Opinion ID: 890151
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 18

Heading: Issue 4. Whether the constitutionally infirm provisions of LR-119 can be severed from the remainder of the referendum.

Text: ¶ 84 As noted at the outset, LR-119 would effect three changes concerning the qualifications and selection of Supreme Court justices. First, it would require a candidate to be a qualified elector of the district from which the candidate is elected. Second, it would require that each justice be elected from a separate district and would correspondingly take away the present right of all Montana voters to select all seven justices. Third, it would change the method of selecting the chief justice from a statewide election to a selection by the seven justices from among their number. Based on the analysis under Issue 3, the first and second of these changes are facially unconstitutional. Plaintiffs have not challenged the third change concerning the selection of the chief justice, and thus we shall assume (without deciding) that this change is not unconstitutional. The question, then, is whether the provisions creating new qualifications and district-based elections can be severed from the provisions modifying how the chief justice is selected. ¶ 85 In this regard, the State points out that LR-119 contains a severability section, which states: If a part of [this act] is invalid, all valid parts that are severable from the invalid part remain in effect. If a part of [this act] is invalid in one or more of its applications, the part remains in effect in all valid applications that are severable from the invalid applications. LR-119 (SB 268), § 6 (brackets in original). The State and Legislators argue that severability could be accomplished here and that the remainder of the referendum could go to the electorate. Plaintiffs, on the other hand, argue that the District Court got it right when it concluded that the invalid portions of the referendum cannot be severed from the rest. We agree with Plaintiffs. ¶ 86 It is a well-established principle that a statute is not destroyed in toto because of an improper provision, unless such provision is necessary to the integrity of the statute or was the inducement to its enactment. Hill v. Rae, 52 Mont. 378, 389-90, 158 P. 826, 831 (1916); State ex rel. Evans v. Fire Dept. Relief Assn., 138 Mont. 172, 178, 355 P.2d 670, 673 (1960); Mont. Auto. Assn. v. Greely, 193 Mont. 378, 399, 632 P.2d 300, 311 (1981); Sheehy v. Pub. Employees Ret. Div., 262 Mont. 129, 141, 864 P.2d 762, 770 (1993); Finke v. State ex rel. McGrath, 2003 MT 48, ¶ 25, 314 Mont. 314, 65 P.3d 576; Oberson v. U.S. Dept. of Agric., 2007 MT 293, ¶ 26, 339 Mont. 519, 171 P.3d 715. If, when an unconstitutional portion of an act is eliminated, the remainder is complete in itself and capable of being executed in accordance with the apparent legislative intent, it must be sustained. Mont. Auto. Assn., 193 Mont. at 399, 632 P.2d at 311 (citing Gullickson v. Mitchell, 113 Mont. 359, 375, 126 P.2d 1106, 1114 (1942)). ¶ 87 Applying these principles, the District Court reviewed the language and legislative history of LR-119 and found that the Legislature did not pass LR-119 for the purpose of changing the method of selecting the chief justice. In other words, this was not the inducement for LR-119's enactment, and thus judicial severability policy does not apply. See Sheehy, 262 Mont. at 141, 864 P.2d at 770. The District Court also expressed concern with the State's and Legislators' suggestion that the court should somehow revise LR-119 to edit out major portions in an effort to salvage some small part that might pass constitutional muster. The court reasoned that the principle of separation of powers commits the drafting of legislation to the Legislature, not the courts. The court noted that in reviewing challenges to ballot initiatives proposed by the electorate, a district court has authority to rewrite the ballot statements on the proposed initiatives but not to rewrite the initiatives themselves. See § 13-27-316, MCA. Here, the court stated, [w]ithout clear judicial legislation, this Court cannot re-write the remaining parts of this referendum. To do so would entail completely re-writing the title, the ballot statement, the statements of implication, and the text of the referendum itself. There is no constitutional or statutory authority for such a revision. In sum, the District Court concluded that if it severed the invalid parts, the remaining provisions are neither a complete statutory scheme nor do they reflect what induced the Legislature to pass LR-119 in the first place. ¶ 88 Neither the State nor Legislators refute the District Court's reasoning. Nor do they suggest that it would be proper for the courts to rewrite this referendum in order to salvage some small part of it. Legislators maintain that the change to how the chief justice is selected is independent of the other changes effected by LR-119 and is itself constitutional. However, even assuming this to be true for the sake of argument, we agree with the District Court that changing how the chief justice is selected was not the inducement for passing LR-119. [12] Furthermore, as the District Court noted, salvaging this part of the referendum would involve completely rewriting the title, the ballot statement, the statements of implication, and the text of the referendum itself which the courts are not situated to do. For these reasons, we conclude that the constitutionally infirm portions of LR-119 cannot be severed from the remainder of the referendum.