Court Opinion

ID: 9680940
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:41:22.734972+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:31.495556
License: Public Domain

SIMEONE, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
The principal issue in this case is not easily resolved because the resolution involves reasonable differences of judgment by reasonable men. I dissent for the following reasons. First, the issue presented is not whether Missouri should or should not adopt a “right to work” law. On that issue I take no position. The issue is whether an initiative proposal to amend the Constitution may be placed on the ballot when the orderly and specific procedures commanded by law are disregarded, ignored and not complied with.
The initiative power under the provisions of Art. Ill, § 49, Mo.Const. is a legitimate and proper exercise of the people’s rights. But the initiative procedure so reserved to the people to propose amendments to the Constitution is an awesome power. Amending the fundamental law of Missouri should not and cannot be done lightly or done in just any manner or form. In order to amend our fundamental law all orderly and legal procedures should be adhered to. The General Assembly has established in clear and mandatory language those orderly and safeguarding procedures. Unlike earlier provisions of law dealing with initiative procedure, Section 126.061, RSMo Supp.1975 establishes a mandatory form to be followed. In such an important matter as amending the Constitution these procedures should be strictly followed. The Constitution is what we all live by. It is not sufficient to say that procedure and form are subservient to substance for in our whole history, procedure and adherence to orderly processes have been the cornerstones of the civilizing influence of law.
In the broad view, to ignore the mandatory processes would be to encourage the unscrupulous and to ignore the safeguards against possible future constitutional amendments which may well be detrimental.
Second, I do not believe I do violence to our decisions of the past. Those decisions deal with the elections of individuals in a specific election. For example in Kasten v. Guth, 395 S.W.2d 433 (Mo.1965), the issue was whether certain votes should be counted for a particular candidate when the bal*468lots cast and counted did not contain the clerk’s initials and did not have black stickers placed over the numbers marked on the ballot. The court stated that the uppermost question in applying statutory regulation to determine the legality of votes cast and counted is whether the statute makes a specified irregularity fatal. If so, the courts enforce it to the letter. If not courts will not be astute to make it fatal by judicial construction.
Neither do I believe that State ex rel. Kemper v. Carter, 257 Mo. 52, 165 S.W. 773 (1914) controls the issue here. That case involves deficiencies of the secretary of state and the attorney general in complying with certain technicalities they were required to do under a mandatory statute. The court held that although the statute was mandatory as to those officials, yet as to the right of the people who voted for the proposition they were directory. The irregularities by the state official in that case are a far cry from the irregularities here.
In my opinion too, Kaesser v. Becker, 295 Mo. 93, 243 S.W. 346 (banc 1922) relied upon by the trial court is not controlling. There this court upheld the findings of the trial court that a number of signatures to a referendum petition should not be counted and affirmed an order of the circuit court enjoining the secretary of state from submitting a referendum to the people. The statute involved in Kaesser was similar to § 126.061 with one important difference. The statute in Kaesser proscribed the procedure but stated “The forms herein given are not mandatory, . . . ”. The procedure adopted in 1971 in § 126.061 makes this procedure “mandatory”.
Third, I firmly believe that the people have reserved the right and power to propose amendments to the Constitution through the initiative process, but I also firmly believe that in doing so it should be done according to the methods prescribed by law and be done in accordance with law. To ignore and disregard the mandatory procedures of law relating to the initiative process would invite any group espousing any cause to seek to amend the fundamental law by illegal means which in the long run could well be detrimental to many of our democratic values.
Finally, all I say is that in the initiative process, as well as in any other judicial, administrative or legislative process the law and rules should be followed. In my opinion that was not done here in the 4th, 5th and 6th Districts and therefore I most respectfully dissent.
My view would not preclude a future vote on this important issue. That may well come in the near future but if so it should come only after there is full compliance with an orderly process. If “right to work” comes to Missouri, so be it. But let it be done under the mandatory procedure of the statute.
I therefore respectfully dissent. I would reverse the judgment of the circuit court and not permit, under the facts here, Amendment No. 23 to be placed on the November ballot. That should be left to another day.