Opinion ID: 1130889
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Thompson reached the right result.

Text: The Thompson Court reviewed the plaintiffs' equal protection charge under the rational basis test and concluded the school funding system did not violate that standard. Under that test, the equal protection clause is violated only if a classification is based solely on reasons totally unrelated to the pursuit of the State's goals or only if no grounds can be advanced to justify the State's goals. Olsen v. J.A. Freeman Co., 117 Idaho 706, 711, 791 P.2d 1285, 1290 (1990). The appellants claim Thompson should not be applied here because recent developments in equal protection doctrine have undermined the analysis in that case. This argument has three subparts. The first is that Idaho's funding system should be subject to the strict scrutiny test for purposes of the equal protection clause because education is a fundamental interest under the Idaho Constitution. Second, the appellants argue that if the strict scrutiny test is not applied then an intermediate scrutiny test should be used. Third, the appellants argue that even if only the rational basis test applies, plaintiffs are entitled to a trial as to whether the funding system satisfies the test. We believe the result reached in Thompson as to the equal protection claim was a sound one and we continue to adhere to it. This Court set out the proper procedure for resolving an equal protection clause argument in Tarbox v. Tax Comm'n, 107 Idaho 957, 695 P.2d 342 (1985): The first step in an equal protection analysis is to identify the classification which is being challenged.... The second step is to determine the standard under which the classification will be judicially reviewed. Tarbox, 107 Idaho at 959, 695 P.2d at 344. The third step is to determine whether the standard has been satisfied. See State v. Breed, 111 Idaho 497, 500, 725 P.2d 202, 205 (Ct.App.1986). The classifications here are: 1) those citizens who must pay higher tax rates than the norm or higher taxes than the norm in order to bring their local school district to the same level of funding as other districts because of the school funding equalization program, and 2) those students, parents, and school administrators who are receiving less than an equal amount of funding from the State. As to the taxpayer plaintiffs, the proper standard is easily determined. The established rule in Idaho is that the rational basis test is the appropriate standard of review of classifications made for tax purposes. Tarbox v. Tax Comm'n, 107 Idaho at 959, 695 P.2d at 344; Sheppard v. State Dep't of Employment, 103 Idaho 501, 504, 650 P.2d 643, 646 (1982). The proper standard to apply to the second group is more difficult to identify. The appellants suggest that we apply the strict scrutiny standard, which requires that the State bear the burden of proving not only that it has a compelling state interest which justifies the classification but also that the discrimination is necessary to promote that interest. State v. Missamore, 119 Idaho 27, 33, 803 P.2d 528, 534 (1990); Newlan v. State, 96 Idaho 711, 713, 535 P.2d 1348, 1350 (1975). The appellants note that the United States Supreme Court has stated that a right is fundamental for purposes of federal equal protection analysis if that right is guaranteed in the federal constitution. San Antonio Indep. School Dist. v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1, 33, 93 S.Ct. 1278, 1297, 36 L.Ed.2d 16 (1973) ( Rodriguez held that education was not a fundamental right under the federal equal protection clause.). The appellants conclude from the above that education should be considered a fundamental right for state equal protection analysis because it is expressly mentioned in art. 9, § 1. First, we note that the Thompson Court rejected this same argument: The argument is advanced that under the strict scrutiny-compelling state interest test used by the United States Supreme Court in Rodriguez, our system of public school financing violates the equal protection clause of the Idaho Constitution. Its proponents contend that there exists a substantive fundamental right to education, based upon Art. 9, Sec. 1 of the Idaho Constitution. . . . . We believe this to be an inappropriate occasion to adopt for use by this Court in interpreting the Idaho equal protection clause, the two-tiered strict-scrutiny test used by the United States Supreme Court to initially scrutinize Rodriguez .... Nor, are we inclined to adopt, so as to dispose of this appeal, the definition of fundamental right as set forth in Rodriguez, i.e., a right explicitly or implicitly guaranteed by the Constitution. Thompson, 96 Idaho at 803, 537 P.2d at 645. Although, as the appellants correctly observe, this Court, in cases decided after Thompson, embraced the strict scrutiny analysis under our state constitution in cases where fundamental rights are involved (the two-tiered strict scrutiny test mentioned above), see, e.g., Tarbox, 107 Idaho at 959-60, 695 P.2d at 344-45; Olsen v. J.A. Freeman, Co., 117 Idaho 706, 710, 791 P.2d 1285, 1289 (1990), we have never adopted the Rodriguez definition of fundamental rights. Instead of using the Rodriguez constitutional guarantee test, we have determined whether the right in question was fundamental on a case by case basis. Thus far, this Court has never held that the particular right at issue was a fundamental one but has stated in dicta that voting, procreation, and constitutional safeguards for persons accused of crimes are fundamental rights under the state constitution. See Tarbox, 107 Idaho at 960 n. 1, 695 P.2d at 345 n. 1 ( quoting Newlan, 96 Idaho at 713, 535 P.2d at 1350); see also State v. Breed, 