Court Opinion

ID: 9885069
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 03:29:03.052728+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:39:37.238632
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Goldenhersh, dissenting: In my opinion the staute is constitutional and I would reverse the judgment of the circuit court. “The meaning of the constitution is not to be ascertained by giving too great weight to a single phrase, sentence or section. Its several provisions are all parts of one instrument and must be construed together, giving each its proper consideration. * * * Each expression is subject to modification by other language of the instrument, and only when each part of the instrument is considered with reference to every other part and all their relations can a true construction be reached.” People ex rel. Chicago Bar Ass’n v. Feinberg, 348 Ill. 549, 566. “The legislature does not look to the State constitution for its authority to act. It looks to that document and to the Federal constitution only for restrictions upon its power to act. [Citations.] Every subject within the scope of civil government which is not within some constitutional inhibition may be acted upon by the General Assembly. [Citations.]” People v. Dale, 406 Ill. 238, 243. It should first be noted that in none of the cases upon which the majority relies was it necessary to construe section 3 of article IX and another provision of the constitution concerning the same subject. The first homestead law was enacted in 1851 (Laws of 1851, p. 26.) It provided, inter alia, “But no property shall, by virtue of this act, be exempt from sale for non-payment of taxes on assessments, * * *” When the Constitutional Convention of 1869-70 met some 19 years later, the Committee on Miscellaneous Subjects prepared and offered a long and detailed provision on homestead exemption (Debates of Constitutional Convention 1969-70, p. 281), which was debated at length. (Debates of Constitutional Convention 1969-70, pp. 895-912, 1689-1692.) The delegates who spoke on the subject agreed that the homestead law of 1851 was humanitarian, that it had been warmly accepted by the public and should be made a part of the fundamental law. The debate centered around the details of the proposed provision which was essentially the homestead law of 1851. There was strong sentiment to liberalize the homestead exemption and numerous amendments to the proposed provision were offered. One amendment was offered which provided, “There shall be exempt from State, county and municipal taxation, and from liens of judgments and decrees of courts, * * With remarkable prescience, the delegate who offered the amendment went on to say, “Sir, I imagine that the time is not far distant when the tax collector, or rather the government, is to be the cold and heartless creditor that the poor man will have to grapple with. The poor man, the laborer, to-day, whether he owns a foot of land or not, is bearing the burdens of this government. There is scarce a particle of food goes into his mouth, to sustain his life, there is not a shred of clothing that shields him from the cold, that is not subject to taxation. The real burdens of the country are on the poor men, the yeomanry. While by national enactment we have many exempted from taxation, let us in this State of Illinois, inaugurate the principle that the poor man’s home, his family altar, shall also be exempt from taxation. That will relieve some of these gentlemen, who were opposed to laying taxes, levied for railroad subscriptions, lest the poor widow should have to pay her share. Let us now come to the relief of the poor widow, by granting her exemption from taxation, so that her lands cannot be sold by a heartless creditor, the government, if you please, any more than by an individual. It is no more invading the sanctity of a contract than the original section.” The delegates who favored leaving the details of the homestead exemption law to the General Assembly finally prevailed and the short provision now contained in section 32 of article IV was adopted. Debates of Constitutional Convention 1869-70, p. 1692. Thus, the Constitutional Convention of 1869-70 rejected a provision which would have required that a homestead of not less than $1,000 be exempted from taxation and refused to adopt a provision which would have prohibited the legislature from excepting a homestead from sale for the nonpayment of taxes. It chose instead, the middle road and provided that the General Assembly shall pass liberal homestead laws. Reading section 32 of article IV and section 3 of article IX together, I am of the opinion that the General Assembly had the authority to enact the homestead-tax-exemption provision. Mr. Justice Kluczynski joins in this dissent.