Court Opinion

ID: 9560921
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:59:16.981647+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:20.436350
License: Public Domain

WALLER, Justice:
I respectfully dissent. I would affirm the grant of summary judgment to respondents Lee and Burris because the ban on Sunday hunting in eighteen Upstate counties violates the Equal Protection Clause of the state and federal constitutions.
It is undisputed that wild game and fish belong to no one in particular. Courts have classified them either as the property of the State or as being held in trust by the State for the benefit of the people as a whole. Thus, while every landowner has a right to hunt and fish on his or her property, that right is subject to reasonable governmental regulation. Rice Hope Plantation v. South Carolina Pub. Serv. Auth., 216 S.C. 500, 524, 59 S.E.2d 132, 142 (1950), overruled on other grounds, McCall by Andrews v. Batson, 285 S.C. 243, 329 S.E.2d 741 (1985); Begay v. Sawtelle, 53 Ariz. 304, 88 P.2d 999, 1000 (1939). “The wild game within a state ... is not the subject of private ownership, except in so far as the people may elect to *472make it so; and they may, if they see fit, absolutely prohibit the taking of it, or traffic or commerce in it, if it is deemed necessary for the protection or preservation, of the public good.” Michigan v. Zimberg, 321 Mich. 655, 33 N.W.2d 104, 105 (1948).
Governmental regulation, however, may not violate equal protection guarantees, which provide that “[n]o State shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” U.S. Const. amend XIV, § 1; accord S.C. Const. art. I, § 3; Baldwin v. Fish & Game Comm’n of Montana, 436 U.S. 371, 391, 98 S.Ct. 1852, 1864, 56 L.Ed.2d 354, 370 (1978) (“[s]o long as constitutional requirements have been met, ... [protection of the wild life of the State is peculiarly within the police power, and the State has great latitude in determining what means are appropriate for its protection”); Begay v. Sawtelle, 88 P.2d at 1000 (the State may regulate the “taking or killing and use of any and all kinds of game in any part of the state, and during any period, and upon any reasonable terms, so long as such regulation does not deny due process of law and equal protection of law”).
We often state, as the majority does in this case, that the party asserting the unconstitutionality of a statute or regulation has the burden of proving the classification is essentially arbitrary and without any reasonable basis. Foster v. South Carolina Dep’t of Highways and Pub. Transp., 306 S.C. 519, 526, 413 S.E.2d 31, 36 (1992). While true, that statement is somewhat misleading. Given that it often is impossible to absolutely demonstrate a negative proposition, a party may meet this burden by successfully attacking the reasons asserted in support of a statute or regulation. See Southern Bell Tel. and Tel. Co. v. City of Spartanburg, 285 S.C. 495, 331 S.E.2d 333 (1985) (placing burden of proof upon telephone company, but finding equal protection violation where city failed to advance any rational basis for business license ordinance that taxed telephone company at higher rate than other businesses); Casey v. Richland County Council, 282 S.C. 387, 320 S.E.2d 443 (1984) (finding equal protection violation where county failed to offer a rational basis for imposing surcharge on residents who would not benefit from new sewer system because they already received sewer service from other systems); see also Demmert v. Kootznoowoo, Inc., 960 P.2d 606, *473610 (Alaska 1998) (recognizing in discussion of summary judgment issue that proof needed to show the affirmative of a proposition is often different, and more limited, than proof needed to show the negative of the same proposition).
In this case, the Legislature and Department have established two classes of people: hunters in the eighteen Upstate counties who may not hunt big game on Sunday on their private property and hunters elsewhere in the state who may hunt big game on Sunday on their private property.
I agree with the majority that we must give minimal scrutiny to the challenged statutes and regulations because the right to hunt big game is not a fundamental right or a suspect class requiring strict or intermediate scrutiny. However, I do not believe Department’s asserted reasons for the Sunday hunting ban in the Upstate can withstand even minimal scrutiny.
A. DIFFICULTY OF ENFORCEMENT IN UPSTATE
During various hunting seasons, “[n]o Sunday hunting is permitted on any [Wildlife Management Area] lands” throughout the state. 27 S.C.Code Ann.Reg. 123-40(2.8) (1992). WMA lands consist of property owned or leased by Department, or privately held property that an owner voluntarily has placed in the program. Hunting on WMA lands is allowed only under regulations governing those lands. S.C.Code Ann. § 50-11-2200 (Supp.1999); 27 S.C.Code Ann.Reg. 123-40.
Department contends it would be difficult or impossible to enforce the statewide ban on Sunday hunting on WMA lands in the eighteen Upstate counties if hunting were allowed on adjacent private properties. Department asserts it is easier to enforce the Sunday hunting ban on WMA lands in the Lowcountry and Pee Dee counties, while still allowing Sunday hunting on private property.
I find Department’s reasoning utterly unpersuasive. Department must enforce other laws and regulations on Sunday on private and WMA lands in the Upstate counties. Department must, for example, prevent small-game hunting on WMA lands on Sunday while allowing it on private property.1 Fur*474thermore, some WMA lands in the remaining twenty-eight counties are scattered among private parcels just like the Upstate. Enforcement is as difficult in those areas as it is in the Upstate counties. Thus, the Sunday hunting ban does not bear a reasonable relation to the asserted legislative purpose — -the enforcement of hunting laws. Similarly, Department’s stated reason that enforcement is more difficult in the Upstate does not provide a rational basis for the ban.
B. PRESERVATION OF FINITE WILDLIFE RESOURCES AND QUALITY HUNTING EXPERIENCES
The hunting season for deer in the eighteen Upstate counties lasts about three months in the fall and winter. S.C.Code Ann. § 50 — 11—810(A)(1) and (2) (Supp.1999); 27 S.C.Code Ann.Reg. 123-40(1.2) (Supp.1999). The turkey hunting season in the Upstate counties is set annually by Department and lasts about one month in the spring. S.C.Code Ann. § 50-11-530 (Supp.1999).
Department argues the Sunday hunting ban in the Upstate counties is necessary to preserve finite wildlife resources and the continuation of quality hunting experiences. Turkeys are hunted during their breeding season because that is when they are the most active and most likely to respond to hunters’ calls. Department, although allowing Sunday hunting of turkeys on private property in the remainder of the state, asserts that turkeys in the eighteen Upstate counties need a day of rest from disturbances related to Sunday hunting. Department contends this will increase the chances of successful breeding and continued propagation of the species in the Upstate counties. Department concedes it has no evidence the Sunday ban furthers deer propagation.2
