Opinion ID: 1843606
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: B. Alabama Caselaw

Text: In Morgan County Commission v. Powell, 292 Ala. 300, 293 So.2d 830 (1974), the county commission refused to approve a salary schedule for circuit court judicial secretaries proposed by the circuit judges. The Alabama Supreme Court overruled the circuit judges' attempt to order the commissioners to approve the salary schedule. This Court held that the judges did not have the authority to order appropriations and that their order overreached the limits of the judges' inherent power. The Court held that [i]n the aspect of appropriating money from the county treasury, a county governing body must be deemed as exercising a legislative power. 292 Ala. at 305, 293 So.2d at 834. This Court also stated that [n]o distinction is made therefore in our discussion of the powers and limitations of the functions of the three branches of government whether on the state level or county level. 292 Ala. at 305, 293 So.2d at 834. This Court stated: Within their respective spheres each branch of government is supreme. State v. Stone, 224 Ala. 234, 139 So. 328 [(1932)]. Judicial power and legislature power are coordinate, and neither can encroach upon the other. Ex parte Huguley Water System et al., 282 Ala. 633, 213 So.2d 799 [(1968)]. The authority to determine the amount of appropriations necessary for the performance of the essential functions of government is vested fully and exclusively in the legislature. Abramson v. Hard, 229 Ala. 2, 155 So. 590 [(1934)]. Section 72, Alabama Constitution, provides: `No money shall be paid out by the treasury except upon appropriation by law.' 292 Ala. at 306, 293 So.2d at 834. Thus, Morgan County Commission stands for the proposition that the judiciary may not encroach upon power given to the Legislature, and judicial officials cannot order legislative officials to take a particular policy course. This Court, in State v. Reed, 364 So.2d 303 (Ala.1978), considered a quo warranto action brought by a voter challenging Thomas Reed's right to maintain his office as an Alabama legislator after Reed had been convicted of attempted bribery. The trial court had entered a summary judgment based on Reed's claims that §§ 51 and 53 of the Alabama Constitution gave the Legislature the sole right to judge the qualifications of legislators and to expel them from office. The question in the case was, therefore, whether § 51 and § 53, which give the Legislature exclusive power to expel members from the state legislature because of felony convictions, preclude the judiciary from enforcing § 60, Ala. Const.1901, which prohibits a person convicted of bribery, a crime of moral turpitude, from holding office. This Court noted that this question was not a political one incapable of judicial resolution because § 51 and § 53 do not constitute a textually demonstrable constitutional commitment of the issue to a coordinate political department. Reed, 364 So.2d at 305. Thus, it was a proper subject for judicial resolution. The Court quoted State v. Porter, 1 Ala. 688 (1840). [A]fter an election has been made, according to the forms of the constitution, there is no inhibition, either express or implied, upon the judiciary, which will prevent that department from inquiring, whether in the choice made, some feature of that instrument has not been violated, or an office conferred upon one, who was not eligible to its enjoyment. Reed, 364 So.2d at 307 (citing Porter, 1 Ala. at 697-99). In Brooks v. Hobbie, 631 So.2d 883 (Ala. 1993), this Court answered a question certified from the United States District Court for the Middle District of AlabamaWhether a circuit court had the power to change the state's legislative districts. This Court answered affirmatively, stating that the law in apportionment cases, because of cases like Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 82 S.Ct. 691, 7 L.Ed.2d 663 (1962), and Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 84 S.Ct. 1362, 12 L.Ed.2d 506 (1964), had evolved to the point that the political question issue no longer barred judicial action. This Court further stated that, under the Alabama Constitution, the Legislature has the initial responsibility to act in redistricting matters. However, in the event the legislature fails to act, the responsibility shifts to the state judiciary. Brooks, 631 So.2d at 890. The standard for court intervention in cases that potentially involve a political question is unclear. At first glance, Brooks may seem to give broad authority for judicial intervention. However, Brooks follows Baker, which allowed intervention in reapportionment cases because the intervention did not violate the six-factor test set forth in Baker. There is also strong federal caselaw supporting judicial action in the area of reapportionment. In the area of equitable funding of education, however, not only is federal caselaw support lacking, but there is actually contrary federal precedent. See San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, supra. Applying Alabama caselaw to the circuit court's liability and remedy orders, I believe that the orders violated the separation of powers doctrine. The orders violate Morgan County Commission because they encroach upon the authority of the legislative and executive branches over education and upon the legislative control of state funds. The remedy order encroaches upon constitutional authority by ordering the legislative branch to adopt legislative policies advocated by the circuit court. It also violates § 72 of the Alabama Constitution, which vests in the legislative branch sole authority for spending state funds. The remedy order further violates Reed. Reed requires judges to uphold the constitution, but it does not authorize the judiciary to go beyond merely reviewing legislative action. Judge Reese could invalidate a legislative action that violated the state or federal constitution, but he cannot order the Legislature to adopt another in its place. The remedy order also violates Brooks. Brooks allows judicial action within the limits of Baker, when the Legislature has refused to act. In the case at hand, the Legislature has not refused to act. If the education policy of Alabama is unconstitutional, then a declaratory judgment might be proper, but the remedy order, which mandates specific legislative action, goes too far. Indeed, the plaintiffs sought only a declaratory judgment. Judge Reese cites Marbury v. Madison, supra, to support his order. However, in Marbury the United States Supreme Court struck down § 13 of the Judiciary Act; it did not give a 20-page policy order to the executive