Court Opinion

ID: 9657743
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 20:36:31.549626+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:47.971790
License: Public Domain

HENDERSON, Justice
(concurring in part and dissenting in part).
As a cause of action, alienation of affections survived under a majority vote of 3-2 in Hunt v. Hunt, 309 N.W.2d 818 (S.D.1981). I wrote the “majority” opinion in this action but then Chief Justice Roger Wollman, now Eighth Circuit Court of Ap*490peals Judge, joined that aspect of my writing which would abolish a cause of action for alienation of affections in South Dakota. My rationale is expressly set forth in Hunt. I do not wish to swerve from the reasoning set forth therein, as joined by then Chief Justice Wollman. I agree that the alienation of affections suit in this proceeding, was procedurally improper, which I understand to be the holding under the writing of Justice Sabers. In my opinion, the dissertation on alienation of affections should end there, as Justice Wuest has written, for if the alienation of affections action is dismissed as the result of our affirmance of the trial court’s decision, the action has simply not survived and we need not reach any further in our legal dissertation, as Justice Wuest has written, because we are adjudicating upon a matter which has been decided and we are attempting to write upon a case that might arise in the future.
I likewise agree with Justice Morgan that the Appellant certainly has brought her action, into the courts of this state, with unclean hands, and she should not be able to garner child support for having secreted the parties’ son from the father. This would be very unjust and establish a bad precedent. Stach v. Stach, 369 N.W.2d 132, 136 (S.D.1985). It should be emphasized that she is seeking this money for herself. Therefore, I would, also, reverse the award and remand to the trial court to dismiss the proceedings.
Lastly, I concur on the educational fund payments for, essentially, the rationale set forth in Justice Sabers’ writing.