Court Opinion

ID: 9513785
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:40:34.836348+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:02.222807
License: Public Domain

KAPSNER,
Justice, concurring in the result.
[¶ 25] I concur in the result. I write separately because I fear the reasoning of the majority opinion suggests more than is necessary by its reliance on school desegregation and bail cases in paragraph 15.
[¶ 26] Section 14-09-24, N.D.C.C., is a statutory directive that imposes consequences in the form of attorney fees and costs on a custodial parent who willfully and persistently interferes with visitation rights of the noncustodial parent. I believe the majority opinion properly applies the statutory directive to the facts of this case. However, it is only a statutory directive and it is one the legislature could change tomorrow if the legislature felt that the purposes sought to be served were not well served by its continuing existence. Therefore, I do not join in any implication that the claim of noncustodial parents to get attorney fees and costs under N.D.C.C. § 14-09-24 rises to the level of the constitutional rights asserted in the federal *37cases or the California case cited in paragraph 15 of the majority opinion.
[¶ 27] The requirement to impose attorney fees and costs is clearly directed in the statute.
The interpretation of a statute is a question of law for the court to decide. In construing statutes, our duty is to ascertain the Legislature’s intent. The Legislature’s intent initially must be sought from the language of the statute as a whole. We construe words in a statute in their plain, ordinary, and commonly understood sense. If the statutory language is clear and unambiguous, we do not disregard that language under the pretext of pursuing legislative intent, because the intent is presumed clear from the face of the statute.
Singha v. N.D. State Board of Medical Examiners, 1998 ND 42, ¶ 16, 574 N.W.2d 838 (internal citations omitted); N.D.C.C. § 1-02-05.
[¶ 28] MARY MUEHLEN MARING, J„ concurs.