Opinion ID: 2395107
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Statutory Preemption of State Common Law

Text: West Virginia Code § 29-1-8a (1993), [2] enacted within legislation regarding the administration of the Division of Culture and History, recognizes a real and growing threat to the safety and sanctity of unmarked human graves in West Virginia.... The statute specifies that the existing laws of the state do not provide equal or adequate protection for all such graves and observes as follows: As evident by the numerous incidents in West Virginia which have resulted in the desecration of human remains and vandalism to grave markers, there is an immediate need to protect the graves of earlier West Virginians from such desecration. The legislature provided that the statute was not intended to interfere with the normal activities of private property owners, farmers, or those engaged in the development, mining or improvement of real property. W. Va.Code § 29-1-8a(a). The prohibitions provided by the statute include, in pertinent part, as follows: No person may excavate, remove, destroy, or otherwise disturb any historic or prehistoric ruins, burial grounds, archaeological site, or human skeletal remains, unmarked grave, grave artifact or grave marker of historical significance unless such person has a valid permit issued to him or her by the Director of the Historic Preservation Section.... A person who, either by himself or through an agent, intentionally excavates, removes, destroys or otherwise disturbs any historic or prehistoric ruins, burial grounds or archaeological site, or unmarked grave, grave artifact or grave marker of historical significance without first having been issued a valid permit by the Director of the Historic Preservation Section, or who fails to comply with the terms and conditions of such permit, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, and may be imprisoned in the county jail for not less than ten days nor more than six months or both fined and imprisoned. A person who, either by himself or through an agent, intentionally excavates, removes, destroys or otherwise disturbs human skeletal remains of historical significance without first having been issued a valid permit by the Director of the Historic Preservation Section, or who fails to comply with the terms and conditions relating to disinterment or displacement of human skeletal remains of such permit, is guilty of the felony of disinterment or displacement of a dead human body or parts thereof under section fourteen, article eight, chapter sixty-one of this code and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the state penitentiary not less than two nor more than five years. W. Va.Code § 29-1-8a(c)(1) (emphasis supplied). Of the various definitions provided by the statute, it is necessary to recognize particular attributes which provide the essential framework for an understanding of the scope of the statute. For instance, the definition of an unmarked grave is limited and is specified as any grave or location where a human body or bodies have been buried or deposited for at least fifty years and the grave or location is not in a publicly or privately maintained cemetery or in the care of a cemetery association, or is located within such cemetery or in such care and is not commonly marked [.] W. Va.Code § 29-1-8a(b)(2) (emphasis supplied). Likewise, the definition of disturb is listed as excavating, removing, exposing, defacing, mutilating, destroying, molesting, or desecrating in any way of human skeletal remains, unmarked graves, grave artifacts or grave markers[.] W. Va.Code § 29-1-8a(b)(6). The statute also provides certain other penalties for violation, as follows: Persons convicted of any prohibited act involving the excavation, removal, destruction, disturbance or offering for sale or exchange of historic or prehistoric ruins, burial grounds, archaeological site, human skeletal remains, unmarked grave, grave artifact or grave marker under the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2), subsection (c) of this section shall also be liable for civil damages to be assessed by the prosecuting attorney in consultation with the Director of the Historic Preservation Section. Civil damages may include: (i) Forfeiture of any and all equipment used in disturbing the protected unmarked graves or grave markers; (ii) Any and all costs incurred in cleaning, restoring, analyzing, accessioning and curating the recovered material; (iii) Any and all costs associated with recovery of data, and analyzing, publishing, accessioning and curating materials when the prohibited activity is so extensive as to preclude the restoration of the unmarked burials or grave markers; (iv) Any and all costs associated with restoring the land to its original contour or the grave marker to its original condition; (v) Any and all costs associated with reinterment of the human skeletal remains; and (vi) Any and all costs associated with the determination and collection of the civil damages. When civil damages are recovered, the proceeds, less the costs of the prosecuting attorney associated with the determination and collection of such damages, shall be deposited into the Endangered Historic Properties Fund and may be expended by the Commissioner of Culture and History for archaeological programs at the state level, including the payment of rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons violating the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2), subsection (c) of this section. W. Va.Code § 29-1-8a(g)(2). This Court's review of the statute discloses a clear legislative intent to preempt common law desecration claims with respect to the narrowly-defined matters identified and covered by the statutory protection. The statutory language, as referenced above, specifically states the legislature's intention, as follows: The Legislature finds that there is a real and growing threat to the safety and sanctity of unmarked human graves in West Virginia and the existing laws of the State do not provide equal or adequate protection for all such graves. W. Va.Code § 29-1-8a(a). In State ex rel. Riffle v. Ranson, 195 W.Va. 121, 464 S.E.2d 763 (1995), this Court explained that the proper approach to any statutory construction issue after the Legislature adopts explicit limitations to a preexisting common law rule must be to decide initially whether the Legislature preempted the field and thereby left any room for judicial discretion. 195 W.Va. at 125, 464 S.E.2d at 767. The particularized statement of purpose adequately indicates the legislature's intentions, and this Court holds that West Virginia Code § 29-1-8a preempts common law with respect to the matters specifically addressed in the statute. The statute preempts all common law claims involving historic or prehistoric ruins, burial grounds, archaeological site, or human skeletal remains, unmarked grave, grave artifact or grave marker of historical significance. W. Va.Code § 29-1-8a(c)(1). The statute clearly provides that any unmarked grave, defined as a grave over fifty years old not in a publicly or privately maintained cemetery or a not commonly marked grave over fifty years old in a maintained cemetery, will be encompassed within the statutory coverage. Grave markers are included in the statutory protection only if they are of historical significance. Id. The preemptive effect of the statute applies only to the narrowly-defined categories of graves and other related items that the statute delineates. Thus, common law is not preempted by the statute where the legislature has not specified statutory protection in West Virginia Code § 29-1-8a. Common law civil remedies remain available in grave desecration cases where the grave is not subject to this statutory protection. Criminal penalties are also available under West Virginia Code § 61-8-14 (2010). Interestingly, West Virginia Code § 61-8-14(b)(3) provides that desecration means destroying, cutting, mutilating, effacing, injuring, tearing down, removing, defacing, damaging or otherwise physically mistreating in a way that a reasonable person knows will outrage the sensibilities of persons likely to observe or discover his or her actions.  W. Va.Code § 61-8-14(b)(3) (emphasis supplied). West Virginia Code § 29-1-8a does not provide a definition of desecration.