Court Opinion

ID: 9667631
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 01:51:06.677487+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:39.430392
License: Public Domain

COFFEY, J.
(concurring). An attack on an opinion as comprehensive and well-written as that of the majority should not be lightly undertaken. Nevertheless, I am compelled to write separately because I disagree with several assertions as to the power of circuit courts under the Wisconsin constitution. The circuit court dismissed the petition in this case on the ground that authority to order or approve the sterilization of an incompetent could not be exercised unless granted by statute. The court of appeals, in a well-reasoned opinion, affirmed. The majority states that the jurisdictional view of the circuit court and the court of appeals, being founded solely upon statutory authorization, “is too narrow and does not comport with the precedents of this court.” Supra,*p.' 548. I believe it is the opinion of the majority which does not comport with our precedents.
I disagree with the holding of the majority that the jurisdiction of the circuit court to order sterilization of an incompetent need not be conferred by the legislature because it exists under the Wisconsin constitution. I do not question that the constitution grants jurisdiction to the circuit court in civil cases as that jurisdiction was exercised by courts at law or in equity at the time the constitution was adopted. However, the courts of law and equity did not exercise power over all legal relationships. In Adoption of Tschudy, 267 Wis. 272, 65 N.W.2d 17 (1954), the court stated:
“Although adoption is a practice of very great antiquity, it was not known in the common law of England and it exists in the United States only by virtue of statutes. ... In Wisconsin, adoption proceedings are statutory. [Citations omitted].” Id. at 281.
*580In In re Grbic, 170 Wis. 201, 174 N.W. 546 (1919), the court quoted the following statement from Barker v. Dayton, 28 Wis. 367 (1871):
“It is an undoubted general principle of the law of divorce in this country, that the courts, either of law or equity, possess no powers except such as are conferred by statute; and that, to justify any act or proceeding in a case of divorce, whether it be such as pertains to the ground or cause of action itself, to the process, pleadings or practice in it, or to the mode of enforcing the judgment or decree, authority therefor must be found in the statute, and cannot be looked for elsewhere, or otherwise asserted or exercised.” Id. at 379.
Seven years ago, this court, in In re Guardianship of Pescinski, 67 Wis.2d 4, 226 N.W.2d 180 (1975), held that a personal decision to consent to the surgical removal and transplantation of a kidney could not be made for an incompetent under the doctrine of substituted judgment without legislative authorization. Pescinski clearly established that a court has no inherent power to make a personal decision for an incompetent. The jurisdiction to do so depends upon an act of the legislature and not the findings of an individual judge. The majority decision disavows Pescinski insofar as it may be read as a ruling of want of jurisdiction. This amounts to overruling the case, because want of jurisdiction was the ground of decision. Judicial restraint requires that we observe the limitations of judicial power, and defer to the legislature, as to those matters which were not the traditional subjects of suits at law or in equity. If we do not, we are endorsing government by judicial fiat, not by law.
What I have said thus far goes to the power of the circuit court to act, which is a form of jurisdiction over the subject matter of the suit, particularly when the only relief which is sought or could be granted on the facts *581asserted in the petition is the ordering or approval of a surgical procedure on the body of a living person. In addition to the jurisdiction of the subject matter discussed in sec. 801.04(1), Stats., there is the question of the exercise of the court’s jurisdiction, either by personal jurisdiction or jurisdiction in rem or quasi in rem. These jurisdictional requirements are treated in sec. 801.04(2) and (3). The grounds for exercising personal jurisdiction are stated in sec. 801.05. Only two subsections of the statute need be examined. Sub. (2) allows the exercise of jurisdiction where there are statutes which specifically confer grounds for the exercise of personal jurisdiction over the defendant. No such statute exists in this case. Sub. (1) permits exercise of personal jurisdiction “against a defendant.” But the theory of the case at bar is not a proceeding against anyone. There was no named defendant. The caption of the case makes clear that the proceeding is quasi in rem because it states, “In the Matter of the Guardianship of Joan I, Eberhardy, Incompetent.” Sec. 801,04(3), provides as follows:
“A court of this state having jurisdiction of the subject matter may render a judgment in rem or quasi in rem upon a status or upon a property or other thing pursuant to s. 801.07, and the judgment in such action may affect the interests in the status, property or thing of all persons served pursuant to s. 801.12 with a summons and complaint or notice of object of action as the case requires.”
