Court Opinion

ID: 9633571
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 11:52:38.915965+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:08:37.512252
License: Public Domain

Finley, J.
(concurring specially) — Despite its three-alarm context and the high decibel rating of the dissent, and despite other legal argumentation contrary to the majority, I have signed that opinion. It presents in my judgment a basically acceptable rationalization of the jurisprudential problem involved in this appeal. In other words, proceeding ever so slightly from the general to the particular, and perhaps elaborating the obvious briefly, I think the decision is a sound, necessary, and proper one. It is decided on the particular facts of this particular case; furthermore, in terms of probabilities, it seems to me quite likely this decision is sui generis.
The foregoing should and would end the matter for me, except that I am concerned about some possible loose ends or inferences generated by some things said, and others perhaps unsaid, in the opinions written in the disposition of this appeal.
The opinion written for the majority by Judge Rosellini states that there is a hiatus in the legislation enacted to implement the referendum provisions of the state constitution. It is implied that the legislature should have provided some alternative and practical formula for the Secretary of State to follow in certifying as to the number of voters’ signatures and the legal efficacy of referendum petitions filed with the Secretary of State, but subsequently stolen, as in the instant case, prior to completion of the mechanical process of counting and canvassing.
The majority opinion in effect concludes that the courts will not permit such a legislative omission or hiatus to negative or defeat the self-executing referendum provisions of the state constitution. This is interpreted in the opinion *68by Judge Weaver (concurring in the result) as a statement by the majority that this court can and will fill the legislative void or hiatus. Judge Weaver (apparently joined by Judge Hill) takes very strong exception to the suggestion of such a possibility; but, on the other hand, concurring in the result reached by the majority, states without hesitation:
“My concurrence in the result is based upon this: The factual impossibility of the Secretary of State to comply with the statutes does not, ipso facto, render the constitutional provision nugatory.
“The reasons advanced by the Secretary of State in support of his certification are, I believe, sufficient in the instant case to support the trial court’s conclusion; but the decision is sui generis and should not, to my mind, be considered as judicial precedent necessarily applicable to an analogous situation.”
In other words, Weaver, J., in effect, seems to be saying that the referendum petitions have been stolen; it is in fact impossible for the Secretary of State to comply explicitly with the canvassing, counting and certification requirements of the existing statutes respecting referendum petition No. 34. But the clear and inescapable inference is that, under the circumstances, the Secretary of State does not have to comply explicitly with the existing statutory provisions, and a conclusion is articulated that the certification as made by the Secretary of State is sufficient. The opinion adds that the conclusion reached should and must be limited to the particular facts in this particular case. Whether articulated or not, this is, of course, the applicable legal theory inherent in the now well recognized and accepted doctrine of stare decisis. Such a limiting statement is good sound judicial orthodoxy and caution, certainly in terms of the more popular forms of judicial discourse employed in just about any case; and I have also taken the precaution to assert this sound principle in the opening paragraph herein.
But the point is, or it seems so to me, that Weaver, J., is saying precisely the same thing as Rosellini, J., but in *69slightly different language. Judge Rosellini’s statement emphasizes or relates to the inadequacy or absence of specific legislation to authorize or justify the action taken by the Secretary of State, certifying referendum No. 34 in the instant case. Judge Weaver’s statement emphasizes or relates to the fact that the petitions are no longer extant, and that the Secretary of State, consequently, cannot comply with the existing statutes; and it is thereupon concluded or decided that the courts should not permit this to defeat the people’s right to referendum under the pertinent state constitutional provisions. Neither approach nor opinion mentions, but both suggest, a possible application of the concept of substantial compliance relating to the certification action by the Secretary of State and the existing statutory requirements. Both opinions, obviously, reach an identical conclusion — that the trial court and this court should not exercise judicial discretion, interfering with and enjoining the action of the Secretary of State in certifying as to the legal adequacy of the referendum petitions. So, not only is the end result the same, but the reasoning and legal argumentation or characterization employed seem no more to me than a description of two sides of the same coin, the praiseful comment, citation and quoting of Mr. Justice Harlan to the contrary notwithstanding.
In the latter connection I am tempted to confess some disenchantment with the glittering generalities of the Harlan quotation, and to observe that its last sentence seems to me inconsistent with much of the rest of the quotation, and with other portions of this ostensibly significant opus. The last sentence of the quotation reads:
“ ‘. . . The stability and flexibility that our constitutional system at once possesses is largely due to our having carried over into constitutional adjudication the common-law approach to legal development.’ ”
First, this sentence is a recognition of at least some inconsistency or opposing dynamics in the terms stability and flexibility when considered as working legal concepts, judicial touchstones, or constitutional qualities and characteristics. The sentence, in or out of context, is reminiscent *70of Pound’s, admittedly paradoxical but perhaps more forthright, statement that the law must be stable, yet it cannot stand still. It suggests the philosophical problem posed in the statement by Alfred North Whitehead that “The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order,” which could be applied or paraphrased to describe the nature of the judicial process, I think. Certainly, the Harlan comment about carrying over into constitutional adjudication the common-law approach to legal development seems to fall somewhat short of possible expectations. It does not analytically depreciate anything said in the majority opinion in the instant case; that is, if we are conscious of the real significance of the common-law approach and its methodology in the evolution and development of the law.6
In conclusion, I will go back to my original statement. Despite the dissent and other legal argumentation contrary to the majority, I have signed that opinion because, basically, in my judgment, it is sound, necessary and proper in terms of judicial thinking and action. I reiterate; I also think the problem presented by this appeal is sui generis.

Llewellyn, Karl N. The Common Law Tradition. Boston. Little, Brown. 1960.