Opinion ID: 2629223
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Gunwall Analysis: State Constitution Provides for Independent Analysis

Text: As in Grant County I, on reconsideration we hold that the privileges and immunities clause of the Washington State Constitution, article I, section 12, requires an independent constitutional analysis from the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution. [10] Before Grant County I, this court had yet to reach such a conclusion. However, the United States Supreme Court has suggested that annexation is a suitable topic for state constitutional analysis. In Hunter v. City of Pittsburgh, the Supreme Court held that while a state at its pleasure may expand or contract the territorial area with or without the consent of the citizens, unrestrained by the United States Constitution, such state action must conform to its state constitution. 207 U.S. 161, 178-79, 28 S.Ct. 40, 52 L.Ed. 151 (1907). And, although in recent cases this court has held that the privileges and immunities clause is substantially similar to the equal protection clause, Seeley v. State, 132 Wash.2d 776, 788, 940 P.2d 604 (1997), the possibility that article I, section 12 could be analyzed separately from the federal equal protection clause has been left open. In re Det. of Turay, 139 Wash.2d 379, 412 n. 24, 986 P.2d 790 (1999). See also In re Pers. Restraint of Mota, 114 Wash.2d 465, 472, 788 P.2d 538 (1990) (declining to address greater protection issue because the parties did not properly brief and/or argue the issue); Sofie v. Fibreboard Corp., 112 Wash.2d 636, 640-42, 771 P.2d 711, 780 P.2d 260 (1989) (holding that, if properly presented, interpretation of article I, section 12 could require a separate analysis). In determining that our state constitutional provision requires a separate and independent constitutional analysis from the United States Constitution, we consider six nonexclusive neutral criteria: (1) the textual language of the state constitution; (2) differences in the texts of parallel provisions of the federal and state constitutions; (3) state constitutional and common law history; (4) preexisting state law; (5) structural differences between the federal and state constitutions; and (6) matters of particular state or local concern. State v. Gunwall, 106 Wash.2d 54, 58, 720 P.2d 808 (1986).