*475I find Department’s reasoning utterly unpersuasive. The Sunday hunting ban does not bear a reasonable relation to the asserted legislative purposes — preserving finite wildlife resources and quality hunting experiences. Deer are admittedly abundant throughout the state. As for turkeys, a shorter turkey season would reduce disturbances and accomplish the same asserted purposes of the Sunday ban. Granting turkeys one day of peace each week is not reasonably related to the purposes because, although every hunter knows how clever and elusive wild turkeys can be, I question whether they are capable of realizing they do not have to fear being hunted because, “Hurrah! Today is Sunday!”3 Department’s contention is simply too tenuous to bear a reasonable relation to the asserted purposes. Similarly, Department’s asserted purposes may be reasons for the Sunday ban, but those reasons do not rise to the level of rational bases. •
C. MORE TIME FOR OTHER RECREATIONAL USERS
Department asserts the Sunday hunting ban gives other recreational users — hikers, bird watchers, photographers, and other non-hunters — a chance to enjoy the great outdoors with less chance of hearing the gunshots of a big game hunter or, far worse, getting accidentally shot by a big game hunter.
I find Department’s reasoning utterly unpersuasive. Small-game hunters or target shooters on private property, perhaps using large-caliber weapons, would disturb other recreational *476users in the same manner as big game hunters. A hiker bothered by or, worse, shot by a small game hunter or target shooter likely would find no solace in the fact the person toting the firearm was not a big game hunter. The firing of any weapon would shatter his peace or injure him all the same. Consequently, the Sunday hunting ban does not bear a reasonable relation to the asserted legislative purpose; nor does that purpose provide a, rational basis for the ban.
In short, Department offers three carefully crafted reasons in support of its Sunday hunting ban: enforcement difficulties, preserving wildlife, and ensuring non-hunters have a chance to enjoy the great outdoors. All three appeal to the judicial mind at first glance. It is only when one pauses for a careful examination, and bends closely enough to distinguish the tenuous bases, that an exasperated sigh will bring down the entire house of cards constructed by Department.
Enforcement difficulties? Hardly. Department must enforce exactly the same laws in equally non-contiguous areas of the remaining twenty-eight counties. Preserving wildlife? Hardly. Deer overrun areas across the state and conce’dedly do not need a weekly day of rest for propagation, and one day will do absolutely nothing to further turkey propagation. Peace for non-hunters? Hardly. A gunshot is a gunshot, regardless of the type of game sought by the hunter.
The majority did not address Department’s final asserted basis for the ban — that unscientific surveys and hearings conducted by Department show the majority of hunters in the Upstate support the ban. That basis certainly is the weakest one asserted by Department.
My brethren and I undoubtedly would agree that the will of the majority is not dispositive in deciding a constitutional question. See City of Beaufort v. Baker, 315 S.C. 146, 154, 432 S.E.2d 470, 475 (1993) (recognizing that an important purpose of the constitution is to protect the few from the many) (Toal, J., dissenting). However, I believe those unscientific surveys and the impromptu comments expressed at hearings reveal an unspoken truth concealed within the twists and turns of the legal analysis in this case.
*477The Legislature and Department apparently have concluded it is politically and socially acceptable to impose a Sunday hunting ban in the Upstate, all the while realizing such an effort likely would meet stiff opposition should they attempt it in the Pee Dee and Lowcountry. This attitude, as well as the attitude of the majority of this Court, is a tacit acknowledgment of the widespread perception in our fair state that residents of the Pee Dee and Lowcountry place less importance on Sunday as a day of worship than our Upstate neighbors. Nothing could be further from the truth. Furthermore, I reject that attitude because, like most attempts to paint people with a broad brush of stereotypes, it misleads more than it informs. I simply refuse to accept a stereotypical view of our citizens’ wishes as the driving force behind a decision upholding a classification that is so patently unconstitutional.
Hunting once was an activity necessary to sustain life in America; today it is more of a sport or hobby. Although hunters no longer must seek game to provide their family’s dinner, thousands of hunters from all areas of our state still pursue the activity with a ferocious passion. Every hunter certainly is subject to statutes and regulations that are equally and fairly applied to all other hunters, but a hunter should not be subjected to laws that violate the Equal Protection Clause.
In sum, I would hold that respondents have demonstrated an equal protection violation based on an analysis of two factors discussed above — whether the Sunday hunting ban is reasonably related to a legislative purpose and whether the ban has a rational basis. Accordingly, I would affirm the trial judge’s ruling on this issue. My holding would make it unnecessary to address the remaining prong of the analysis— whether members of each designated class are treated alike under similar circumstances — because a failure to meet any prong of the three-part equal protection analysis indicates a violation.
Similarly, I would find it unnecessary to address Department’s argument regarding Article III, Section 34 of the state constitution, which prohibits special laws. Because I would *478conclude that the Sunday hunting ban violates equal protection, whether it also violates the special laws provision would not affect the resolution of this case.
The separation and independence of each branch of government require that we go no further than absolutely necessary in declaring unconstitutional an action of the Legislature. Stone v. Traynham, 278 S.C. 407, 297 S.E.2d 420 (1982). Thus, a statute may be constitutional and valid in part and unconstitutional and invalid in part, and we may invalidate a separable part without impairing the remainder. Strom v. AMVETS, 280 S.C. 146, 311 S.E.2d 721 (1984); Stone v. Traynham, supra. When part of a statute is unconstitutional and another part remains complete in itself, capable of being executed wholly independent of the invalid part, and the remainder is of such a character that we may fairly presume the Legislature would have passed it independent of that portion which is in conflict with the Constitution, then we will reject the invalid portion and enforce the remainder. Daniel v. Cruz, 268 S.C. 11, 231 S.E.2d 293 (1977); State v. Harper, 251 S.C. 379, 162 S.E.2d 712 (1968).
I would strike as unconstitutional only the language pertaining to the Sunday hunting ban because the remaining provisions of the statute and regulation may stand alone. They are not so connected with the offensive provisions that the Legislature would not have passed them independently of the offensive provisions. Thus, I would strike the phrase “Sundays excepted” from S.C.Code Ann. § 50-ll-310(A)(l) and (2) (Supp.1999). I would strike the following sentence from S.C.Code Ann.Reg. 123-40(2.8) (1992): “No Sunday hunting is permitted for deer, turkey, or bear within the boundaries of the Central Piedmont, Western Piedmont or Mountain Hunt Units.” The remaining portions of the statute and regulation would be unaffected.
Acting Associate Justice THOMAS E. HUFF, concurs.

