Court Opinion

ID: 9689956
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 18:50:19.10866+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:52.865489
License: Public Domain

Cavanagh, J.
(dissenting). The narrow issue, presented in this case is whether the Legislature intended to authorize the forfeiture of real property allegedly used to facilitate the sale of controlled substances. I agree with the majority that the language of MCL 333.7521(1X0; MSA 14.15(7521)(l)(f) is ambiguous and, therefore, requires judicial interpretation. I cannot agree, how*267ever, that principles of statutory construction and the legislative history of this provision support the majority’s conclusion that the Legislature intended to provide for the civil forfeiture of real property under these circumstances. These principles and legislative materials support the decision of the Court of Appeals, which I would affirm.
When interpreting the language of a statute, the primary goal of this Court is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the Legislature. State Treasurer v Wilson, 423 Mich 138, 143-144; 377 NW2d 703 (1985). Individual provisions must not be examined in isolation, but must be read in the context of the entire act, and words and phrases must be interpreted so as to be consistent with the entire statute, construed in the light of its history. Arrowhead Development Co v Livingston Co Road Comm, 413 Mich 505, 516; 322 NW2d 702 (1982).
The majority has concluded that because § 7521(l)(f) does not specify whether real property is subject to the terms of this forfeiture provision, the provision is ambiguous. I agree. I do not agree, however, with the majority’s conclusion that a reading of the statute as a whole and its history support the conclusion that the Legislature intended to include real property as "any thing of value” subject to forfeiture when it is "used to facilitate” a violation of the controlled substances act.1
Subsection (f) of § 7521 provides for the forfeiture of property in three distinct categories:
Any thing of value that is furnished or intended to be furnished in exchange for a controlled substance or an imitation controlled substance in violation of this article, traceable to an exchange for a controlled substance or an imitation con*268trolled substance in violation of this article, or used or intended to be used to facilitate any violation of this article including but not limited to money, negotiable instruments, or securities.
The majority concludes, by reference to a dictionary and to common sense, that real property is encompassed within the phrase "any thing of value.” No one suggests otherwise. The mere fact that real property is a thing of value does not, however, answer the precise question presented here. It is important to recognize that the claimant does not contend that real property can never be subject to forfeiture under § 7521(l)(f). He argues, instead, that although real property that is furnished in exchange for a controlled substance or traceable to an exchange for a controlled substance may be subject to forfeiture, real property is not subject to forfeiture if it is merely used to facilitate a violation of the act. The language and grammatical structure of § 7521(l)(f) as well as the act when read as a whole support this construction of the provision.
The Court of Appeals adopted this construction of the provision and, in reliance on the previous decision of the Court of Appeals in In re Forfeiture of 2850 Ewing Rd, 161 Mich App 266, 273; 409 NW2d 800 (1987), lv den 429 Mich 884 (1987), reversed the trial court’s forfeiture of the claimant’s real property. The Court in Ewing Rd held that real property is subject to forfeiture under the first two alternatives in § 7521(1)(f), but concluded that "the Legislature did not express an intent in subsection (f) that real property which is merely the situs of a violation of the controlled substances act be subject to forfeiture.” The Court explained:
We conclude that the proviso including but not *269limited to money, negotiable instruments, or securities relates only to that portion of subsection (f) which provides that any thing of value is subject to forfeiture which is "used or intended to be used to facilitate any violation of this article.” We so conclude because of the lack of a comma between the word "article” and the proviso.
We believe that had the Legislature not desired to limit the type of property subject to forfeiture, it would have inserted no limiting words whatsoever. Instead, the Legislature would have simply placed a period after the word article. If it had done so, any thing that was used to facilitate a drug transaction could have been seized. Instead, the Legislature chose to add an illustrative list. That list includes money, negotiable instruments, and securities. Clearly, the Legislature did not intend to specifically limit the type of property to those specific items. On the other hand, the items in the illustrative list are all items of property radically different in kind from real property. Nothing in this statute indicates a legislative intent that the situs of a drug transaction is subject to forfeiture merely because it is the situs. Had the Legislature intended a house to be subject to forfeiture if an illegal drug transaction occurs within the house, it could have clearly stated so. In other sections of the statute, the Legislature specifically provided that an aircraft, a vehicle, or a vessel was subject to forfeiture. It provided that books, records, research products, microfilm, tapes, and data are subject to forfeiture. It provided that containers for controlled substances were subject to forfeiture. However, nowhere in the statute does the Legislature indicate its intent that real property is subject to forfeiture merely because it is the situs of a drug transaction. [161 Mich App 272-273.]
