Court Opinion

ID: 9584844
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:53:14.586057+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:18:53.061844
License: Public Domain

Hall, Presiding Judge,
dissenting. The majority opinion does not reach the merits of the appeal. It affirms the judgment upon the ratio decidendi of Supreme Court opinions that predate the CPA. It also cites Supreme Court decisions that postdate the CPA, but these are either memorandum decisions or summary opinions on the point which merely cite pre-CPA decisions for their authority. It appears that *597neither appellate court has ever squarely considered the question of the effect of the CPA on pleading a constitutional question. "The doctrine of stare decisis cannot be invoked to sustain, as authority, a decision which is in conflict . . . with a previous statutory enactment to which the decision makes no reference, and which is made without reviewing or construing the statute, and in such a case the statute should be followed rather than the decision.” 21 CJS 325-326, Courts, § 193. "Where previous decisions of this court are in conflict with a previous statutory enactment, to which no reference is made, such decisions will be rejected as authority, without the formality of reviewing and overruling them. 'It being a choice between the Act of the legislature and a subsequently conflicting decision of the court, the Act of the legislature speaks with imperative and controlling authority and must be followed in preference to the judicial utterance in conflict therewith.’ Central of Ga. R. Co. v. Jones, 28 Ga. App. 258, 261 (110 SE 914).” Murphy v. Harding, 220 Ga. 634, 636 (140 SE2d 852). The Jones case by this court involved a similar issue — a statute liberalizing the procedural requirements for an assignment of error.
Prior to the CPA it was said: "Probably no phase of pleading in Georgia is fraught with more technicalities than with respect to raising constitutional issues.” Georgia Procedure and Practice 38, § 2-23 (1957 Ed.). The question here is whether this archaic form of pleading is applicable under the CPA. In my opinion, it is not.
The Constitution of 1945 provides that "The General Assembly may provide for carrying cases or certain classes of cases to the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals from the trial courts otherwise than by writ of error, and may prescribe conditions as to the right of a party litigant to have his case reviewed by the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals.” Code Ann. § 2-3704.
It is common knowledge that our appellate judges differ in their view of the Appellate Practice Act of 1965 and the Civil Practice Act of 1966. These differences vary in de*598gree and are based upon honest convictions. It must be acknowledged that these personal predilections have influenced the positions taken by the judges in cases before both appellate courts. Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that "the law on this question is not simply what the judges of this court think the law should be, but what the General Assembly has said it is.” Horton v. Brown, 117 Ga. App. 47, 49 (159 SE2d 489). I respectfully submit that the intent of the General Assembly, as between deciding cases on the merits or avoiding the question by technicalities, is clear. "Analysis . . . shows that there is no gap between what they wrote and what in reason they must have meant.” Woolford Realty Co. v. Rose, 286 U. S. 319, 330 (52 SC 568, 76 LE 1128).
The Appellate Practice Act of 1965, as amended, provides: "It is the intention of this law to provide a new procedure for taking cases to the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, as authorized in the Constitution of 1945, Article VI, Section II, Paragraph IV (Georgia Code Anno., Section 2-3704), and, to that end, this law shall be liberally construed so as to bring about a decision on the merits of every case appealed, and to avoid dismissal of any case or refusal to consider any points raised therein, except as may be specifically referred to herein.” Code Ann. § 6-905.
The CPA provides: "This Title governs the procedure in all courts of record of the State of Georgia in all suits of a civil nature whether cognizable as cases at law or in equity, with the exceptions stated in section 81A-181. The provisions of this Title shall be construed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.” Code Ann. § 81A-101.
Since the enactment of the CPA, both this court and the Supreme Court have held that we now operate under "notice pleading” and that "a petition should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Byrd v. Ford Motor Co., 118 Ga. App. 333 (163 SE2d 327); Hunter v. A-1 *599Bonding Service, 118 Ga. App. 498 (2) (164 SE2d 246); Harper v. DeFreitas, 117 Ga. App. 236 (1) (160 SE2d 260); Bourn v. Herring, 225 Ga. 67 (3) (166 SE2d 89). All that a motion to dismiss must formally state is that the petition "fails to state a claim.” The same principle was applied in Benefield v. Malone, 110 Ga. App. 607 (139 SE2d 500) with respect to a motion for summary judgment (overruling Suggs v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen &c., 104 Ga. App. 219, 223 (121 SE2d 661)).
As stated above, the CPA governs "all courts of record” and "all suits of civil nature.” It is therefore axiomatic that it covers the manner of pleading this constitutional issue.
The old rules of pleading used two technicalities to avoid constitutional questions: a statute could not be identified by citing a section of Ga. Code Annotated, published by the Harrison Company; and the pleader had to specifically identify the particular paragraph, section or article of the Federal or State Constitution of which the statute or procedure is claimed to be violative. These technicalities are not only in direct conflict with the CPA and the Appellate Practice Act but are also anomalous. By what logic can an appellate court use the Ga. Code Annotated for formal citation in its printed opinions which are permanent, official State records and at the same time deny its use to a party litigant in typewritten papers under a system of "notice” pleading. As for identifying constitutional provisions, a similar strict and word-perfect requirement was once necessary in objecting to the charge of the court. However, in a recent case interpreting the Appellate Practice Act, this court said that "the statute does. not demand a formalistic, technically perfect objection. The only requirement is that the grounds of the objection be stated distinctly enough for a 'reasonable’ trial judge to understand its nature, enabling him to rule intelligently on the specific point. In other words, it is merely a rule of common sense.” Horton v. Ammons, 125 Ga. App. 69, 72 (186 SE2d 469), affirmed Smith v. Ammons, 228 Ga. 855 (188 SE2d 866). The same reasoning applies to pleading a constitutional issue. The question is whether the plead*600ings give fair notice to the opposite party and enable a "reasonable” trial or appellate judge to understand the issue presented? In my opinion, the appellant’s motion to dismiss meets this test. It points out that the cited Code section (Code Ann. § 46-101) has been held unconstitutional as violative of due process and that the procedure used violates the due process and equal protection rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Georgia. The trial judge recited in his order that the argument before him was specifically directed to the constitutional due process issues of notice and prior hearing as they apply to the facts in this case. He cited what he considered to be the applicable precedents and ruled on the merits of the case. An important constitutional issue is now before this court. We do not have the right to avoid deciding it on the merits by invoking a technical rule of pleading which has been superseded.
I am authorized to state that Chief Judge Bell and Judges Deen and Stolz concur in this dissent.