What is the status, property or thing upon which a judgment may be rendered in this case? Apparently the majority is willing to say that the body of a living person falls in that category. I am not.
While holding that the circuit court has the power to authorize or order sterilization of an incompetent without that person’s consent, the majority also holds that such power should not be exercised without the prior approval *582of this court. I agree with the second point wholeheartedly.
Compulsory sterilization involves termination of the constitutionally protected fundamental right to bear children.
“If the right of privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free of unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child.” Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438, 453 (1972).
The physicial integrity of the human body is a fundamental constitutional right. The courts exist to protect such rights from unwarranted intrusion by the other branches of government, not to facilitate, authorize or direct such intrusion.
I conclude that the power of government to order sterilization of an alleged mentally deficient person, if such power exists, is an administrative power. The initial decision whether to grant it is for the legislature. However, because the power is administrative and legislative in character, relating to the public interest as perceived by those exercising it, it may not be delegated to or exercised by a court. In explaining what constitutes an invalid delegation to the judiciary, this court has said in an annexation case:
“What is ‘desirable’ or ‘advisable’ or ‘ought to be’ is a question of policy, not a question of fact. What is ‘necessary’ or what is ‘in the best interest’ is not a fact and its determination by the judiciary is an exercise of legislative power when each involves political considerations and reasons why there should or should not be an annexation. This is the general and universal rule which sharply draws the differentiating line between legislative power and judicial power and by which the validity of the delegation of functions to the judiciary by the legislature is determined.” In re City of Beloit, 37 Wis.2d 637, 644, 155 N.W.2d 633 (1968).
*583There is no claim in this case that the legislature has delegated the power to order sterilization to the judiciary. In fact, the legislature has determined as a matter of policy that the power of the state is not to be used to compel sterilization. In 1977, the legislature repealed sec. 46.12, Stats. The repealed statute allowed the Department of Health and Social Services to authorize sterilization of criminal, mentally ill or mentally deficient inmates of state and county institutions, upon the finding of a surgeon, a psychiatrist and the superintendent of the institution that “procreation is inadvisable,” after examination into the “physical and mental” condition of the inmates.
If the young woman in this case had been subject to the repealed statute, she could have been sterilized pursuant to administrative decree. Even the repealed statute did not grant power to a judge to take this action. Applying the Beloit rule to sterilization, I would hold that whether procreation by a person is “advisable,” involving moral and ethical rather than purely legal and factual considerations, is an exercise of the legislative police power rather than the judicial power.
There is no compelling state interest to be served by conferring the power on a court to authorize the sterilization of an incompetent person. The argument advanced in support of compulsory sterilization laws at the turn of the century was that the state had an interest in preventing the birth of mentally retarded children. This eugenics argument assumes that mental retardation is hereditary. We now know that many of the mentally retarded have social and cultural, rather than hereditary roots. They are present at higher rates in populations with inadequate nutrition and prenatal care.
The Scandinavian countries were among the first to enact eugenic sterilization laws. Some thought that the enactment of these laws provided progressive and socially *584responsible legislation. It is ironic to realize in retrospect that the same societies which pioneered the concept of the welfare state insisted on the prerogative of controlling the bodies of their members so as to limit the potential claims upon their generosity. It is a short and logical' step from preventing the birth of misfits to permitting only the birth of eugenieaily superior persons, as determined by the state. Thus, in Nazi Germany, it was required that all children of “mixed” marriages be ’sterilized. Together with the systematic murder of Jews, this policy insured that only the “master race” would survive.
It is argued that the young retarded woman in the case at bar does not have the capacity to make a decision as to whether to bear children, just as she does not have the capacity to consent to sterilization. However, the decision to become pregnant is seldom made consciously, in a cold and clinical setting. Pregnancy most frequently results from an act of love. No one has suggested that this young woman is incapable of love.
