Court Opinion

ID: 9534236
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:37:50.225617+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:29:49.896343
License: Public Domain

ELLETT, Justice
(dissenting) :
I dissent. Article XII, Sec. 20, of the Utah Constitution provides:
Any combination by individuals, corporations, or associations, having for its object or effect the controlling of the price of any products of the soil, or of any article of manufacture or commerce, or the cost of exchange or transportation, is prohibited, and hereby declared unlawful, and against public policy. The Legislature shall pass laws for the enforcement of this section by adequate penalties, * * *.
The defendants could not by an agreement among themselves compel each other to charge at least six per cent more than cost' when an article was sold at retail. That would clearly be in violation of the constitutional provision above set out.
*443- It is the duty of the legislature to pass laws for the enforcement of the provisions of Article XII. It seems clearly unconstitutional for the legislature to pass a law compelling the defendants (and every other merchant) to do that which would be unconstitutional for them otherwise to do.
The main opinion says: “ * * * [T]he provisions of Article XII, Section 20, do not apply to the legislature,” and cites the case of Riggins v. District Court, 89 Utah 183, 51 P.2d 645, in support of the statement. Riggins was a case brought to prohibit the State Liquor Control Commission from having injunctions issued against plaintiff and others restraining them from selling liquors. It was contended therein that the Liquor Control Act violated Article XII, Sec. 20, in that it gave to the State of Utah the exclusive right to sell liquor and fix the price thereof without any competition.
This court after setting forth the provisions of Article XII, Sec. 20, as above, said, “It is difficult to perceive that the framers of the Constitution intended that such provisions should apply to the state itself.”
That statement was made concerning the entrance of the state into the liquor business and is no authority for saying that the legislature can require that others do that which the Constitution says they may not do.
In 1937 the legislature of the State of Utah undertook to regulate retail prices by enacting a “Fair Trade Act” (Chapter 20, Laws of Utah 1937), which provided that when a manufacturer of goods entered into a contract with one person in the State of Utah to sell its goods at a certain price, all other retail merchants must sell at that same price.
In the case of General Electric Company v. Thrifty Sales, Inc., 5 Utah 2d 326, 301 P.2d 741, all of the arguments as to why the statute was good or bad for the people of Utah were set out fully. In holding that the statute was in conflict with Article XII, Sec. 20, of our Constitution, this court in a unanimous decision said at page 341 of the Utah Reports, at page 751 of 301 P.2d:
The difficulty with the type of “price fixing” here in question, even if it were for the salutary purposes contended by the plaintiff, whether it be a little or a lot, is that it is a violation of our Constitution. It is like sin: a little sin, if properly so classified, is just as definitely sin as a great quantity of it, and hardly to be approved under the pretext that it is so small in amount that it can really be regarded as a virtue.
Although we are aware of the fact that all doubts should be resolved in favor of constitutionality, it nevertheless appears from the interdiction against any “combination * * * having for its object or effect the controlling of the price *444* * * of any article of manufacture * * * ” that the framers simply did not want price fixing by any combination. We see no reason which would impel us to ignore nor to vary from the plain import of the words of the Constitution, even though events may have occurred which probably were not foreseen at the time the provision was adopted. * * *
While the Thrifty Sales case is not exactly the same as the instant one, nevertheless each statute when enforced would have a tendency to stifle competition and to fix prices of retail sales. The Fair Trade law provided that the retail selling price be not less than the price fixed by the manufacturer, while the statute denominated “Unfair Practices Act” provides that the retail selling price be not less than cost plus six per cent.
Any combination, whether entered into voluntarily or compelled by law, which has for its object or effect the controlling of the price of any product of the soil or of any article of manufacture or commerce is unconstitutional in that it would be a violation of Article XII, Sec. 20, of our Constitution.
I would affirm the judgment of the lower court.
HENRIOD, J., does not participate herein.