Court Opinion

ID: 9534599
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:41:18.774164+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:31:58.266831
License: Public Domain

McDEVITT, Chief Justice,
concurring and dissenting.
I concur in the opinion of the Court, except for that portion of its discussion *586appearing under part 2(b). It is there that the Court announces that “[w]e have determined that it is time to partially abandon our case by case determination of whether a particular right asserted is fundamental.” Idaho Schools For Equal Educ. Opp. v. Evans, 123 Idaho 573, 581, 850 P.2d 724, 732 (1993). Further, the Court holds “that the ‘fundamental rights’ found in our state constitution are those expressed as a positive right.” Idaho Schools, 123 Idaho at 581, 850 P.2d at 732. Finally, the Court further adds that “[rjights which are not directly guaranteed by the state constitution may be considered to be fundamental if they are implicit in our State’s concept of ordered liberty.” Idaho Schools, 123 Idaho at 582, 850 P.2d at 733.
The Court’s equal protection analysis stems from a narrow issue: whether education is a fundamental right under the Constitution of the State of Idaho, and, thus, entitled to the strict scrutiny level of review. Ultimately, the Court held that the holding of Thompson v. Engelking, 96 Idaho 793, 805, 537 P.2d 635, 647 (1975), that being education is not a fundamental right, controlled the question. Idaho Schools, 123 Idaho at 580, 582, 850 P.2d at 731, 733.
Judicial opinions “must be considered and construed in the light of the rule that they are authoritative only on the facts on which they are founded.” Bashore v. Adolf, 41 Idaho 84, 88, 238 P. 534, 534 (1925). Furthermore, when this Court has commented on the Idaho Constitution in an opinion, we have held the comments to be “pure dicta” where the Constitution did not “play[] a role in the ultimate decision of the court.” Petersen v. State, 87 Idaho 361, 365, 393 P.2d 585, 587 (1964). In the present case, the Court’s restructuring of well-established Idaho equal protection law simply does not play a role in its ultimate holding. Thus, the Court’s above-quoted holdings are dicta, and, consequently, “[t]his Court is not bound by such dicta....” City of Weippe v. Yarno, 96 Idaho 319, 323, 528 P.2d 201, 205 (1974), citing Petersen, 87 Idaho 361, 393 P.2d 585 (1964); Long v. State Ins. Fund, 60 Idaho 257, 90 P.2d 973 (1939); and Bashore, 41 Idaho 84, 238 P. 534 (1925).
Instead of adhering to the resolution of the narrow issue before it, the Court has attempted to pen a “bright-line” rule for future fundamental right analyses. The proper course for this Court to take is to restrain itself from offering generalizations about the law, and to wait for the issue to present itself through oral argument, briefing, a lower court ruling, and proper preservation of the issue. Specifically, this Court should wait for a case to present itself wherein a fundamental right is contended, reach a holding, and apply the holding to that particular alleged fundamental right. It is simply not proper for this Court to reach holdings that are not required by the issues on which the opinion is founded.