Opinion ID: 1439615
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: history of wyoming law

Text: The Wyoming Constitution makes clear that government is not an end in itself  it is derivative in rightful existence as founded upon the power of the people and extended in structure only with constitutional authorization and justification. All power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety and happiness; for the advancement of these ends they have at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper. Wyo. Const. art. 1, § 1. This majority result, which constitutionalizes the denial of a remedy for a wrong only at the hands of the state, can hardly be said to follow inevitably from the labyrinth of Wyoming governmental and sovereign immunity case law. I am astounded how deaf the judicial ear can be to a victim's cries for justice. In Ricketts v. Crewdson, 13 Wyo. 284, 79 P. 1042 (1905), this court originally recognized the exercise of discretion in tax assessment to be absolved from judicial review where only arbitrary or dishonest conduct could raise litigable issues. Thereafter, in Opitz v. Town of City of Newcastle, 35 Wyo. 358, 249 P. 799 (1926) (now superceded apparently by this present legislation), liability was approved for failure in use by the city of reasonable care to keep the streets safe for public travel. In Weaver v. Public Service Commission of Wyoming, 40 Wyo. 462, 479, 278 P. 542 (1929), Chief Justice Blume recited: But the state does not own the highways in that capacity; these exist, or at least are maintained, solely by reason of the taxes paid, and contributions made, by private individuals and corporations, including private carriers. Highways exist for the benefit of the members of the public at large, and the only right which the state has to regulate or prohibit their use must be sought in the police power of the state to promote the safety, peace and general welfare of the people. The critical question in conceptualizing this thesis of Chief Justice Blume in Weaver is whether the obligation of the state accords a compensable responsibility for its failure of performance. Case history then follows with the Utah Construction Company cases as questioning obligation to pay for the construction required. Utah Const. Co. v. State Highway Commission, 45 Wyo. 403, 19 P.2d 951 (1933) and State Highway Commission v. Utah Const. Co., 278 U.S. 194, 49 S.Ct. 104, 73 L.Ed. 262 (1929). Compare in more modern review, State Highway Com'n of Wyoming v. Brasel & Sims Const. Co., Inc., 688 P.2d 871 (Wyo. 1984) and Brasel & Sims Const. Co., Inc. v. State Highway Com'n of Wyoming, 655 P.2d 265 (Wyo. 1982). The depression years in Wyoming and the pervasive fair trade legislation which was generally then enacted called Chief Justice Blume, in State v. Langley, 53 Wyo. 332, 84 P.2d 767 (1938), to again analyze the foundations of our society and the basis of our judicial responsibility. The anxiety today circulating about the so-called insurance crisis cannot be compared to the level of trouble enveloping everyone during the depression years. The Wyoming justices of that era did not allow that heavy anxiety to detract their navigational fix on the constitution. Nearly every law abridges individual freedom of action to a more or less extent. In nearly all instances when one is enacted, it gives rise, or may give rise, to a conflict between such freedom on the one hand, and the power of the legislature to abridge it on the other. The solution of the conflict is judicial in its nature. Courts must be, and are, whether willingly or not, the ultimate arbiters as to whether or not there is, in a particular case, an unwarranted invasion of the guaranteed rights above mentioned. 11 Am.Jur. 1087. They have found that solution,  the only one possible or just under the circumstances  in the standard of reasonableness. 6 R.C.L. 236; 11 Am. Jur. 1073-1074. That standard is indefinite. What is reasonable depends on the facts and circumstances. 11 Am.Jur. 1074; 6 R.C.L. 236, 239; 19 R.C.L. 807. Paine's thought that, as civilization progresses, men will more and more regulate their own affairs has not proved itself correct. Altruism has not proceeded that far. History is replete with the wreckage of rules of private law. It would be no less than surprising, if it were otherwise in the field of public law. As the number of people increases, as trade develops, as civic centers become crowded, as society becomes more complex, more and more problems arise which must be solved, and the freedom of movement and of action of the individuals must be harmonized with equal rights for all. This is not always easy to do. Certain rules have been laid down to help. In order that a statute may be valid, the purpose, aim, or end thereof must be within the scope of purview of the police power, and in furtherance thereof; the means adopted must be reasonable and not arbitrary, and must be appropriate for the accomplishment of the end in view; in other words, there must be a substantial connection between the purpose in view and the actual provisions of the law. Id. at 343-44, 84 P.2d 767. In a carefully constructed analysis, this court in Ramirez v. City of Cheyenne, 34 Wyo. 67, 241 P. 710 (1925) determined that the City of Cheyenne could be responsible in a damage award for the negligent maintenance of a swing in the public park. This court observed: [M]ost of the courts of this country, on