The record in this case suggests that doctors at the Marshfield Clinic are not willing to perform the operation unless they receive judicial approval, notwithstanding that it has been approved by the hospital’s ethics committee. Thus, the doctors want insulation from legal liability should their judgment turn out to be in error. The professional ethics of the doctors are their own concern, and that of their colleagues. However, I would agree with the trial court holding that it was without authority in the absence of a statute to insulate the doctors from legal liability, if any, by giving approval for the sterilization procedure. No medical emergency appears from the facts of this case. In fact, pregnancy is only a bare possibility. The trial judge stated that any benefit to the young woman was questionable. Some may sympathize with the parents who are concerned for what they *585think is the welfare of their daughter, although I find nothing in this record to substantiate their concern. However good their intentions, they are not entitled to seek the rubber stamp of a court in order to carry out their wishes.
The court of appeals carefully considered the same arguments which have been advanced in this court. It determined in a well-written and well-reasoned opinion that in the absence of specific statutory authority, the courts have no inherent power to make the fundamental and irreversible decision to sterilize an incompetent person. The court pointed out that any grant of power to the judiciary would have to be exercised in a standard-less vacuum, or standards would have to be created without the benefit of legislative guidance. I agree that the awesome power to deprive a human being of the fundamental right to bear or beget a child may not be inferred from general constitutional or statutory grants of jurisdiction. Rather, it must be conferred by statutory authority, providing guidelines and adequate legal safeguards determined by the elected representatives of the people to be necessary, after full consideration of the constitutional rights of the individual and the general welfare of society. Such authority should be granted only after a thorough consideration of the moral, medical, psychological and ethical, as well as the legal, implications of sterilization and its aftereffects. The only proper forum for such a grant of authority is the legislature. In State ex rel. Broughton v. Zimmerman, 261 Wis. 398, 52 N.W.2d 903 (1952), Justice Currie stated the classic definition of separation of powers, quoting from Fergus v. Marks, 321 Ill 510, 514, 152 NE 557 (1926) :
“The legislative department determines what the law shall be, the executive department executes or administers the law, and the judicial department construes and applies the law.”
*586As I concur, I express great reservation with the following dicta as an invitation to further sterilization litigation:
. . it should not be concluded that this court abrogates its own authority and jurisdiction to act on this subject at a future time if it becomes apparent that the legislature is unable or unwilling to act. Unlike sterilization procedures, our decisions are reversible. In an appropriate case at an appropriate time, this court, if it becomes necessary, could permit the invocation of its original jurisdiction for the further consideration and resolution of this problem. Although the judicial system is not well adapted to the task of examining and evaluating social and medical facts from the viewpoint of public policy, it occasionally becomes necessary to do so. It is not powerless in that respect. By remand to a referee for factfinding, by the process of taking judicial notice of important facts of a legislative nature, and by the exercise of its own discretion (or referral to a trial court for such exercise, which could then be scrutinized on appellate review), the problem posed in this case could be addressed.
“The preferred forum, however, is the legislature, and it is there that the public policy issues which arise in a case of this nature should be determined.
“We hold that the circuit courts of the State of Wisconsin have constitutional and statutory jurisdiction to consider and decide petitions seeking court authorization for a guardian to give consent to the sterilization of an incompetent ward; but pursuant to our supervisory authority .we direct such jurisdiction shall not be exercised until the state’s policy to do so is set forth by appropriate legislation or until further order of this court.” Supra, at 578-579.
In particular, I take exception to the following language :
“We hold that the circuit courts of the State of Wisconsin have constitutional and statutory jurisdiction to consider and deeide petitions seeking court authorization for a guardian to give consent to the sterilization of an *587incompetent ward; ... or until further order of this court." (emphasis supplied) Ibid.
Quoting from my dissent in Wangen v. Ford Motor Co., 97 Wis.2d 260, 294 N.W.2d 437 (1980) :
“As Chesterfield' Smith, the former president of the American Bar Association, said in his Law Day address:
“ ‘. . . courts are being asked today to solve problems for which they are not institutionally equipped, of at least not as well equipped as other areas of government [such as the legislature].
