Court Opinion

ID: 9645361
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 21:22:49.272526+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:27.977078
License: Public Domain

BROCK, Justice
(concurring).
I concur in the decision of the Court which affirms the conviction of Farris and modifies the sentences of Robinson and Lewis. I also concur in the holding of the Court that so much of Section 2 of Chapter 163 of the Public Acts of 1973 (T.C.A. § 40-2707) as purports to require trial judges in felony prosecutions to charge juries the provisions of T.C.A. §§ 40-3612, 40-3613, 41-332 and 41-334 is invalid because it is a subject not expressed in the title of Chapter 163 so that the Act violates Article II, Section 17, of the Constitution of Tennessee. But, I do not agree that Chapter 163 is unconstitutionally vague; its mandate to trial judges is plain enough. In my view, the vagueness and confusion to which Mr. Justice Henry refers relates to the instructions regarding parole eligibility, etc., which Chapter 163 would require trial judges to give to juries trying felony cases.
Further, it is my opinion that, in addition to violating Article II, Section 17, of. the Constitution of Tennessee, the mandate of Chapter 163 that trial judges charge juries the statutes relating to parole eligibility, etc., also violates Article II, Sections 1, 2, of said Constitution because it amounts to an attempt by the legislature to exercise judicial powers. Williams v. State, 461 P.2d 997 (Okl.1969). See also Fisher v. Dabbs, 14 Tenn. 119; Brown v. Haywood, 51 Tenn. 357; Mabry v. Baxter, 58 Tenn. 682; Perkins v. Scales, 2 Shannon’s Cases 235. It is the province of the judiciary to interpret the law and apply it to the facts in a case before the Court. It is properly the function of the trial judge, not the legislature, to determine which of the vast body of laws are appropriate for the consideration of the jury in a given case. Yet, the statutory mandate of Chapter 163 amounts to a charging of the jury by the legislature, for it prescribes, word for word, the instructions to be given (the provisions of T.C.A. §§ 40-3612, 40-3613, 41-332 and 41-334) and provides that “it shall be the further duty of the trial judge ... to charge the said jury . . . ” accordingly. Thus, the trial judge merely serves as a conduit for the legislature’s charge to the jury. The Oklahoma court in Williams v. State, supra, held a similar statutory provision of that state to be an unconstitutional attempt to exercise judicial power. I agree. For the reasons stated, I concur in the decision of the Court.