Court Opinion

ID: 9777566
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 20:15:18.531544+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:56.260341
License: Public Domain

JOHNSON, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. After applying the rules of statutory construction, I conclude that it was the intention of the Legislature for “couple” as referenced in KRS 403.720 to include only members of the opposite sex.
“Interpretation of statutes is a matter of law, White v. McAllister, Ky., 443 S.W.2d 541, 542 (1969), and a proper judicial function, Masonic Widows and Orphans Home and Infirmary v. City of Louisville, 309 Ky. 532, 544, 217 S.W.2d 815, 822 (1949).” Keeton v. City of Ashland, Ky.App., 883 S.W.2d 894, 896 (1994). “We have a duty to accord to words of a statute their literal meaning unless to do so would lead to an absurd or wholly unreasonable conclusion. Department of Revenue v. Greyhound Corp., Ky., 321 S.W.2d 60 (1959).” Bailey v. Reeves, Ky., 662 S.W.2d 832, 834 (1984). “As with any case involving statutory interpretation, our duty is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the General Assembly. We are not at liberty to add or subtract from the legislative enactment nor discover meaning not reasonably ascertainable from the language used. Gateway Construction Co. v. Wallbaum, Ky., 356 S.W.2d 247 (1962).” Beckham v. Board of Education of Jefferson County, Ky., 873 S.W.2d 575, 577 (1994). “ ‘[A] Statute should be construed, if possible, so that no part of it is meaningless or ineffectual.’ ” Keeton, supra at 896, quoting Brooks v. Meyers, Ky., 279 S.W.2d 764, 766 (1955).
The crux of this case is determining what the Legislature meant by the term “couple.” In addressing this question, the Majority Opinion states as follows: “Although the word ‘couple’ is not defined in the statutes, we believe that it refers to two people engaged in an intimate relationship and would not include roommates.” The Majority fails to state any support for this belief. In fact, “couple” is defined in Webster’s II, New Riverside University Dictionary (1988), in the context of human relationships, in part as follows: (1) “A man and woman united, as by marriage or betrothal”; and (2) “Two people together.” Neither of these two definitions supports the Majority’s conclusion that “couple” “refers to two people engaged in an intimate relationship and would not include roommates.”
In determining the Legislature’s intent in using the word “couple,” I find its placement of the domestic violence and abuse statutes in Chapter 403 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes, which also addresses dissolution of marriage and child custody, to be significant. While the Kentucky statutes relating to marriage do not include a definition of that term, it is established that in Kentucky that marriage is a legal union between members of the opposite sex. See Jones v. Hallahan, Ky., 501 S.W.2d 588 (1973) (Court held that there is no constitutional sanction or protection of right of marriage between persons of the same sex.) Chapter 403 also makes references to “husband and wife” and “minor children who are the issue of the marriage.” And, the purposes of Chapter 403 as set forth in KRS 403.110 are as follows:
This chapter shall be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes, which are to:
(1) Strengthen and preserve the integrity of marriage and safeguard family relationships;
(2) Promote the amicable settlement of disputes that have arisen between parties to a marriage;
(3) Mitigate the potential harm to the spouses and their children caused by the process of legal dissolution of marriage;
(4) Make reasonable provision for spouse and minor children during and after litigation; and
(5) Make the law of legal dissolution of marriage effective for dealing with the realities of matrimonial experience by making irretrievable breakdown of the marriage relationship the sole basis of its dissolution.
All of these purposes relate to marriage, family relationships, spouses and/or children, and thus, involve either a legal union of *314heterosexuals and/or procreation.1 Consequently, I believe the overall tenor of Chapter 403 requires that KRS 403.720 be read to include only heterosexual couples.
Further, history reveals that the Legislature has refused to recognize sexual orientation as a protected class. KRS Chapter 344 Civil Rights. Thus, for the Legislature to include same-sex relationships under the domestic violence statutes would be a significant departure from past legislative enactments.
Ireland argues that my interpretation of the statute constitutes a violation of §§ 2 and 3 of the Kentucky Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. However, since the Legislature clearly has a reasonable basis for enacting legislation to promote, strengthen and preserve the institution of marriage and marital procreation, the statutes pass constitutional muster. Cf. Tablet v. Wallace, Ky., 704 S.W.2d 179 (1986). While the statute includes heterosexual relationships other than marriages, the state nonetheless has a substantial governmental interest in strengthening relationships that could result in marriage and/or marital procreation. This is not to say, should it desire to do so, that the Legislature could not also extend the domestic violence protections to members of same-sex relationships. The promotion of the amicable settlement of disputes and the mitigation of potential harm to individuals certainly constitute reasonable grounds upon which the Legislature could choose to extend domestic violence protection to same-sex relationships. However, these same reasonable grounds can be said to apply to all persons who share a common residence whether or not they have an intimate or family relationship.2
Our function as a court is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the Legislature, not to discover meaning not reasonably ascertainable from the statute. Wallbaum, supra. I am convinced that if the Legislature had intended to produce the result mandated by the Majority Opinion that it would have so stated by using language that is clear and understandable to all. If it is the desire of the Legislature to deviate from past public policy, it is within its power to do so and not for the courts to create what is not otherwise expressed.

. I realize that there are children that live in homosexual households where one of the two parents is a biological parent and the other parent has adopted the child, but this does not eliminate the procreation requirement of a man and a woman biological parent. Homosexuals as a New Class of Domestic Violence Subjects Under the New Jersey Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991, 31 U of Louisville J. of Fam. L. 557, 560 (1993).

. The Majority Opinion states that its interpretation of the statute “has not given preferential treatment to same-sex couples or homosexuals; rather, it has provided for equal treatment under the law for same-sex or homosexual victims of domestic violence.” But, there is a glaring inconsistency in this interpretation since it only protects a member of an intimate couple. A member of an intimate relationship involving more than two persons, regardless of the sexual orientation of the members, would not receive protection under the Majority’s interpretation of the statute. It would appear to me that to deny a member of such an intimate relationship the same protection as a member of a same-sex couple would also constitute unequal treatment.