Opinion ID: 2334422
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Rhode Island Constitution

Text: To encourage landowners to open their property to the public for recreational use, Rhode Island's Recreational Use Statute limits landowners' liability for personal injuries sustained by the users of such properties. See § 32-6-1. The Recreational Use Statute modifies the common law to change the legal duty that owners owe to users of recreational property. See Tantimonico v. Allendale Mutual Insurance Co., 637 A.2d 1056, 1060 (R.I.1994). This change from the common law treats users of public and private recreational properties as trespassers, thus reducing the duty of care owed to recreational users. See id. Reflective of tort law pertaining to trespassers, landowners owe no duty of care to recreational users of their property. See Lacey, 899 A.2d at 458 n. 5. An exception lies, however, if a landowner finds a trespasser in a position of peril. Id. (citing Cain v. Johnson, 755 A.2d 156, 161 (R.I.2000)). After discovering a recreational user in a position of peril, landowners must guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity. See § 32-6-5(a)(1). [4] The plaintiffs contend that this exception is overly prohibitive and logically impossible to invoke, rendering the statute unconstitutional. We disagree. Citing article 1, section 5, of the Rhode Island Constitution, plaintiffs argue on appeal that the motion justice erred in his application of the Recreational Use Statute and assert that the statute completely bars people injured because of the negligence of the property owner from a remedy. [5] In Kennedy v. Cumberland Engineering Co., 471 A.2d 195 (R.I.1984), we had the opportunity to address article 1, section 5: Clearly, [article 1, section 5], of the Rhode Island Constitution should not be interpreted to bar the Legislature from enacting any laws that may limit a party from bringing a claim in our courts. There are instances in which the Legislature permissibly placed reasonable limits or burdens on the parties' right to have their claims adjudicated by the courts. The total denial of access to the courts for adjudication of a claim even before it arises, however, most certainly `flies in the face of the constitutional command found in [article 1, section 5],'    and to hold otherwise would be to render this constitutional protection worthless. Kennedy, 471 A.2d at 198 (quoting Lemoine v. Martineau, 115 R.I. 233, 240, 342 A.2d 616, 621 (1975)). The plaintiffs attempt to analogize Kennedy to the present case, but we, like the motion justice, are not persuaded. In Kennedy, this Court struck down a products-liability statute of repose on grounds that the statute completely denied `products-liability claimants of their day in court, notwithstanding the merits of their claims and the direct liability of the potential defendants.' Walsh v. Gowing, 494 A.2d 543, 547 (R.I.1985) (quoting Kennedy, 471 A.2d at 199). The statute of repose invalidated in Kennedy required all civil products liability claims for recovery of damages against any defendant to be brought within ten years after the product first was purchased for use or consumption. Kennedy, 471 A.2d at 197. In effect, the statute altogether precluded redress for people who were unaware that their claims were barred until after discovery ensued and the date of the product's initial purchase was ascertained. Id. at 197,200. Only eighteen months after this Court struck down the products-liability statute of repose in Kennedy, we upheld a ten-year statute of repose that would bar claims against an improver of real property in Walsh. Walsh, 494 A.2d at 548. We held that the Legislature's modification of the common law to bar only claims against the improver did not unreasonably deny injured parties access to the courts. Id. We noted that even after the ten-year period had passed, injured parties still had a means of recourse by filing suit against owners or operators of the property instead. Id. Unlike the products-liability statute of repose at issue in Kennedy, the Recreational Use Statute does not deprive litigants of their day in court altogether. There is a fundamental difference between a statute that categorically precludes all litigants from seeking redress for their injuries and one that lessens the common-law duty of care that owners of recreational property owe, thereby requiring successful litigants to prove willful or malicious conduct. In the latter situation, a litigant's inability to prove that particular conduct breaches a statutory duty does not offend our constitution. If it were otherwise the legislature would be barred from altering by way of restricting or extending the provisions of the common law in any manner, regardless of social changes and the experiences of man over centuries. It was never contemplated that the constitution should be so construed. Fournier v. Miriam Hospital, 93 R.I. 299, 305, 175 A.2d 298, 301 (1961). The result we reach herein is not only consistent with this Court's previous decisions but also is consistent with other states' judgments. The courts of both Connecticut and Florida have considered similar statutes in light of state constitutional provisions safeguarding the right of access to justice. See Genco v. Connecticut Light and Power Co., 7 Conn.App. 164, 508 A.2d 58, 63 (1986) (holding a recreational use statute constitutional because it did not preclude litigants from the right to redress for a particular injury, but, rather, redefined the injury that warrants redress or the class of persons who have a right to redress); Abdin v. Fischer, 374 So.2d 1379, 1380-81 (Fla.1979) (emphasizing that the Florida Constitution does not prohibit modifying the standard of care landowners owe to patrons of recreational property). We additionally disagree with plaintiffs that the statutory scheme sets up an exception that is logically impossible to apply. In this case, plaintiffs incorrectly read the statute to mean that the city's duty would have arisen only after the bees began attacking Irina. It is clear to this Court that the city's duty would arise at the point when a city employee discovered that Irina was approaching an area where there was a known risk of bees. Although we do not believe that the statute is ambiguous, even if the statutory language could be afforded dual meaning, we will construe the statute under the meaning that is in accord with our constitution. See Gem Plumbing & Heating Co., 867 A.2d at 808. We also are mindful that under no circumstance will this Court `construe a statute to reach an absurd result.' State v. Menard, 888 A.2d 57, 60 (R.I.2005) (quoting State v. Santos, 870 A.2d 1029, 1032 n. 5 (R.I.2005)). It would be absurd to conclude that the Legislature would require a landowner to sit idly by and wait until peril arose before a duty to warn the individual attached. We therefore hold that Rhode Island's Recreational Use Statute is constitutional.