111 Idaho 497, 500, 725 P.2d 202, 205 (Ct.App.1986). We have determined that it is time to partially abandon our case by case determination of whether a particular right asserted is fundamental. That approach provides no neutral criteria by which the Court can make that determination and could give the appearance of result-oriented decision making. Further, it gives no guidance to the lower courts when they are faced with making that determination. We now hold that the fundamental rights found in our state constitution are those expressed as a positive right. We have considered but reject the appellants' suggestion that the Rodriguez definition of fundamental rights be adopted. Although the sections in our state constitution which impose a duty upon the government might be said to invest a derivative right in those to whom the duty is owed, the inclusion of those derivative rights in our definition of fundamental rights would be overly broad. For example, art. 3, § 26 provides that the government should promote temperance and morality; however, this section does not create a positive right to the enjoyment of the same. This is not to say that the state constitution is the exclusive source of fundamental rights. As noted above, this Court has stated that procreation is a fundamental right, and the right to procreate is not explicitly mentioned in the state constitution. See Tarbox, 107 Idaho at 960 n. 1, 695 P.2d at 345 n. 1. Rights which are not directly guaranteed by the state constitution may be considered to be fundamental if they are implicit in our State's concept of ordered liberty. In light of the above holding, we further hold that education is not a fundamental right because it is not a right directly guaranteed by the state constitution. Rather, art. 9, § 1 imposes a  duty [upon] the legislature [] to establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools. (Emphasis added.) Art. 9, § 1, [o]n its face, mandates action by the Legislature. It does not establish education as a basic fundamental right. Thompson, 96 Idaho at 806, 537 P.2d at 648. It should also be pointed out that the education article, setting forth the responsibilities of the state in regard to public education and establishing a fund to finance a portion of that system, is on a different plane than is, for example, Art. 1 of the Idaho Constitution, wherein the framers set forth fundamental rights guaranteed to the people by that constitution. Thompson, 96 Idaho at 806 n. 50, 537 P.2d at 648 n. 50. In sum, we decline to apply the strict scrutiny standard in this case. The appellants next argue that the intermediate scrutiny test should be applied. That test, sometimes called the means-focus test, has the court determine whether the legislation substantially furthers some specifically identifiable legislative end. Jones v. State Bd. of Medicine, 97 Idaho 859, 867, 555 P.2d 399, 407 (1976). The appellants rely upon State v. Reed, 107 Idaho 162, 686 P.2d 842 (Ct.App.1984), in support of their claim that the intermediate test is applied in cases where the statute blatantly discriminates between classes or where there are especially important interests involved and there is legislation which creates unusually sensitive classes. That case, however, is distinguishable because it dealt with a federal equal protection claim. The Court of Appeals noted that the United States Supreme Court had applied the intermediate level of review to cases where especially important, though not necessarily `fundamental' interests are at stake and in cases where unusually sensitive, although not necessarily `suspect,' classes have been created. Reed, 107 Idaho at 170, 686 P.2d at 850; see also Missamore, 119 Idaho at 33, 803 P.2d at 534 (discussing federal equal protection analysis). The Reed Court went on to observe that this Court in Jones v. State Board of Medicine and Tarbox v. Tax Commission had applied the intermediate scrutiny test only to those classifications which have discriminatory effects which are blatant or apparent on their face. Id. Thus, the Reed Court perceptively pointed out the difference between the federal and state equal protection analysis as it pertains to the intermediate standard of review. As the appellants here have limited their equal protection argument to the state constitution, we need not apply the intermediate standard of review unless the discriminatory effects of the school funding system are either blatant or apparent on its face pursuant to Jones and Tarbox. We have examined the statutes in question and have concluded that the only aspect of the funding scheme challenged by the appellants which blatantly discriminates is I.C. § 33-802. That statute treats chartered school districts differently than non-chartered school districts in their respective powers to levy additional taxes. Thus, as to this small part of the appellants' equal protection challenge, the intermediate standard of review applies. As to the remainder of the appellants' equal protection challenge, there is no suspect class involved, nor fundamental right, and the statutes involved do not blatantly discriminate. Thus, the rational basis test is the proper standard of review of those portions of the school funding system. Having identified the classes and the appropriate standards of review, we now turn to the third part of the equal protection analysis: whether the standards have been met. As to those statutes which do not blatantly discriminate, we adhere to the holding in Thompson that they withstand scrutiny under the rational basis test. [1] Thompson, 96 Idaho at 803, 537 P.2d at 645. As to the challenge to I.C. § 33-802, we remand to the district court for reconsideration under the intermediate standard.