“ ‘. . . As far as possible, judicial forums should be reserved for doing only that which cannot be done elsewhere.
“ ‘The American public perceives the courts as a jack-of-all trades available to furnish the answer to whatever may trouble them. Shall a war be prosecuted or peace made? What is life, or when does death begin? Shall racial integration be achieved by . . . busing of children to far away schools? How shall prisons and mental institutions be operated? Shall nuclear power plants be built, and if so, where? Shall the Concorde fly to thése shores? Is affirmative action really inverse discrimination? Shall the snail darter survive? [Should a circuit court determine a question of public policy for the citizens of Wisconsin?]” Id. at 323-24.
Under the radical expansion of judicial power announced by the majority, will our already overburdened judicial system next face, the prospect of a new flood of public policy litigation ■ dealing with issues of who is to receive the benefit of a medical breakthrough ? Today, the ever expanding field of medical research is almost taxed to the limits of its fiscal capacity in covering the costs of the professional and highly technical services involved in such areas as cancer research and heart, eye, kidney and liver transplants. Will courts order hospitals to expand their facilities so as to accommodate all who need or want the benefits of new treatment and/or surgical procedures, and will doctors be ordered to ad*588minister and/or perform them? Will the courts take it upon themselves to choose those persons who will receive the benefit of the various medical research programs and refuse others ? And, in the area of organ transplants, will the courts decide not only who will receive organs, but also who will donate? Will judges decide on the basis of their belief as to who will be the most productive members of our society in the future or will other factors such as finances and social or political influence be the basis for decision? Will the courts not be faced if we follow the logical process of reason with the question as to why society should not assume control over the individual and subordinate him or her to its own ideas of what is good for the human race? We are opening the door to a never ending series of problems without a rational, moral or ethical solution.
The author of the dissenting opinion in this case recently expounded Smith’s philosophy in State v. Princess Cinema of Milwaukee, 96 Wis.2d 646, 292 N.W.2d 807 (1980), and refused to infringe on the legislative prerogative of enacting statutes to implement public policy, stating:
“ ‘The problems of public policy . . . are for the legislature,’ and further, ‘recognizing that our job is one of interpreting statutes not redrafting [or enacting] them.’” Id. at 661-62.
Further, I believe it is incumbent on this court to delineate the express responsibilities and authority of guardians ad litem in making recommendations to a court for it seems evident from the record that the guardian ad litem was more interested in supporting the position of the parents for their convenience and the doctor involved rather than the poor, unfortunate, retarded adult. A thorough examination of the record reveals that the parental fears of a future pregnancy of this unfortunate young adult, due to her lack of responsibility and/or *589necessity of constant supervision, were never thoroughly aired before the court. For there was no testimony presented from her adult, natural brother and sister as reflected in the hospital records regarding their strong feelings as to their parents’ oversolicitous attitudes for their sister Joan’s (retarded adult) needs:
“They [the brother and sister] feel she is grossly overprotected. It is their feeling that if the parents were able to begin a program whereby Joan would learn self-help skills, she would become partially independent. In fact, they would like to seriously consider placing Joan in an institution for perhaps one year with this goal in mind in order that she would be able to return to the community and be more independent than she is at this time.”
One of the doctors who recommended the sterilization procedure in a summary fashion disregarded the adult, natural brother’s and sister’s recommendation as follows:
“In my opinion the parents have done an excellent job of raising this severely disabled child and what is really being talked about today is .simply a matter of style. One set of parents prefers to raise their children in a somewhat different way than another set. One can always quibble about the finer point. In the main, however, I honestly do not feel that a more vigorous program designed at making Joan more independent would be at all appreciably more successful than the style in which the Eberhardys have raised Joan.”
Another doctor recommending the sterilization wrote:
“It is impossible, for her to be supervised at all moments of her life and the possibility that she could become pregnant is real.
“As you well know, mentally retarded persons possess the same sexual drives and passions as do most human beings, however, they lack the personal and moral responsibilities and the knowledge of the consequences of sexual intercourse.”
