Court Opinion

ID: 9697796
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:30:32.679627+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:35.405648
License: Public Domain

DIANE S. SYKES, J.
¶ 69. (dissenting in part). I agree completely with the majority opinion on the issue of the voluntary payment doctrine's application to this case, and therefore join the majority in Parts I and II A, in which the court affirms the court of appeals' decision affirming the circuit court's dismissal of the plaintiffs' claims for monetary relief in counts I-VTII of the amended complaint. I disagree, however, with the majority's conclusion in Part II B that the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion in dismissing count IX, the plaintiffs' claim for declaratory relief.
¶ 70. I conclude that the court of appeals properly affirmed the circuit court's conclusion that the case was not suitably postured for declaratory judgment, in that the claim was not ripe for judicial determination. I would therefore affirm the court of appeals' decision in its entirety.
¶ 71. The decision to grant or deny declaratory relief is entrusted to the sound discretion of the circuit court. Jones v. Secura Ins. Co., 2002 WI 11, ¶ 19, 249 Wis. 2d 623, 638 N.W.2d 575; Milwaukee Dist. Council 48 v. Milwaukee County, 2001 WI 65, 244 Wis. 2d 333, 351, 627 N.W.2d 866; Loy v. Bunderson, 107 Wis. 2d 400, 407, 320 N.W.2d 175 (1982). "While, as in all discretionary acts of a court, reasonable persons may sometimes differ in the outcome, all that this court need find to sustain a discretionary act is that the trial court examined the relevant facts, applied a proper standard of law, and, using a demonstrated rational process, reached a conclusion that a reasonable judge could reach." Loy, 107 Wis. 2d at 414 — 15. Applying this deferential stan*484dard of review here, I conclude that the circuit court's discretionary decision to dismiss the claim for declaratory relief must be upheld.
¶ 72. Though the authority to declare rights under the Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act is broad, it is not unlimited in scope. Sipl v. Sentry Ind. Co., 146 Wis. 2d 459, 464, 431 N.W.2d 685 (Ct. App. 1988). The standards for determining the threshold justiciability of a claim for declaratory relief, set forth in the majority opinion at ¶ 40, assure that courts will not become entangled in abstract disagreements or be called upon to resolve contingent claims or render essentially advisory rulings. Miller Brands-Milwaukee v. Case, 162 Wis. 2d 684, 694-95, 470 N.W.2d 290 (1991). The fourth requirement of the Loy justiciability equation — the requirement of ripeness — guarantees that declaratory judgment is not used as a procedural tool for the adjudication of hypothetical issues. Klaus v. Vander Heyden, 106 Wis. 2d 353, 365, 316 N.W.2d 664 (1982). Courts will not entertain actions for declaratory judgment in order to "determine future rights in anticipation of an event that may never happen." Selective Ins. Co. v. Michigan Mut. Liab. Ins. Co., 36 Wis. 2d 402, 405, 153 N.W.2d 523 (1967).
¶ 73. The circuit court in this case determined that the claim for declaratory relief was essentially speculative in nature and therefore not ripe. The court noted that the complaint did not contain an allegation sufficient to support a ripe declaratory claim because "no one asserted that I have a late bill fee, that I have not paid it, and I don't intend to pay it, and I've not paid the late fee as well."
¶ 74. The majority construes this conclusion on the part of the circuit court as an error of law, interpreting it as a requirement of present injury. I disagree. *485The circuit court was simply concluding that the amended complaint was insufficient because it lacked allegations of even an anticipatory injury, and therefore the declaratory judgment claim, at least as it was then pleaded, was premised on a contingent event that may never happen. The circuit court noted that had the plaintiffs simply alleged that they had a late or unpaid bill on which they had been assessed or were about to be assessed an alleged illegal late fee, then "the plaintiff would be entitled to a declaratory judgment and decision perhaps on injunctive relief. But they haven't done that."
¶ 75. I cannot agree with the majority's conclusion that the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion in dismissing the declaratory judgment claim. While this court might disagree with the circuit court's resolution of the ripeness issue, the record nevertheless reflects that the circuit court examined relevant facts, applied a proper standard of law, and reached a conclusion that a reasonable judge could reach. I would affirm the court of appeals on all issues. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent from Part II B of the majority opinion.
¶ 76. I am authorized to state that Justices JONE WILCOX and N. PATRICK CROOKS join this dissenting opinion.