Opinion ID: 1908722
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Private Remedies for Violations of Article 14

Text: Having concluded that a private right action may lie based on an Article 14 violation, we must decide whether monetary damages may be awarded for its violation, if proven. The question becomes whether a common law action exists already to remedy the violation, or, if an action does not now exist, whether one should be judicially recognized. The Court has employed this common law tort analysis for constitutional claims previously, finding a right to sue for damages, but has done so only when it concluded that the constitutional provision at issue conveyed an individual rightfor example, the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures or the right to be free from the taking of private property without just compensation. Thus, in Widgeon v. Eastern Shore Hospital Center, 300 Md. 520, 479 A.2d 921 (1984), we held that a plaintiff could maintain an action for damages when alleging a violation of the Articles of the Declaration of Rights addressing searches and seizures and the deprivation of liberty, life, and property because Maryland courts historically have recognized, as an established doctrine, that where a statute establishes an individual right, imposes a corresponding duty on the government, and fails to provide an express statutory remedy, a traditional common law action will ordinarily lie. Widgeon, 300 Md. at 536, 479 A.2d at 929 (Citations omitted). In Widgeon, we concluded that Articles 24 and 26 were intended to preserve individual liberty and property interests, respectively. Id. In contrast to Articles 24 and 26, Article 14 does not secure or proclaim an individual right; rather, its terms address principles akin to those of federalism, separation of powers, and the government's authority to tax. Applying common law tort analysis to the claimed Article 14 violation to determine whether an action for damages may lie for its violation, we conclude that it does not. We also decline to create judicially a monetary damages remedy for its alleged violation. This kind of asserted constitutional violation is best corrected by declaratory or injunctive relief, not damages, because the roots of the Article 14 are not born of the common law action of trespass, like Articles 24 and 26. Although an Article 14 violation is a constitutional tort in the sense that it is a violation of a constitutional duty imposed upon government to refrain from levying aids, charges, taxes, burdens, or fees without the consent of the Legislature, it is not one of those individual rights for which a monetary damages remedy should be available. [8] Had Appellants not waived for appellate consideration their Article 24 due process claim asserted in the trial court, perhaps damages might be available were we to conclude that they pleaded sufficiently a claim that the telephone commission was illegal. [9] Be that as it may, we hold that a private right of action may lie for an alleged violation of Article 14; but only declaratory and injunctive relief are available to remedy such a violation.