branch. Marbury supports only a court's entering a declaratory judgment as to whether an action is unconstitutional. As authority for his remedy order, Judge Reese cites Gilbreath v. Wallace, 292 Ala. 267, 292 So.2d 651, 655 (1974); State v. Skeggs, [State ex rel. Meyer v. Greene], 154 Ala. 249, 46 So. 268, 270 (1908); and Ballentyne v. Wickersham, 75 Ala. 533, 542 (1883). Gilbreath, supra, was a will contest in which this Court held that a statute providing for a 6-member, rather than a 12-member, jury in the circuit court violated the right to trial by jury guaranteed under § 11 of the Alabama Constitution. This Court held that the Legislature may give rights in addition to those given by the constitution, but that it cannot take away a citizen's constitutional rights. Gilbreath, 292 Ala. at 271, 292 So.2d at 655. This court struck down only the application of the six-member-jury statute to will contests; it did not order the Legislature to adopt a new statute with court-ordered policies; it merely noted that if changes were necessary it was the duty of the Legislature to effectuate those changes either by constitutional amendment or by legislative enactment. Thus, Gilbreath does not support Judge Reese's ordering the Legislature to adopt specific legislation. Skeggs, supra, involved Act No. 53, 1907 Ala. Acts, providing that the sale of alcoholic beverages would be prohibited in all counties that voted for the proposition. The plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of Act No. 53, alleging that it was unconstitutional in its enactment. The plaintiffs alleged that the statute was too vague as to when the prohibition was effective, and that the law was local, not general. This Court upheld Act No. 53, rejecting each of the plaintiffs' claims. The case stands for the right of state courts to review the constitutionality of legislative acts. Skeggs, 154 Ala. at 254, 46 So. at 270. However, the case does not support a circuit judge's ordering the Legislature to adopt a specific policy authored by the trial judge. Ballentyne, supra, involved an action for malicious prosecution. The plaintiff claimed that he was maliciously brought before, convicted by, and sentenced by the inferior criminal court of Mobile. The plaintiff claimed that the court lacked jurisdiction to try the case or to issue a judgment because, he argued, the statute that created the court was unconstitutional. This Court held that the statute violated Article III, § 45, which requires that a bill contain only one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title. The Court found that the bill's title contained two subjects and that the bill itself contained three subjects. Ballentyne, 75 Ala. at 535. Ballentyne offers no support to a court's directing the Legislature to adopt policies and spend tax dollars. Judge Reese states that his ruling in favor of the plaintiffs does not mean the court would improperly interject itself into the affairs of coordinate branches by ordering tax increases and setting priorities for government spending. Judge Reese stated: This misconstrues the judicial role. The court neither taxes nor spends, but simply decides the case before it, declares constitutional rights, and where necessary, enjoins their violation, as it must be in our constitutional system. Many (perhaps most) constitutional decisions in practice have budgetary implications, but the actual fiscal effects of such decisions are controlled not by the court but by policymakers, who establish budgetary and tax policy in the first instance, and who must weigh the potential cost of unconstitutional acts in that balance. Liability Order, April 1, 1993, at 41. Judge Reese exceeded his own expression of the proper judicial rule when he ordered the Governor and the Legislature to establish an equitable and adequate education system that followed his specific policy requirements and findings and by requiring the establishment of a foundation fund for education. Judge Reese did not simply decide the case before the court and declare constitutional rights and enjoin their violation. He could have stayed within his own expression of the proper role of the judiciary by granting the relief requested and entering a declaratory judgment. Judge Reese, in his broad sweeping order, went far beyond the relief requested in the complaint and far beyond his own statement of the proper judicial role. Judge Reese cited Wyatt v. Aderholt, 503 F.2d 1305, 1314 (5th Cir.1974), as support for the proposition that judicial intervention does not violate policymakers' control of budgetary concerns and tax policy. Wyatt involved a class action alleging that Alabama's facilities designed to house and habilitate the state's mentally ill and mentally retarded were being operated in a constitutionally impermissible fashion. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the United States Constitution guarantees persons civilly committed to mental institutions a right to treatment, and that these state institutions had violated this right by not providing the constitutionally required minimal standards of care. However, the court did not require the state to reform the system in a particular way or to adopt new spending plans or to levy new taxes. The court simply reviewed the actions of the state and struck them down where unconstitutional. The Fifth Circuit stated: It goes without saying that state legislatures are ordinarily free to choose among various social services competing for legislative attention and state funds but that does not mean that a state legislature is free ... to provide a social service in a manner which will result in the denial of individuals' constitutional rights. 503 F.2d at 1314-15. The court recognized that the trial court should defer to the Legislature, whose job it should be to develop minimal standards for these state institutions. Moreover, the court noted that only if and when the Legislature fails to act should the trial court do anything to remedy the violations of an individual's constitutional rights. Many states reacted to the type of judicial intervention of Wyatt by releasing their civilly committed mental patients, most of whom were ill-prepared to operate in society. Thus, there was a practical downside to the declaratory judgment in Wyatt. Yet, the intervention of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Wyatt was extremely conservative compared to the orders of the circuit court in this case. The negative consequences of Wyatt -type declaratory judgments should serve as an additional warning against the type of broad judicial intervention expressed in the Remedy Order in this case.