. During the hunting season applicable to each species, hunting of small game is allowed on Sunday on privately owned property in all *474counties because no statute or regulation prohibits it. See S.C.Code Ann. § 50-11-110 (Supp.1999) (listing species defined as small game, which includes raccoon, opossum, rabbit, squirrel, fox, and quail); S.C.Code Ann. § 50-11-120 (Supp.1999) (establishing hunting seasons for small game in various game zones); 27 S.C.Code Ann.Reg. 123-40(2.8) (1992) (stating that small game may be hunted on Sunday on private lands during the regular game zone seasons in the eighteen Upstate counties).

. Deer overpopulation is a growing problem in areas of South Carolina that are changing from rural to urban. At least 3,400 deer-vehicle *475collisions occurred in 1999, killing four people and injuring 320. Deer frequently are seen wandering through urban neighborhoods around Columbia, and they often ruin home gardens. Other urban areas have experienced similar problems. John Monk, In Back Yards and on Back Roads, S.C. Faces a White-Tailed Dilemma, The State, February 20, 2000, at Bl. The article also discusses potential “gun hazards” caused by careless hunters, but indicates that, overall, deer hunting is a safe activity.

. It is commonly believed that domestic turkeys are so lacking in mental capacity that they may panic in a rainstorm and run pell-mell into one another, where they pile up and suffocate or drown. Elizabeth Lenhard, Rare Birds the Search for Flavors Leads to Small-scale Farms That Raise Turkeys the Natural Way, Chicago Tribune, Nov. 17, 1999, at 1999 WL 2932951; Tom Zueco, A Turkey of a Tradition, St. Petersburg Times, Nov. 17, 1999, at 1999 WL 27329061. I know of no one who has encountered a wild turkey stupid enough to drown in a rainstorm. Nevertheless, wild turkeys certainly cannot read a calendar.