Court Opinion

ID: 9730695
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 15:20:56.688883+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:08.662750
License: Public Domain

SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, J.
(concurring). A computer search shows that more than 15 statutes provide that an offense may be punished by imprisonment for one year without specifying the place of confinement. Each statute raises the Gaynon-Zastrow-Asfoor and (now) McDonald issue of legislative intent, namely, did the legislature intend the offense to be' punished as a felony or misdemeanor. Though the court “question [s] seriously” the Gaynon decision, it does not “expressly overrule” it. The court continues to look to legislative history to determine whether the legislature intended the offense to be a felony or misdemeanor.
Whether the “alarming number of offenses” (supra, p. 578) which present this question will spawn an alarming number of cases of the Gaynon-Zastrow-Asfoor-McDonald species remains to be seen. The prospect is not an attractive one. Determining legislative intent by judicial decision of the trial court, the court of appeals and then the supreme court is an expensive and time-consuming procedure. A simpler, speedier and cheaper way to determine the legislative intent as to these 15 or so offenses is by legislative decision. The legislature should clearly state its intent. The legislature can compile a list of all statutes providing that the offense may be punished by imprisonment for one year without specifying the place of confinement; the legislature can then decide which offenses are to be punished as felonies and *582which as misdemeanors; and the legislature can then amend the statutes accordingly. I respectfully recommend this solution to the legislature.