Opinion ID: 1457672
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The District Court's Determination of Arkansas Law

Text: Having concluded that it was entirely within the province of the district court to determine whether Arkansas law forbids a marriage between a grandfather and his adopted granddaughter, we must address whether the district court correctly concluded that such a marriage is indeed forbidden. Dedman argues that the district court misstated Arkansas law when it concluded that such a marriage is void, but we disagree. Although there is considerable ambiguity, the best reading of Arkansas law confirms the district court's interpretation. When courts interpret statutes, [t]he statute is read as a whole and construed to give each word operative effect. Caldwell, 49 F.3d at 251 (reading several related statutes in conjunction to find a consistent meaning). The Arkansas marriage statute states: All marriages between parents and children, including grandparents and grandchildren of every degree, between brothers and sisters of the half as well as the whole blood, and between uncles and nieces, and between aunts and nephews, and between first cousins are declared to be incestuous and absolutely void. This section shall extend to illegitimate children and relations. ARK.CODE ANN. § 9-11-106(a). Dedman claims that this statute, despite including grandparents and grandchildren, is not applicable to the instant case, because it uses the term of every degree, which she asserts is a term of consanguinity. [4] The United States responds by pointing to the Arkansas incest statute, which explicitly includes adopted grandchildren: A person commits incest if the person, being sixteen (16) years of age or older, purports to marry, has sexual intercourse with, or engages in deviate sexual activity with another person sixteen (16) years of age or older whom the actor knows to be: ... (5) A stepgrandchild or adopted grandchild. ARK.CODE ANN. § 5-26-202(a). According to the United States, if Arkansas considers a relationship between a grandfather and his adopted granddaughter to be incestuous, then a marriage between the two must be void. The United States's interpretation, however, appears to be strained. For the United States to be correct, we would need to read the Arkansas marriage statute as saying that such a relationship is incestuous and therefore absolutely void. Such an interpretation is certainly plausible. Equally plausible, however, is that the and in § 9-11-106(a) does not mean therefore but instead simply serves as a cross-reference to signify that the marriage statute does not preclude enforcement of the incest statute, should it apply. We need not resolve this dispute regarding the intersection of the marriage and incest statutes because we hold that the Arkansas marriage statute, on its face, forbids a marriage between a grandfather and his adopted granddaughter. We base our conclusion on the use of the phrase of every degree. We conclude, contrary to Dedman's assertion, that the use of the phrase of every degree does not limit the marriage ban to only those grandparents and grandchildren who are in a consanguineous relationship. The Arkansas legislature frequently uses degree with respect to relationships that are not consanguineous. For instance, several times the Arkansas legislature has referred to adopted relatives of different degrees. See ARK.CODE ANN. § § 4-59-201(11) (defining relative in a fraudulent-transfer statute as an individual related by consanguinity within the third degree as determined by the common law, a spouse, or an individual related to a spouse within the third degree as so determined, and includes an individual in an adoptive relationship within the third degree  (emphasis added)); 9-27-355(a) (defining relative for the purpose of placing juveniles as a person within the fifth degree of kinship by virtue of blood or adoption); 9-28-402(18) (defining relative for the purpose of child-welfare-agency licensing as a person within the fifth degree of kinship by virtue of blood or adoption). Furthermore, there are numerous instances where the Arkansas legislature specifically references relationships of various degrees that are not consanguineous, often doing so alongside references to relationships of consanguinity. See, e.g., ARK. CONST. amend. XXIX, § 2 (Husbands and wives of such officers, and relatives of such officers, or of their husbands and wives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity, [5] shall likewise be ineligible. (emphasis added)); ARK. CONST. amend. LXXX, § 12 (No Justice or Judge shall preside or participate in any case ... in which any party is related to him or her by consanguinity or affinity within such degree as prescribed by law....); ARK.CODE ANN. §§ 5-71-229(d)(3) (defining immediate family for purposes of a stalking statute as one of several things including any person related by consanguinity or affinity within the second degree); 6-11-102(c)(2) (barring any person who is related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity to any member of the board from serving as Commissioner of Education); 6-15-102(d)(3) (barring any person who is related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity to any member of the State Board of Education or to the commissioner from serving as assistant commissioner); 6-21-112(c)(3) (barring any person who is related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity to any member of the commission from serving as the Director of the Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation); 10-4-404(b) (barring the confirmation of a Legislative Auditor nominee if the nominee is related in the second degree of consanguinity or affinity to any member of the General Assembly or a constitutional officer); 10-4-409(c)(1) (barring any person related to any member of the General Assembly or to the Legislative Auditor in the first degree of consanguinity or affinity from employment in the Division of Legislative Audit); XX-XX-XXX (barring from city employment any person who is related by blood or marriage in the third degree either to a member of the board of directors or to the city manager); XX-XX-XXX (disqualifying any justice of the Supreme Court who is related to any party within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity); XX-XX-XXX(b) (barring anyone who [i]s related to any party or attorney in the cause within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity from serving as a petit juror); XX-XX-XXX(h) (barring any person who is related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity to any member of the board from serving as the director of the Department of Workforce Education). The most that can be said in response is that occasionally the Arkansas legislature and courts have used degree in a manner that is ambiguous but does not contradict the conclusion that it is not a term of consanguinity. See ARK.CODE ANN. §§ 9-4-102(4); 9-9-211(b); 28-9-212(b); Ark. Code Judicial Conduct, Terminology (defining third degree of relationship). It is, therefore, eminently clear that the use of the phrase of every degree is not a term of consanguinity; instead, the Arkansas legislature has frequently used degree when discussing a variety of relationships, including adoptive ones. Because we conclude that of every degree is not a term of consanguinity, Dedman has failed to establish that of every degree does not include adopted grandchildren. We conclude that the best interpretation of ARK.CODE ANN. § 9-11-106(a) is that of every degree bars marriage between grandparents and grandchildren of any kind, including those related by adoption. As the above discussion has shown, the Arkansas legislature is plainly aware of the variety of relationships that may exist in degrees, and in this case the legislature chose to include within the statute grandparents and grandchildren of every degree. ARK.CODE ANN. § 9-11-106(a) (emphasis added). Thus, the legislature has used the most expansive language possible. Furthermore, by default Arkansas treats adoption as creating a relationship that is as if the adopted individual were a legitimate blood descendant ... for all purposes including inheritance and applicability of statutes.... ARK.CODE ANN. § 9-9-215(a)(2). The Arkansas marriage statute includes no language that overturns that default. In the absence of any contrary evidence, the plain reading of § 9-11-106(a) bars a marriage between a grandfather and his adopted granddaughter. Accordingly, we conclude that the district court did not err when it determined that Arkansas law forbids such a marriage.