The majority rejects this construction of subsection (f) as "strained” and "disjointed” and suggests *270that to rely so heavily on the absence of a comma "exalts form over substance.” However, the majority then proceeds to apply fundamental rules of grammar in an attempt to show that the proviso "including, but not limited to money, negotiable instruments, or securities,” modifies "any thing of value” and was, therefore, intended to apply to all three classifications of property subject to forfeiture.
I agree that it would be inappropriate to give effect to a technical reading of a statute that is clearly at odds with the express intention of the Legislature. That is not the situation in this case, however. Here, the majority has disregarded both the structure and the history of the provision.
Although it is not determinative, it is significant that the Legislature chose not to punctuate the provision so as to make the limiting proviso applicable to the three clauses in the subsection that identify classifications of property subject to forfeiture. All three of these clauses modify the phrase "any thing of value.” Identifying the proviso as a present participial phrase, as does the majority, does not make it pertain to all three clauses that modify "any thing of value.” Although the majority may disagree that the Legislature intended to restrict the forfeiture of real property to the first two classifications identified in the subsection, the fact remains that, as drafted, the proviso modifies only the last classification of property.
Most importantly, the legislative history of the provision does not support the conclusion of the majority that the Legislature intended to permit the forfeiture of real property used to facilitate a violation of the act. There is no question that the Legislature adopted the forfeiture provision as a deterrent to the widespread illegal drug trade. The choice of ways to wage the so-called "war on *271drugs,” however, is not a choice for this Court to make. That choice is for the Legislature, and the task of this Court is not to determine whether, as a matter of policy, the civil forfeiture of real property would be an effective deterrent, but whether that was the choice made by the Legislature when this provision was adopted. In view of the legislative history of this provision and recent legislative activity to amend the statute to expressly provide for the civil forfeiture of real property under the "used to facilitate” alternative, I cannot agree that the Legislature intended to authorize such forfeitures at the time the provision was adopted.
As the majority indicates, the Michigan forfeiture statute, which was passed in 1982, was patterned after the federal forfeiture act, 21 USC 881(a)(6). It is clear, however, that the federal act did not expressly authorize the forfeiture of real property until it was amended in 1984 to add subsection (a)(7), which permits the forfeiture of "real property . . . which is used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit, or to facilitate the commission of, a violation of this title . . . .” PL 98-473, § 306(a), 98 Stat 2050. Although some federal courts have permitted the forfeiture of real property under § 881(a)(6),2 legislative documents reveal that, even in 1984, Congress operated under the assumption that real *272property was not subject to broad civil forfeiture. The Senate report of the Committee on the Judiciary regarding the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1983 acknowledges that real property which constitutes or is traceable to the proceeds of an illegal drug transaction is civilly forfeitable under 21 USC 881(a)(6), but also states:
Under current law, if a person uses a boat or car to transport narcotics or uses equipment to manufacture dangerous drugs, his use of the property renders it subject to civil forfeiture. But if he uses a secluded barn to store tons of marihuana or uses his house as a manufacturing laboratory for amphetamines, there is no provision to subject his real property to civil forfeiture, even though its use was indispensable to the commission of a major drug offense and the prospect of the forfeiture of the property would have been a powerful deterrent. [S Rep No 225, 98th Cong (2nd Sess), 1984 US Code Cong & Admin News, p 3378. Emphasis supplied.]
It cannot be persuasively argued, then, that because the Michigan statute was patterned after the federal act, it should be construed to authorize the forfeiture of real property which is the situs of a drug transaction. Congress has amended the federal act, but the Michigan statute remains unchanged. Members of the Michigan Legislature have, however, attempted to amend the provision to provide the authorization that is presently lacking in the "used to facilitate” forfeiture alternative.
The 84th Legislature considered SB 648, which would have amended § 7521(l)(f) so as to provide for the forfeiture of anything of value used to facilitate a violation of the act "including but not limited to money, negotiable instruments, securities, or real estate.” Although the bill passed the *273Senate, it remained pending in the House Committee on the Judiciary at the end of the legislative session. An analysis prepared for SB 648 summarizes the argument in support of its passage as follows:
The Public Health Code already includes provisions for the forfeiture of personal property used to facilitate the commission of a drug offense, but does not include the forfeiture of real property. Houses and other types of real property often are used in the commission of drug offenses, and such use reportedly is on the rise due to the increased prevalence of "crack houses” out of which operations for the sale and delivery of crack cocaine are run. The bill would serve as a deterrent to such use of real property by subjecting the proceeds of drug crimes to forfeiture and by using the forfeited property to enhance funding of drug crime reduction efforts. [Senate Legislative Analysis, SB 648, March 16, 1988.]
