Court Opinion

ID: 9570909
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:27:28.893769+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:22:10.797135
License: Public Domain

Undercofler, Justice,
dissenting.
The attacks upon the Act here fall into two general categories, namely form and substance.
The attacks based upon form arise from Georgia’s constitutional provisions that the body of an Act must not contain matter different from the title. The provision requires this court to void as unconstitutional an Act in which the title and body are different. But this court is *495also under a mandate to construe an Act so as to uphold its constitutionality. Consequently, where the title and the body of an Act are different with regard to certain provisions the court strikes the unconstitutional provisions but sustains the remainder of the Act provided its scheme has not been destroyed. In essence the court concludes that the legislature would have adopted the Act even if it had not contained the provisions which are deleted. These principles are difficult to apply in many instances. However, in my opinion there is a point at which the court passes beyond its authority to construe an Act so as to uphold its constitutionality and begins to edit the Act for the same purpose. I have concluded the majority opinion here has passed that point.
The majority of the court has held that the title of this Act is limited to certain state offices. Accordingly, they have stricken from the body of the Act coverage for all county and municipal officers. Also, the title to the Act invests the Attorney General with investigative powers. The majority has held this is mere surplusage because the body of the Act makes no mention of the Attorney General and certainly fails to give him any investigative authority with respect to this Act. Similarly the majority has held that the title of the Act fails to make mention of the Ethics Commission and consequently the Ethics Commission established in the body of the Act is declared unconstitutional and stricken. These significant portions of the Act have been nullified. Standing alone perhaps any one of these deletions would not have been sufficient to warrant a finding that the entire Act is unconstitutional. However, the total effect of the deletions here compels me to conclude that the legislature would not have adopted the Act with all these provisions removed. Accordingly, I am of the opinion that the Act is unconstitutional.
There are numerous attacks upon the substance of the Act. The two most critical involve questions of equal protection of the law and a person’s right of free speech together with fundamental rights to associate and engage in political activities. The conclusion of the majority that county and municipal officers are not covered by the Act because not contained in the title eliminates difficult *496substantive constitutional questions of equal protection of the laws. However, without the deletion of these officials the Act includes certain judges who are classified as county officers and does not include other judges, such as ourselves, classified as state officials. In my opinion there would be no reasonable basis justifying the distinction in the Act as written and the classification would have been unconstitutional as a denial of the equal protection of the laws and the entire Act would have to fail. A similar result would have followed because the body of the Act includes county prosecutorial officers and does not include district attorneys, who are state prosecutorial officers.
The most serious defect in the Act is its intrusion upon fundamental rights of free speech and free association. It requires disclosure of identity when making a "contribution” to a political candidate. Only the most compelling reasons will authorize such an intrusion. As stated by the United States Supreme Court in Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, 372 U. S. 539, 544 (83 SC 889, 9 LE2d 929): "The First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of free speech and free association are fundamental and highly prized and 'need breathing space to survive.’ [Cit.] 'Freedoms such as these are protected not only against heavy-handed frontal attack, but also from being stifled by more subtle governmental interference.’ [Cit.]... It is hardly a novel perception that compelled disclosure of affiliation with groups engaged in advocacy may constitute an effective restraint on freedom of association. This court has recognized the vital relationship between freedom to associate and privacy in one’s associations. Inviolability of privacy in group association may in many circumstances be indispensable to preservation of freedom of association, particularly where a group espouses dissident beliefs. . . At the same time, however . . . there can be no question that the state has power . . . to act and protect its legitimate and vital interests . . . Where there is a significant encroachment upon personal liberty, the state may prevail only upon showing a subordinating interest which is compelling.” "The delicate and difficult task falls upon the courts to weigh *497the circumstances and to appraise the substantiality of the reasons advanced in support of the regulation of the free enjoyment of the rights.” Id., p. 545.
The argument advanced here to justify the intrusion is that the public should know what persons are lending aid to a candidate in order that the voters may evaluate to what extent the candidate may be corrupted by such persons. What the argument overlooks is that all "contributions” are not made for corrupt purposes. Many are made in support of worthwhile programs by sincere public spirited persons who do not wish their identity to be disclosed. Such persons entertain no nefarious purposes and I conceive it to be their right to remain anonymous if they so elect. There are others who may wish to "contribute” anonymously for no reason other than to avoid possible retaliation by any opponent or merely because they do not want any publicity. The Act in requiring disclosure of all "contributions” may have eliminated those made for corrupt purposes but it has sacrificed those made benevolently. At the same time it has invaded rights of free speech and free association. Unquestionably there is a compelling state interest in eliminating corruption by campaign "contributions.” In my opinion this can be done without sacrificing individual freedoms. However, it will take a more carefully drawn enactment than is presented here. As has been said, in carving on fundamental rights we must use a scalpel, not an axe. See Pollard v. Roberts, 283 FSupp. 248, 258 (affirmed per curiam, 393 U. S. 14 (89 SC 47, 21 LE2d 14)).
I respectfully dissent.
I am authorized to state that Presiding Justice Nichols concurs in this dissent.