Court Opinion

ID: 9855838
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:31:56.037352+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:37:12.576098
License: Public Domain

SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, CHIEF JUSTICE
¶ 36. (concurring). I concur in the mandate. I write separately to point out the state of disarray of the case law dealing with Wis. Const., art. I, § 9. See Tomczak v. Bailey, 218 Wis. 2d 245, 578 N.W.2d 166 (1998); Estate of Makos v. Masons Health Care Fund, 211 Wis. 2d 41, 564 N.W.2d 662 (1997). I fear that the majority opinion in this case will leave litigants and courts in Wisconsin more perplexed than ever.
¶ 37. Tomczak involved a statute of repose requiring a negligence action against an engineer or a land surveyor to be commenced no later than six years after the completion of a survey. The plaintiffs initiated a lawsuit against a surveyor more than six years after the completion of the survey, and the court barred the plaintiffs' action as untimely.
¶ 38. Makos involved a statute of repose requiring medical malpractice actions to be commenced within one year from the date the injury was discovered but not later than five years from the date of the act or omission. The plaintiff in Makos filed a medical malpractice action after the statute of repose had run, and the court remanded the cause for trial, allowing the plaintiff to pursue the medical malpractice action.
¶ 39. In the case at bar the majority opinion holds that under Wis. Stat. § 767.25(4) a plaintiff may bring an action to recover child support only if she is less than 19 years of age and is pursing a high school *244diploma or its equivalent at the commencement of the action. The plaintiff did not fulfill these requirements, and the majority opinion bars her action as untimely.
¶ 40. In Tomczak and Makos the plaintiffs had a recognized right to recover funds for negligence; in the case at bar the plaintiff had a recognized right to recover funds for child support. In all three cases the plaintiffs brought the lawsuits after the time periods set by the legislature had run. In all three cases the plaintiffs relied on art. I, § 9 to recover monetary funds. In two cases the plaintiffs lost; in one case the plaintiff won.
¶ 41. Over the past 14 months the court has addressed challenges under art. I, § 9 in three different cases: Makos, Tomczak, and Roberta Jo. These cases have produced conflicting opinions with no clear pronouncement from the court interpreting art. I, § 9.
¶ 42. For the foregoing reasons, I concur in the mandate and write separately.
¶ 43. I am authorized to state that Justice Ann Walsh Bradley joins this opinion.