Opinion ID: 2105630
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The 1968 Conveyance

Text: To place appellant's attack on the state conveyance in its proper light, it is necessary that we review the state's ownership of the waterfront property. The state pier premises were acquired by the state pursuant to the provisions of P.L. 1910, chap. 568. This act authorized the State Harbor Improvement Commission to acquire land lying on the waterfront for the benefit of the citizenry. The commission was authorized to lease some of the acquired property to private enterprise and retain the balance for the transportation needs of the public. The acquisition of this land was financed by the issuance of bonds authorized by P.L. 1910, chap. 589. The appellant points to the fact that the state-owned land was devoted to a public use. It concedes that the General Assembly may authorized the sale or other disposition of land which has been devoted to a public use. The appellant takes the position that, when the legislature at its 1969 session enacted legislation ratifying and confirming the 1968 conveyance to General Scrap, its action was a nullity because of a failure to comply with the provisions of art. IV, sec. 14 of the Rhode Island constitution. This section states that any bill appropriating public money or property for a local or private purpose must be passed by two-thirds of the elected membership of each house [1] of the General Assembly. General Scrap conceded in oral argument that its title to the property and its right to the $400 money judgment rests on the validity of the legislature's confirmatory action. This appeal, therefore, affords us an opportunity to review various rulings made by this court on different attacks which have been made over the years upon the procedure whereby a legislative act has become the law of this state. In State v. Septon, 3 R.I. 119, this court embraced what is known as the Enrolled Bill Doctrine. Under the enrolled bill rule a duly authenticated, approved, and enrolled bill is conclusive proof as to the regularity of its enactment, and courts are precluded from examining this issue. Opinion of the Justices, Del., 232 A.2d 103. The basis of the rule is that the record of the enrolled bill imports absolute verity. This principle is convenient in that it obviates any inquiries such as the one presently being made by appellant. Later in O'Neil v. Demers, 44 R.I. 504, 118 A. 677, there was a departure from the principle set forth in State v. Septon, supra . In O'Neil, it was pointed out that art. IV, sec. 8 of the state constitution requires each house of the General Assembly to keep a journal of its proceedings. Accordingly, this court declared that, when a question arises regarding the validity of an enrolled act which involves a determination of the regularity of the enactment of a law, the courts might examine legislative journals. This pronouncement indicated that the court had embraced a rule of law described in several other jurisdictions as the journal entry rule. This rule provides that the legislative journals may be examined in order to ascertain whether there has been compliance with the constitutional prerequisites to the enactment of a law. State ex rel. v. Naftalin, 246 Minn. 181, 74 N.W.2d 249. Again, in 1961, the justices of this court in Opinion to the Governor, 92 R.I. 489, 170 A.2d 284, advised the chief executive relative to certain legislation then pending in the General Assembly which called for the rebate by the state of license fees previously paid by certain motor vehicle operators. The Governor was informed that if this legislation was intended to obligate the General Treasurer to make the individual disbursements provided therein, the legislative records had to show that the bill passed each branch of the General Assembly by the constitutionally prescribed vote called for by art. IV, sec. 14. In Moore v. Langton, 92 R.I. 141, 147, 167 A.2d 558, 561, can be found the following excerpt from 1 Cooley, Constitutional Limitations (8th ed.), at 277: `Each house keeps a journal of its proceedings, which is a public record, and of which the courts are at liberty to take judicial notice. If it should appear from these journals that any act did not receive the requisite majority, or that in respect to it the legislature did not follow any requirement of the constitution, or that in any other respect the act was not constitutionally adopted, the courts may act upon this evidence, and adjudge the statute void.' While we give all due deference to the legislature as a coordinate branch of government, it is our solemn obligation to determine whether the act now before us was enacted in pursuance to the provisions of our constitution. Accordingly, we have, in our quest for an answer to this question, taken judicial notice of the legislative journals for the January 1969 session of the General Assembly. The bill confirming the conveyance to General Scrap was designated as Senate Bill No. 626 (hereafter called S 626). It passed the Senate on April 30, 1969. The Senate Journal for that day shows that the roll was called in part and then on the suggestion of Senator Sgambato, and with the unanimous consent of the Senate, further reading of the roll call was dispensed with and a quorum declared present. The Senate record states the passage of S 626 was moved, seconded and by unanimous consent, read and passed, under suspension of the rules. The bill received concurrent passage in the House of Representatives on May 7, 1969. The House Journal for that day discloses that by unanimous consent the call of the roll was dispensed with and that a quorum was declared present. The legislative record further shows that S 626 was passed in concurrence on a voice vote. There is nothing in either journal to show that the required two-thirds of each house approved the bill. However, on May 9, 1969, each branch of the General Assembly passed House Bill No. 1731 (hereafter called H 1731). This was a resolution appropriating $15,000 to a private nonbusiness corporation, called Opportunities Incorporated. The money was given to assist the corporation in its operation of a home for pre-delinquent youths. The legislative journals show that this bill passed the House on a division vote 67 members voting in the affirmative and 0 members voting in the negative, and it passed in concurrence in the Senate on a division vote 46 Senators voting in the affirmative and 0 Senators voting in the negative. The legislature's actions in giving the constitutionally required two-third's approval to the money given Opportunities Incorporated is convincing evidence that the members of the General Assembly, when passing an act which unquestionably appropriates public funds or property for a private purpose, are cognizant of their duty under art. IV, sec. 14. When we contrast the silent record of the Senate Journal of April 30, 1969, and the House Journal of May 7, 1969, with the affirmative record of the legislative journals of May 9, 1969, it is obvious that S 626 did not receive the requisite approval of two-thirds of the elected membership of each branch of the legislature. In our opinion, the legislature's omission may be traced to a doubt on its part as to whether the confirmatory bill comes within the provisions of art. IV, sec. 14. While General Scrap's sense of civic responsibility is most laudatory, we are of the opinion that the conveyance of the state pier is an appropriation of public property for a private use which must be approved by the necessary constitutional majority. Furthermore, whatever past legislative practices might have been, it is our considered judgment that in the future where public funds or property are being appropriated to a private purpose, it should appear on the face of each journal that the bill was passed in conformity with the requirements of the constitution. In Appeal 710, the plaintiff's appeal is denied and dismissed. In Appeal 712, the defendant's appeal is sustained; the judgment appealed from is vacated, and the case is remitted to the Superior Court for entry of judgment for the defendant.