Opinion ID: 2218399
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Text: Studt v. Studt, 443 N.W.2d 639, 645-46, handed down July 5, 1989 (Henderson, J., specially concurring in part, dissenting in part) (abuse of discretion is proper standard for child support awards). Vellinga v. Vellinga, 442 N.W.2d 472, 475-77, (Henderson, J., dissenting) (chancery/equity power of courts is not subject to legislative encroachment; autocratic rule by legislative arm is dangerous to constitutional government, quoting Appeal of Nelson, 83 S.D. 611, 617, 163 N.W.2d 533, 536 (1967)). State ex rel. Wilcox v. Strand, 442 N.W.2d 256, 259, (Henderson, J., concurring) (1989 Legislative revisions of SDCL ch. 25-7 reject, in part, lockstep mentality fostered by rigid guidelines). Compare the disparagement of mechanical jurisprudence by Roscoe Pound in his treatise on Mechanical Jurisprudence.  8 Col.L.Rev. 605, 605-08, 613, 620-21 (1908). Peterson v. Peterson, 434 N.W.2d 732, 739-41 (S.D.1989) (Henderson, J., concurring in part, concurring in result in part) (judicial discretion, springing from experience, is necessary to decide human fate, not sterile guidelines). Feltman v. Feltman, 434 N.W.2d 590, 593-94 (S.D.1989) (Henderson, J., dissenting) (Should we weep for children of a second marriage at their birth, not at their death? Held: Children of a second marriage are not on an equal par with children of a first marriage.). Donohue v. Getman, 432 N.W.2d 281, 283-85 (S.D.1988) (Henderson, J., specially concurring) (federal dollars inspired these guidelines, yet federal law does not call for elimination of judicial discretion). Sharp v. Sharp, 422 N.W.2d 443, 448-49 (S.D.1988) (Henderson, J., dissenting) (separation of powers denies administrative mini-judges legitimacylegislature created unconstitutional jurisdictional maze, as demonstrated in Sarver v. Dathe, 439 N.W.2d 548 (S.D.1989) (majority opinion)Note: Mini-judge statutes have since been repealed by 1989 Legislature). Bruning v. Jeffries, 422 N.W.2d 579, 582-84 (S.D.1988) (Henderson, J., concurring in result) (mini-judges represent dejudicialization of the judiciary). Presently, the states are in fear so the guidelines are born. In time, this mechanical jurisprudence shall disappear because of its despisement by those who are called upon to administer them. A bond, now established to create these guidelines, is created by a chain of governmental obligation. Fear is the cement which holds the chain unbroken. Unquestionably, many prisoners of this chain will be held captive until reason and courage overcome fear and fad. As this author noted in Donohue, at 284-5, the federal Child Support Enforcement Amendments of 1984 (Pub.L. No. 98-378) required States to establish guidelines, but Congress provided that the guidelines need not be binding upon such judges or other officials. 42 U.S.C. § 667(b). On October 13, 1988, Congress changed its mandate by deleting the quoted wording and substituted the following: There shall be a rebuttable presumption, in any judicial or administrative proceeding for the award of child support, that the amount of the award which would result from the guidelines is the correct amount of child support to be awarded. A written finding or specific finding on the record that the application of the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case as determined under criteria established by the State, shall be sufficient to rebut the presumption in that case. Pub.L. 100-485, Title I, Subtitle A, § 103, 102 Stat. 2346 (1988) (effective October 13, 1989). Deviation from the guidelines, where their application is unjust, is apt, as trial courts in these cases are sitting in equity. See, e.g., Vellinga, supra (Henderson, J., dissenting). Do we see some sunshine of common sense beginning to evolve? The 1989 State Legislature, in extensively revising SDCL ch. 25-7, has now provided, effective July 1, 1989, that deviation from that chapter's guidelines may be made, inter alia, for any financial condition of either parent which would make application of the schedule inequitable. See 1989 Sess.L. ch. 220 (HB 1081), now SDCL 25-7-6.10. The way appears open, under the new law, for any trial court of this State to return to adjudication of child support issues based on the realities of the domestic situation before it as in State ex. rel . Larsgaard v. Larsgaard, 298 N.W.2d 381, 384 (S.D.1980). May the sunshine illuminate the Lady of Equity. Under the rules of equity, I would affirm the trial court's award of child support on the ground that there was no abuse of discretion. See, e.g., Herndon v. Herndon, 305 N.W.2d 917 (S.D.1981). The majority opinion, while reversing the trial court's award for failure to strictly follow guidelines, simultaneously instructs the trial court to sift through the record seeking an excuse to deviate from the guidelines noting, at footnote 3, the absurdity of such guidelines.