Court Opinion

ID: 9663947
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:55:29.347941+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:59.434531
License: Public Domain

YETKA, Justice
(concurring specially).
I concur in Justice Wahl’s opinion for the reasons set forth herein.
We must understand that the United States has been and still remains a largely homogeneous society and that the problems of minority groups, particularly blacks, often are misunderstood. The judicial branch is charged with protecting the individual rights and liberties of all citizens, and in a case like this, where we lack the actual experience necessary to place ourselves in the respondents’ position, we must rely on our imagination, understanding and analytical judgment to reach the just result.
In today’s United States, the gap between the have’s and the have-not’s is constantly increasing. There is a growing subclass that echoes the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s description of society during the heart of the Great Depression, when one-third of Americans were ill-housed, ill-clothed and ill-fed. Today’s subclass is largely urban. Several generations of some families have suffered and been without work due to lack of adequate education and job-skills training. Moreover, they have never experienced the satisfaction of holding a decent job or owning a *892home. While it is lamentable when people in these circumstances turn to drugs, is it any wonder that some would be tempted to do so in order to escape the grim reality of their lives?
To me, the obvious solution to the drug problem is to return to basic human values, namely, strong families, solid religious communities, and economic and educational opportunities for all citizens. In the 1930’s, we had federal programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Corps took youths out of poverty-stricken environments and put them to work in our nation’s forests and parks and taught them social skills as well as job skills so that they could function and prosper in society. It is beyond the court’s capabilities to provide similar opportunities today. However, it is our duty to see that the laws are enforced so as to provide equality before the bench to all citizens, regardless of their race or economic status.
Since all parties to this lawsuit appear to agree that blacks constitute the largest percentage of crack users while whites are the largest users of powder cocaine (which is less potent, more refined and more expensive) and since imposing a greater penalty for crack use thus discriminates against blacks, the legislature must be presumed to be aware of these facts as well. The dissenting opinion suggests that the legislature has unfettered discretion to define criminal acts and set punishments. The legislature’s power is admittedly broad in this area, but it is not so broad as to allow distinctions that have a harsher impact on minority groups, particularly when those distinctions are based on minimal information.
Certainly we should laud the legislature for attempting to discourage the use of crack, but should not the elimination of all cocaine use be an equal concern? When it deliberately passes laws which effectively penalize a suspect class, it appears to me that, regardless of which equal protection standard is applied, that action violates both the state and federal Constitutions. I agree with the majority’s conclusion that strict scrutiny could be applied to this statute since there is enough evidence from which to infer discriminatory purpose. (Majority Op. at n. 2)
I also agree with the majority’s finding that the statute is invalid under rational basis as applied under our state constitution. Where the discrimination is so obvious in the application of our Minnesota drug laws, I agree that we ought to apply state constitutional principles to find the law invalid. When the federal Constitution does not go far enough to protect basic rights and liberties, state courts may look to their own constitutions to determine whether broader protections are warranted. E.g., Friedman v. Commissioner of Pub. Safety, 473 N.W.2d 828, 830-31 (Minn.1991); State v. Hershberger, 462 N.W.2d 393, 398 (Minn.1990). As the majority rightly concludes, this is a case where our constitution can and should be used to establish a stricter standard than the federal rational-basis test.
I submit that the mere use of cocaine is the important factor here, not the form in which the drug is used. Society has decreed that it is illegal to use cocaine in any form except for medical necessity. While the comparison between the use of alcohol and cocaine is not technically accurate because the former is legal while the latter is illegal, some comparison is valid. Although use of alcohol is legal, abuse of the same may be an offense. Driving while intoxicated is equally illegal regardless of whether the offender ingested beer, wine, or distilled spirits. Similarly, regardless of whether crack or powder cocaine is used to induce intoxication, it is the level of intoxication that is reached with powder as well as crack that affects one’s ability to function. Thus equal penalties should be imposed for the use or possession of cocaine regardless of the form used to administer the drug.
As to defining a drug dealer, I again agree with the majority opinion that punishing possession of a drug, without requiring the prosecution to prove intent to sell as an element of the crime, denies due process of law.
*893Does society intend to eliminate the use of cocaine? If the answer is yes, then it should stress severe penalties not only for the possession, use and distribution of crack, but also of cocaine in any form. Those penalties should be equally and uniformly applied.