*590Quoting from another doctor consulted:
“She attends a summer camp for about a month each year and on several occasions persons at this camp have been approached by members of the opposite sex and it is the fear of [the parents] that Joan might well become pregnant. ... If the ethics committee would give me medical approval in this situation and I could get the proper legal counsel and Judge-’s approval, hopefully we could proceed with this procedure in the near future since she goes to camp again. . . .”
The record is clear that the guardian ad litem agreed with the parents and the doctors as to the desirability of the sterilization procedure based upon the fear of possible sexual activity in the future due to Joan’s lack of judgment and lack of continual supervision and presented no testimony to the court concerning the opposing views of Joan’s adult brother and sister in 1971 regarding their sister being grossly overprotected. He did not cross-examine the doctor as to any scientific or medical reference for his opinion that “mentally retarded persons possess the same sexual drive and passions as do most human beings,” nor his opinion that “statistically speaking, Joan-is most probably capable of reproducing herself.” I note the latter fact because the record establishes that the young lady had not undergone a thorough obstetrical or gynecological examination in the immediate or recent past.1 Further, the record is devoid of any direct testimony that Joan ever participated in any type of sexual activity, and there was no proof in the medical records substantiating or confirming the mother’s fears that “Joan might well become pregnant.” Neither did the guardian ad litem cross-examine the doctor as to his very *591definite and firm opinion that the retarded adult had no potential for developing the cognitive and adaptive skills required for successful child bearing. No questions were asked concerning empirical data of the low reproductive rates of mentally retarded persons. No questions were asked about the mortality and morbidity rates associated with sterilization. The guardian ad litem, further, did. not question nor develop the report in the hospital record “Joan has developed self-sufficiency in respect to other basic personal skills as hygiene and feeding . . . and has sufficient vocabulary to make her basic needs known and can respond to questions in short, well-articulated sentences.” The most obvious deficiency of the case presented by the guardian ad litem is his failure to bring out the fact that the medical opinions as to Joan’s condition ranged from “moderate mental retardation” to “moderate severe mental retardation.” (Emphasis supplied.) The explanation for this change in opinion may be that Joan’s mental faculties were deteriorating from overprotection and lack of independent training in self-help skills. However, that may not be the only explanation. It is for these reasons that I point out the necessity for this court to delineate the responsibilities of the guardian ad litem in a matter such as this. In my view, this record presents problems as to the guardian ad litem’s responsibilities to his ward in a true adversary system. The record is devoid of any meaningful cross-examination of either the parent-guardians or the pediatric physician.
It is my belief that this decision is a most difficult one and should never be made by courts alone as it involves a value judgment central to the constituent fabric of our society. We all ought to be involved in making this decision whether we participate as a litigant, judge, attorney, physician or as an American citizen, voting for elective representatives. In an age when the *592courts are for the first time declaring retarded individuals to be of equal worth with other individuals in our society and under our constitution, mandating equal educational and training opportunities, it seems anomalous that equal justice is being threatened. This is a decision on a subject matter which our society will be grappling with for years to come.
I question the physician’s judgment in this case based on the court record presented for review and wonder if it is an attempt to substitute the quality of life ethic for what should be the sanctity of life ethic in medicine. In this case, it is most important to examine the rationalization involved in this medical management decision in order to understand the implications of this recent development in medical ethics and its significance for the profession and society as a whole. The rationale is easy to understand in relation to the new quality of life ethic so eloquently propounded by the social engineers of the Twentieth Century. Two questions are presented: Should a group of doctors whose only basis for this fundamental and irreversible medical, surgical procedure according to this record is the guardian’s request based upon a fear that this young retarded adult may in the future have sexual contact with a man in the absence of statutory guidelines and authority be allowed to substitute their judgment for society and assume complete control over the individual and subordinate her to their own ideas of what is good for her well-being? Does any court ever have direct power over the body of a living person in the absence of a showing that the life of the person is in jeopardy requiring medical attention ? I think not.
For the foregoing reasons, I would affirm the decision of the court of appeals without modification, but concur in the result of the majority opinion.

 The record only reveals that Joan underwent an obstetrical and gynecological “evaluation” in May of 1977 for the purpose of determining whether she was a suitable candidate for an IUD.