Opinion ID: 2330607
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Constitutionality of the Female Sitters Law

Text: A. The Maryland Equal Rights Amendment This Court has consistently held that a law that imposes different benefits and different burdens upon persons based solely upon their sex violates the Maryland ERA. See, e.g., Condore v. Prince George's County, 289 Md. 516, 524, 425 A.2d 1011, 1015 (1981); Kline v. Ansell, 287 Md. 585, 593, 414 A.2d 929, 932 (1980); Rand v. Rand, 280 Md. 508, 513, 374 A.2d 900, 903 (1977). In Rand v. Rand, 280 Md. 508, 374 A.2d 900 (1977), we considered the impact of the Maryland ERA on the common law obligation of a father to support his minor children. Chief Judge Murphy, speaking for the Court, said: [W]e believe that the `broad, sweeping, mandatory language' of the amendment is cogent evidence that the people of Maryland are fully committed to equal rights for men and women. The adoption of the E.R.A. in this state was intended to, and did, drastically alter traditional views of the validity of sex-based classifications. Rand, 280 Md. at 515-16, 374 A.2d at 904-05. In explaining the effect of the Maryland ERA, Chief Judge Murphy quoted Henderson v. Henderson, 458 Pa. 97, 101, 327 A.2d 60, 62 (1974) (per curiam), which said: `The thrust of the Equal Rights Amendment is to insure equality of rights under the law and to eliminate sex as a basis for distinction. The sex of citizens of this Commonwealth is no longer a permissible factor in the determination of their legal rights and legal responsibilities. The law will not impose different benefits or different burdens upon the members of a society based on the fact that they may be man or woman.' Rand, 280 Md. at 513, 374 A.2d at 903 (emphasis added). In Kline v. Ansell, 287 Md. 585, 414 A.2d 929 (1980), we considered the impact of the Maryland ERA upon the common law cause of action for criminal conversation. There we said: At common law, the action for criminal conversation provided different benefits to and imposed different burdens upon men and women. Only a man could sue or be sued for criminal conversation. These facts remain unchanged under the common law as it exists in Maryland today. A man has a cause of action for criminal conversation, but a woman does not. Moreover, a man who engages in an act of sexual intercourse with another man's wife is civilly liable for damages, but a woman who engages in a similar activity with another woman's husband is not. Thus, Maryland's law provides different benefits for and imposes different burdens upon its citizens based solely upon their sex. Such a result violates the ERA. ... The common law cause of action for criminal conversation is a vestige of the past. It cannot be reconciled with our commitment to equality of the sexes. Kline, 287 Md. at 592-93, 414 A.2d at 933 (footnote omitted) (emphasis added). In Condore v. Prince George's County, 289 Md. 516, 425 A.2d 1011 (1981), we considered the impact of the Maryland ERA upon the common law doctrine of necessaries. There we said: Under the common law of Maryland, prior to the adoption of the ERA, the husband had a legal duty to supply his wife with necessaries suitable to their station in life, but the wife had no corresponding obligation to support her husband, or supply him with necessaries, even if she had the financial means to do so. ..... [W]e think the common law doctrine of necessaries is predicated upon a sex-based classification which is unconstitutional under the ERA. Condore, 289 Md. at 520, 530, 425 A.2d at 1013, 1018 (emphasis added). Here, the Female Sitters Law provides different benefits to and imposes different burdens upon men and women. Under the statute, a man can be employed as a sitter but a woman cannot. Moreover, an employer may employ male sitters but may not employ female sitters. Thus, Maryland's law provides different benefits to and imposes different burdens upon its citizens based solely upon sex. Such a result violates the Maryland ERA. The Female Sitters Law is a vestige of the past. It cannot be reconciled with our commitment to equality of the sexes. Accordingly, we now hold that the Female Sitters Law is unconstitutional. [2] B. Severability Having determined that the Female Sitters Law is premised upon gender-based discrimination and is, therefore, unconstitutional, we shall additionally determine whether that statute should be invalidated in its entirety or its gender-based discrimination should be eliminated by severing the word female, so that the prohibition against sitters would apply to both sexes. In making this determination, we shall apply established principles of severability. The primary focus in questions of severability is legislative intent. The intent to be ascertained, however, is not actual legislative intent, as the Legislature obviously intended to enact the statute as written in its entirety. Rather, when severability is the issue, the courts must look to what would have been the intent of the legislative body, if it had known that the statute could be only partially effective. In determining this legislative intent, in addition to considering the legislative history of an act, courts apply certain established principles of construction. Perhaps the most important of these principles is the presumption, even in the absence of an express clause or declaration, that a legislative body generally intends its enactments to be severed if possible. Moreover, when the dominant purpose of an enactment may largely be carried out, notwithstanding the statute's partial invalidity, courts will generally hold the valid portions severable and enforce them. Nevertheless, when the General Assembly enacts a prohibition with an excepted class that is subsequently found to be constitutionally infirm, ordinarily it will not be presumed that the General Assembly would have enacted the prohibition without the exception. Such a presumption would extend the prohibition to a class of persons whom the General Assembly clearly intended should not be reached. Davis v. State, 294 Md. 370, 383, 451 A.2d 107, 114 (1982); Cities Service Co. v. Governor, 290 Md. 553, 575, 431 A.2d 663, 675 (1981); Wheeler v. State, 281 Md. 593, 607, 380 A.2d 1052, 1061 (1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 997, 98 S.Ct. 1650, 56 L.Ed.2d 86 (1978); State v. Schuller, 280 Md. 305, 319, 372 A.2d 1076, 1083 (1977). We are persuaded