Court Opinion

ID: 9601238
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:40:14.732308+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:31:47.502277
License: Public Domain

THOMAS, Justice
(dissenting).
I join in the conclusions reached in the dissent of Justice KEETON, but deem it advisable to further explain my grounds for dissent; in doing so I am not unmindful of the worthy and meritorious objective that the Legislature had in mind; such objective is commendable and there is urgent need for further legislation with reference to sex crimes, which apparently is not now-adequately provided by other provisions of our statutes; however, it is equally important that any such enactment, no matter how worthy its objective, conform to the invaluable standards provided for by both the Federal and State Constitutions.
The majority opinion construes the stat- . ute so as not to provide for cruel and unusual punishment and hence not violative of Article I, Section 6 of the State Constitution. With this I cannot agree.
The statute, Sec. 18-6607, I.C., provides that one found guilty of its violation shall be imprisoned in the state penitentiary for a term of not more than life. It provides no minimum sentence and clearly makes life sentence mandatory. While it is not binding on this court, the attorney general’s office conceded in the presentation of the case before this court that life imprisonment wás mandatory under the statute. With this I am in accord.
While it is the duty of the court to save rather than to destroy a statute, and thus where it can reasonably be done, without doing violence to the plain language of the statute or invading the province of the Legislature, the court should construe a statute so as to save it from being declared unconstitutional.
On the other hand, where the language of the statute is clear, as I believe it to be in this instance, the court cannot speculate upon the intention of the Legislature, much less read something into the statute that is not there, but must accept the interpretation of the Act as it appears from its plain and unambiguous language. State ex rel. Haworth v. Berntsen, 68 Idaho 539, 200 P.2d 1007.
The majority opinion construes the statute to permit the District Judge imposing *64sentence to fix the maximum at less than life, while the plain language of the statute construed in para materia with Sec. 19-2513 I.C. provides for a mandatory life sentence. The language will bear no other rational construction; moreover, under the holding of the majority opinion it is conceded that the District Judge could sentence the defendant to life imprisonment. It is a well-recognized principle, recognized by the majority opinion, that the constitutionality of a statute is to be decided, not by what has been done under the law, but by what might be done under it. State v. Berntsen, supra. So testing the statute being considered, the court could sentence the offender to life imprisonment and, as conceded by the majority opinion, life imprisonment under this statute would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The judgment of the District Judge should be affirmed.