the framework of contemporary societal needs and structure. In re Advisory Opinion to Governor, 276 So. 2d 25 (Fla. 1973). Can it seriously be argued that the homestead exemption would have been intended to protect the forfeiture of a home when the home itself was an instrumentality of a criminal enterprise?
Under the forfeiture statute, the interests of innocent persons are protected. Here, however, Caggiano does not even have a family to protect. Under the majority opinion, a building which is used for the manufacture of illegal drugs is immune from forfeiture so long as the owner lives on the premises. Such a ruling is against the public policy of the state as expressed by the legislature in the enactment of laws which forfeit property used in the commission of crimes. While the majority refers to the "historical prejudice against forfeiture," I suggest that there is an even greater historical prejudice against crime.
I respectfully dissent.
[1]  We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, § 3(b)(4) of the Florida Constitution.
[2]  The parties have not raised, and we do not address, any other issues.
[3]  When forfeited in this context, property is obviously taken from the owner, through court process, without the owner's consent.
[4]  Iowa Code section 561.16 (1991) provides in relevant part:

The homestead of every person is exempt from judicial sale where there is no special declaration of statute to the contrary.
[5]  The State cites a number of cases for the proposition that Florida courts have refused to allow the homestead exemption to shield property where there is fraud or other "reprehensible conduct." In particular, the State cites cases where the courts have imposed equitable liens on homesteads. See, e.g., Bessemer v. Gersten, 381 So. 2d 1344 (Fla. 1980); La Mar v. Lechlider, 135 Fla. 703, 185 So. 833 (1939); Jetton Lumber Co. v. Hall, 67 Fla. 61, 64 So. 440 (1914); Milton v. Milton, 63 Fla. 533, 58 So. 718 (1912). Thus, the State argues that a constitutional provision that does not shield fraud or other "reprehensible conduct" cannot logically shield property where there is a pattern of criminal conduct involved.

All of the cases cited by the State where a court has actually imposed a lien on the homestead in question, however, are either factually or legally inapposite. Virtually all of the relevant cases involve situations that fell within one of the three stated exceptions to the homestead provision. Most of those cases involve equitable liens that were imposed where proceeds from fraud or reprehensible conduct were used to invest in, purchase, or improve the homestead. See, e.g., Jones v. Carpenter, 90 Fla. 407, 415, 106 So. 127, 130 (1925); La Mar, 135 Fla. 703, 711, 185 So. 833, 836. Other relevant cases cited involve situations where an equitable lien was necessary to secure to an owner the benefit of his or her interest in the property. See, e.g., Tullis v. Tullis, 360 So. 2d 375, 377 (Fla. 1978) ("We hold, with the First District, that our constitutional provisions allow the partition and forced sale of homestead property upon suit by one of the owners of that property, if such partition and forced sale is necessary to protect the beneficial enjoyment of the owners in common to the extent of their interest in the property."). In particular, Tullis involved a marital situation with joint homestead property. In no other case has this Court imposed a lien on a homestead beyond one of the three stated exceptions in the constitutional provision. The Court in Bessemer specifically did not address the issue of whether the lien came within one of the stated exceptions to the homestead exemption. 381 So. 2d  at 1347 n. 1.
The factual situations involved in the cited cases are not present here. It is undisputed that no illicit proceeds were used to purchase, acquire, or improve Caggiano's property.