Court Opinion

ID: 9855673
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:29:03.683259+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:36:19.704585
License: Public Domain

SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, J.
(dissenting). Sec. 111.32(5) (a) and sec. 111.32(5) (h)2b clearly state that it is unlawful for a licensing agency to discriminate because of the applicant’s conviction record but that it is not unlawful for a licensing agency to refuse to license “any person who has been convicted of any felony . . . *30the circumstances of which substantially relate to the circumstances of the . . . licensed activity." The legislative history of sec. 111.32(5) (h)2b, see majority opinion, p. 29, n. 3, clearly demonstrates that the legislature specifically intended to use the words “felony . . . the circumstances of which substantially relate” rather than the words “felony . . . the elements of which substantially relate.” Instead of telling the licensing agency to do exactly what the legislature mandated, namely to consider the circumstances of each case, Law Enforce. Stds. Bd. v. Lyndon Station, 101 Wis. 2d 472, 497, 305 N.W.2d 89 (1981) (Abrahamson, J. dissenting), the majority has rewritten sec. 111.32(5) (h) 2b to state that there are three kinds of felonies: the agency can label some felonies, on the basis of the elements of the offense, as ipso facto substantially related to the circumstances of the licensed activity; the agency can label other felonies, on the basis of the elements of the offense, as ipso facto not substantially related to the circumstances of the licensed activity; and the agency can label other felonies, on the basis of the elements of the offense, as requiring consideration of the circumstances of the felony to determine whether the circumstances are substantially related to the circumstances of the licensed activity. The court explored the use of this tripartite view of felonies at oral argument, and it quickly became apparent, as it must be to the reader, that there is little if any agreement as to which felonies fall into what category and why. The majority has rewritten the statute in a way which promotes additional litigation.
Because I conclude that the court should apply sec. 111.32(5) (h)2b as written rather than rewrite the section, I dissent.