one ground or another, have held cities liable for negligence in failing to keep their streets in a safe condition for travel. While such liability is sometimes declared by statute, it is often imposed in the absence of statute, and in the latter class of cases the right to damages is usually sustained as an exception to the general rule that exempts the city from liability for negligence in the performance of governmental or public duties. Id. at 78, 241 P. 710. Following Opitz and Ramirez, this court again considered municipal liability in Wilson v. City of Laramie, 65 Wyo. 234, 199 P.2d 119 (1948), where a Caterpillar tractor used in performing a governmental function of lowering a street grade got loose and rolled down the hill causing injury. That the unfortunate accidents to the children involved in this case are to be deplored goes without saying. That there is a great deal of merit in the contention that immunity from liability for negligence on the part of governments and governmental agencies should be abolished cannot be questioned. But whether the courts should do so on their own motion is a matter of grave doubt. Id. at 249, 199 P.2d 119. This case establishes immunity for equipment constructing roads where immunity for the roads and their usage did not exist. Adding to Wyoming's law on immunities is Merrill v. Bishop, 69 Wyo. 45, 237 P.2d 186 (1951), where action against the constitutional state water commissioner and other state water officials was not an action against the state but only a maintainable action based on the tort of the officials themselves. But in Ellis v. Wyoming Game & Fish Commission, 74 Wyo. 226, 286 P.2d 597 (1955), the action against the Governor and other state officials for damages during the seizure of beaver pelts was determined to be an action against the state in a governmental function and, lacking approval of the state, could not be maintained. See likewise Hjorth Royalty Co. v. Trustees of University of Wyoming, 30 Wyo. 309, 222 P. 9 (1924), where a quiet title action could not be maintained by a citizen against the university to determine interest in their property. Unfortunately then, automobile driver Price, on March 13, 1944, ran into a Wyoming Highway Department snowplow and after a demurrer to the complaint was sustained, immunity reappeared before this court. A lack of legislative consent to suit justified the deletion of the state as a party. Price, 167 P.2d 309. This court then added contributory negligence as a matter of law for justification for the dismissal to also include claims against the highway superintendent and snowplow driver. See likewise Osborn v. Lawson, 374 P.2d 201 (Wyo. 1962). A curious decision in Harrison v. Wyoming Liquor Commission, 63 Wyo. 13, 177 P.2d 397 (1947) defined that the proprietary activities of the state in the sale of liquor were actually governmental and lacking permissive legislation, rendered the business agency immune from suit. In Savage v. Town of Lander, 77 Wyo. 157, 309 P.2d 152 (1957), plaintiff, after parking, stepped out of the car into a gutter drain inlet, fell and was severely injured. The directed verdict brought the escape of governmental immunity to the supreme court for an analysis differentiating between the planning criteria of a public improvement and negligence in maintenance so that: To recapitulate, we find that the gutter drain was built according to a plan approved by the town of Lander, that the plan was not so inherently dangerous that the trial court could as a matter of law deem its construction to be negligent, that there was some evidence of defendant's negligence in the maintenance of the gutter drain but there was no proof whatever that such neglect caused plaintiff's injury. Id. at 175, 309 P.2d 152. This first sequence of Wyoming cases ended with Maffei, 338 P.2d 808 as an action for wrongful death of decedent through contended negligence of the town's officer directing him to assist in pursuit of a felon. A demurrer to the complaint was sustained, plaintiff appealed, and the decision was affirmed on the basis that the municipality was immune from liability when exercising its governmental function with immunity unwaived even by procurement of liability insurance. Consequently, the insurance company escaped liability responsibility within its stated insurance coverage by assertion of a governmental immunity defense. The platitudes were again forthcoming: Although we must hold that in the present state of the law of this State, the town of Kemmerer is immune from liability to the family of the deceased, we are not insensible that this may be inequitable. The deceased may have naturally joined in aid of the local policeman and suffered death as a consequence. In this view, Mr. Maffei was acting in a commendable manner and as might be desired of all good citizens. In not dissimilar circumstances our legislature has seen fit to take notice of some shortcomings in our law and have enacted separate laws for the relief of bereaved families. It is our misfortune in a case such as this that we are not privileged to respond to the dictate of our sympathies, but must stay with the law as we find it. Id. at 818. The author of the opinion did not consider the constitutionality of special legislation for the relief of bereaved families. Id. at 818. See Section X of this dissent, infra, which addresses the Wyoming constitutional prohibition of special legislation.