Court Opinion

ID: 9582874
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:32:14.871788+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:38:40.813781
License: Public Domain

BAKES, Chief Justice,
concurring specially:
I concur in the Court’s reversal of the district court’s order which made the alternative writ of prohibition, which it had earlier issued, “permanent” and which restrained and enjoined the City of Boise “from further attempts to annex Crane Creek Country Club.”
As the majority opinion correctly states, “[prohibition is primarily concerned with jurisdiction and is not available to review errors committed in the exercise of jurisdiction.” Ante at 486, 826 P.2d at 447. The Court’s opinion correctly points out that the City Council had jurisdiction to consider the annexation question, and therefore the proceedings in the district court should have been a judicial review of the validity of the particular action taken, not the issuance of a writ of prohibition to prohibit the City Council from exercising its statutory authority to annex.
However, the problem which the Court is faced with in this case arises from the fact that the appellant has not assigned as error the act of the district court in considering and granting a writ of prohibition against the city. Not having raised the issue on appeal, ordinarily this Court would not consider the issue. Nycum v. Triangle Dairy Co., 109 Idaho 858, 712 P.2d 559 (1985); Baldner v. Bennett’s, Inc., 103 Idaho 458, 649 P.2d 1214 (1982). We would not ordinarily raise sua sponte the writ of prohibition issue. However, in the past we have held that where plain error or fundamental error has occurred, we will consider issues not raised on appeal. State v. Haggard, 94 Idaho 249, 486 P.2d 260 (1971); State v. Cariaga, 95 Idaho 900, 523 P.2d 32 (1974).
In this case if the district court had merely entered a judgment that the attempted annexation did not comply with the statutes, and therefore was invalid, I would not invoke the plain error doctrine. However, here the district court entered an order making the alternative writ of prohibition permanent and enjoining the City of Boise “from further attempts to annex Crane Creek Country Club.” Enjoining a separate branch of government from carrying out in the future its statutorily authorized functions is a very serious matter and, as such, justifies the application of the plain error doctrine in reaching the issues which the Court’s opinion does today. Accordingly, I concur that the judgment of the district court should be reversed and the court’s order issuing a writ of prohibition against the City of Boise vacated. The petition for writ of prohibition was not an appropriate remedy to test the validity of the action of the City of Boise in attempting to annex the Crane Creek Country Club.
BISTLINE, J., concurs.