Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ne-supreme-court/1030494.html
Timestamp: 2019-12-10 13:26:18
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DYKES v. SCOTTS BLUFF COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY INC | FindLaw
DYKES v. SCOTTS BLUFF COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY INC
HENDRY, C.J., WRIGHT, CONNOLLY, GERRARD, STEPHAN, McCORMACK, and MILLER-LERMAN, JJ. Maren Lynn Chaloupka, of Van Steenberg, Chaloupka, Mullin, Holyoke, Pahlke, Smith, Snyder & Hofmeister, P.C., Scottsbluff, for appellant. John K. Sorensen, of Sorensen & Zimmerman, P.C., Scottsbluff, for appellee. Don Stenberg, Attorney General, and Steve Grasz for State of Nebraska regarding constitutional issue.
In this appeal, we are asked to address whether Neb.Rev.Stat. § 37-729(3) (Reissue 1998), defining recreational purposes under the Recreation Liability Act (the Act), is unconstitutionally vague and whether the viewing of livestock exhibits at a county fair is a recreational purpose under § 37-729(3). The appellant, Betty Dykes, filed a petition alleging that she was injured when she was struck by a pig that was part of a livestock exhibit at the Scotts Bluff County Fair. The fair was held on land owned by the appellee, Scotts Bluff County Agricultural Society, Inc. (the Society). The Society filed an amended answer alleging that it was immune from liability under Neb.Rev.Stat. §§ 37-1001 to 37-1008 (Reissue 1993), now codified at Neb.Rev.Stat. §§ 37-729 to 37-736 (Reissue 1998), and then filed a motion for summary judgment. The district court determined that language in § 37-729(3) defining recreational purposes was unconstitutionally vague, but that the offending language was severable from the rest of § 37-729(3). The district court then concluded that the Act applied and that thus the Society was immunized from liability. We reverse, and remand for further proceedings.
The district court sustained the Society's motion for summary judgment. In sustaining the motion, the district court concluded that the language in § 37-729(3) defining recreational purposes was unconstitutionally vague, but was severable. The district court then determined that Dykes' act of viewing livestock exhibits at the fair constituted a recreational purpose under the Act. Thus, the district court concluded that the Act applied and sustained the Society's motion for summary judgment. Dykes appeals.
We note that §§ 37-1001 to 37-1008 were amended in 1998. See 1998 Neb. Laws, L.B. 922. That amendment does not affect our disposition of this appeal, and we cite to the current statute for the sake of simplicity and convenience, and to correspond with the district court's order. See, Pfizer v. Lancaster Cty. Bd. of Equal., 260 Neb. 265, 616 N.W.2d 326 (2000); A & D Tech. Supply Co. v. Nebraska Dept. of Revenue, 259 Neb. 24, 607 N.W.2d 857 (2000); Teters v. Scottsbluff Public Schools, 256 Neb. 645, 592 N.W.2d 155 (1999).
Statutes are afforded a presumption of constitutionality, and the unconstitutionality of a statute must be clearly established before it will be declared void. Daily v. Board of Ed. of Morrill Cty., 256 Neb. 73, 588 N.W.2d 813 (1999). Even when a law is constitutionally suspect, a court will attempt to interpret that law in a manner such that it is consistent with the constitution. Id. The burden of establishing the unconstitutionality of a statute is on the one attacking the statute's validity. Id. See, also, Teters v. Scottsbluff Public Schools, supra.
Under the “ejusdem generis” canon of construction, “when a general word or phrase follows a list of specific persons or things, the general word or phrase will be interpreted to include only persons or things of the same type as those listed.” Black's Law Dictionary 535 (7th ed.1999). Thus, under the ejusdem generis rule, specific words or terms modify and restrict the interpretation of general words or terms where both are used in sequence. Kuntzelman v. Avco Financial Services of Nebraska, Inc., 206 Neb. 130, 291 N.W.2d 705 (1980).
The next question is whether Dykes' conduct of viewing livestock exhibits at a county fair constituted a “recreational purpose” under § 37-729(3). We have not previously addressed whether the viewing of livestock exhibits at a county fair falls under the term “recreational purpose” in § 37-729(3). In addressing this issue, we again construe the statute such that the specific terms in § 37-729 restrict the general term of “recreational purpose.” See, Kuntzelman v. Avco Financial Services of Nebraska, Inc., supra; Matthews v. Elk Pioneer Days, 64 Wash.App. 433, 824 P.2d 541 (1992). Dykes contends that the viewing of livestock at a county fair is not like the specific purposes enumerated in § 37-729(3). The Society argues that the viewing of livestock at a county fair is like the purpose in § 37-729(3) of “visiting, viewing, or enjoying historical, archaeological, scenic, or scientific sites.”
Although § 37-729(3) lists nature study and the viewing of scientific sites as recreational purposes, these purposes are more clearly applicable to situations other than attendance at a fair. “Nature” is defined as “[a] wild condition, untouched by civilization” or “[t]he elements of the universe, such as mountains, plants, planets, and stars.” Black's Law Dictionary 1050 (7th ed.1999). See, also, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language 953 (1994) (providing similar definitions). “Scientific” is defined in part as “of or pertaining to science or the sciences.” Id. at 1279. Absent a liberal construction, we cannot say that the act of viewing livestock exhibits at a fair falls within a recreational purpose similar to nature study nor can we determine that attendance at a fair is the equivalent of viewing a scientific site.
Thus, the question for me comes down to whether a livestock exhibit at a county fair is of the same kind or class as the “historical, archaeological, scenic, or scientific sites” enumerated in the statute. The majority states that “scientific” is defined as “ ‘of or pertaining to science or the sciences,’ ” but does not address the more pertinent question of what constitutes “science.” The dictionary defines that term as “a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws” and “systematic knowledge of the physical or material world.” Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language 1279 (1994). The farm animals viewed by Dykes were produced and exhibited by persons engaged in agriculture, which is defined as “the science or art of cultivating land in the raising of crops; tillage; husbandry; farming.” (Emphasis supplied.) Id. at 29. “Husbandry” is “the science of raising crops or food animals.” (Emphasis supplied.) Id. at 694. The farm animals exhibited at the fair were products of the application of agricultural sciences such as genetics, nutrition, and veterinary medicine. I therefore regard the purpose for which Dykes was present on the fairgrounds as substantially similar to the activities specifically enumerated in § 37-729(3).