by the legislative history of the Female Sitters Law that even if the dominant purpose of that law could be effectuated by severance, severance is inappropriate here. The legislative history of the Female Sitters Law indicates that the presumption in favor of severability is not applicable here. The Maryland ERA was ratified in 1972. In recognition of the questionable constitutionality of a variety of statutes, between 1972 and 1974, a number of bills were introduced in the General Assembly seeking to remove sex discrimination from the codified law. Four of these bills related to the Female Sitters Law. Their purpose was to provide for the word female to be deleted from the statute so that the prohibition against sitters would apply to both sexes. S.B. 121 (1974); S.B. 385 (1973); S.B. 435 (1972); H.B. 1464 (1973). None of these bills was enacted. In 1973, then Governor Marvin Mandel established a commission for the purpose of implementing the Maryland ERA. By April 1974, the Governor's Commission to Study Implementation of the Equal Rights Amendment (Commission) had determined that [d]espite the enactment of over 50 bills removing sex discrimination between 1972 and 1974, there remains a large body of statutory law which makes distinctions based on sex. The Commission compiled a list of all the areas which might be affected by the Equal Rights Amendment. Governor's Commission to Study Implementation of the ERA, Report to the Governor, pt. 2, A (1978). The Commission assigned priority status to certain topics based upon five factors: (1) The likelihood that a law would be declared unconstitutional under the ERA and voided in its entirety; (2) The likelihood that the constitutionality of a particular law would be litigated; (3) The unfairness of the present law; (4) The simplicity of the subject matter; and (5) The perceived public interest and public impact of a particular law. Report to the Governor, pt. 2, B. The Female Sitters Law was among the topics selected for priority status. Report to the Governor, pt. 2, B. Before making recommendations as to the legislative changes necessary to implement the Maryland ERA, the Commission considered whether a statute based upon an impermissible distinction between males or females should be invalidated or extended to apply to both sexes. In making this determination, the Commission examined the historical basis of each sexually discriminatory law and decided that when the public policy embodied in a statute was no longer applicable to present conditions or promoted sexual stereotyping, it should be abolished. Report to the Governor, pt. 2, O. After completing its study, the Commission, in September 1974, recommended that the Female Sitters Law be abolished. Report to the Governor, app. C. There can be no question but that the General Assembly was aware of the Commission's report and, therefore, the questionable constitutionality of the Female Sitters Law. Indeed, in 1975, S.B. 536 was introduced for the purpose of abolishing the Female Sitters Law. Simultaneously, S.B. 95 was introduced for the purpose of extending the prohibition against sitters to both sexes. Neither bill was enacted. In 1976, S.B. 192 was introduced for the purpose of abolishing the Female Sitters Law. This bill was not enacted. In 1977, this Court decided Rand v. Rand, 280 Md. 508, 513, 374 A.2d 900, 903 (1977). There we announced that Maryland law, which provided different benefits to and imposed different burdens upon Maryland's citizens based solely upon their sex, was violative of the Maryland ERA. Assumably, the General Assembly was aware of this decision and was, therefore, again alerted to the questionable constitutionality of laws such as the Female Sitters Law. E.g., Board of Education of Garrett County v. Lendo, 295 Md. 55, 63, 453 A.2d 1185, 1189 (1982); Supervisor of Assessments of Anne Arundel County v. Southgate Harbor, 279 Md. 586, 591-92, 369 A.2d 1053, 1056 (1977); Herbert v. Gray, 38 Md. 529, 532 (1873). On 23 February 1978, S.B. 1066 was introduced for the purpose of extending the prohibition against sitters to both sexes. This bill was not enacted. On 1 July 1978, the Commission issued its final report in which it recommended that legislation be introduced in certain areas in which it had not been successful in removing sex discrimination. With respect to the Female Sitters Law, the Commission noted: Repeated unsuccessful attempts since 1973 have also been made to remove sex discrimination from the law relating to female sitters. Attempts to extend the law to males (1973, 1974, 1975, 1978) as well as to abolish the crime (1975, 1976) have met with defeat. Report to the Governor, pt. 4. The Commission then recommended that that law be amended by deleting the word female so that the prohibition against sitters would apply to both sexes. Although the General Assembly was again alerted to the questionable constitutionality of the Female Sitters Law, no such bill has subsequently been enacted. In sum, the legislative history of the Female Sitters Law unequivocally demonstrates that since 1972 the General Assembly had substantial reason to know that that law was of questionable constitutionality. It further demonstrates that, notwithstanding this knowledge, on six occasions the General Assembly failed to delete the word female so that the prohibition against sitters would apply to both sexes, and on two occasions it failed to abolish the prohibition against sitters. Indeed, the General Assembly has not yet acted to eliminate the constitutional infirmity of the Female Sitters Law. Under these circumstances, the presumption in favor of severability is not applicable. It is impossible to conclude that the General Assembly would have intended the prohibition against sitters to apply to both sexes if it had known that the statute's gender-based discrimination against females was constitutionally invalid. Moreover, if the Female Sitters Law were severed by deleting the word female so that the prohibition against sitters would apply to both males and females, the prohibition against sitters would be extended to males, an otherwise excepted class. See, e.g., Cities Service Co., 290 Md. at 576, 431 A.2d at 676; Wheeler, 281 Md. at 607, 380 A.2d at 1061; Schuller, 280 Md. at 319, 372 A.2d at 1083; Storck v. Mayor of Baltimore, 101 Md. 476, 486-87, 61 A. 330, 334 (1905). Accordingly, severance would be inappropriate here.