On March 9, 1989, SB 244 was introduced in the 85th Legislature. This proposed legislation does not alter subsection (l)(f), but instead adds subsection (h) to provide for the forfeiture of:
Real property, including any right, title, or interest in the whole of any lot or tract of land and any appurtenances or improvements, that is used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit, or to facilitate the commission of, a violation of this article punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year. However, real property shall not be forfeited under this subdivision to the extent of the interest of an owner of the real property, by reason of an act or omission that is shown by the owner to have occurred without that owner’s knowledge or consent.
This legislation also provides in subsection (2) *274for the protection of the interests of secured parties and prohibits forfeiture in subsection (3) if the owner of the real property "knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of this article has taken place” and notifies a law enforcement agency in writing and also serves a notice to quit upon the individual violating the act. This legislation is currently pending in the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice and Urban Affairs.
The Legislature is also considering HB 4277, currently pending in the House Committee on Judiciary, which would amend the Public Health Code to add § 7526, in order to provide for the forfeiture of "all real property that is the proceeds of a crime or the substituted proceeds of a crime.” This proposed legislation outlines a specific procedure to be followed, including a provision mandating notice and a hearing when a lien notice is filed against real property. In addition, the bill prohibits in § 7526(2) the forfeiture of real property if the owner of the property did not know of, or consent to, the commission of the crime, or the property is the primary residence of the spouse or a dependent child of the owner, and that spouse or dependent child did not know of, and consent to, the commission of the crime.
This pending legislation illustrates the apparent belief of our Legislature that real property is not currently forfeitable if it is merely used to facilitate a violation of the controlled substances act. In addition, this legislation, with its detailed procedures and exceptions to the civil forfeiture of real property, highlights the need for a narrow construction of § 7521.
I recognize that the Legislature expressly stated that the provisions of the Public Health Code, which contains the controlled substances act in article 7, are to be construed liberally "for the *275protection of the health, safety, and welfare of the people of this state.” MCL 333.1111(2); MSA 14.15(1111)(2). The Legislature also mandated that the provisions of the code are "intended to be consistent with applicable federal and state law and shall be construed, when necessary, to achieve that consistency. MCL 333.1111(1); MSA 14.15(1111)(1).
The Michigan Legislature fashioned its forfeiture statute after the federal statute which, at the time, did not contain an express provision regarding the forfeiture of real property used to facilitate a violation of the act. In accordance with the Legislature’s mandate in § 1111(1), the Michigan statute should be construed as being consistent with the version of the federal act in effect when our statute was adopted. Congress felt it was necessary to expressly amend the federal statute, and until our Legislature takes the same action, the civil forfeiture of real property which is merely the situs of a drug transaction should not be subject to civil forfeiture under § 7521(l)(f).
In my view, there is nothing in the language or grammatical structure of §7521 or its legislative history to support the broad construction chosen by the majority. Forfeiture may indeed be a powerful deterrent to wholesale drug dealers. It is the task of the Legislature, however, to weigh the competing policy considerations and to specify the extent to which homes and businesses are subject to civil forfeiture. Without such explicit authorization from the Legislature, and especially in view of the apparent belief of members of the current Legislature that real property is not subject to such broad civil forfeiture under § 7521, a narrow construction of this provision is appropriate.
The Court of Appeals interpreted the provision to allow for the forfeiture of real property only if *276the property was furnished in exchange for a controlled substance or traceable to an exchange for a controlled substance, a construction of the provision which is narrow but also renders the act consistent as a whole. I would affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals.

 MCL 333.7101 et seq.; MSA 14.15(7101) et seq.

 The majority states that federal courts have permitted the forfeiture of real property under § 881(a)(6). Two federal cases are cited as supportive authority. Both the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in United States v Premises Known As 8584 Old Brownsville Rd, Shelby Co, Tennessee, 736 F2d 1129 (CA 6, 1984), and the United States District Court in United States v Certain Real Property Situated at Route 3, Box 247E, Mountain Home, Arkansas, 568 F Supp 434 (WD Ark, 1983), held that real property was subject to forfeiture as "proceeds” traceable to an illegal exchange of controlled substances. Unlike the majority of the Court in the present case, however, neither federal court sanctioned the forfeiture of real property merely "used to facilitate” drug dealing activities.