Court Opinion

ID: 9526199
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:14:04.558384+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:10:01.938788
License: Public Domain

Braucher, J.,
dissenting (with whom Kaplan and Wilkins, JJ., join). In Leccese v. McDonough, 361 Mass. 64 (1972), we held that there could be no recovery for the wrongful death of a fetus never born alive. In some circumstances, it is appropriate for this court to overrule a prior decision, even on matters of statutory interpretation, with retroactive effect. See Diaz v. Eli *362Lilly & Co. 364 Mass. 153, 166-167 (1973). But the Leccese case was decided under a punitive statute now superseded, and the effect of overruling it is the retroactive imposition of punishment in a type of case which cannot arise in the future. I therefore dissent. I agree with the court that for the future we should depart from the rule of the Leccese case, but I disagree with the adoption of a substitute requirement that the fetus be “viable at the time of injury.”
1. The Leccese case. Until January 1, 1974, our wrongful death statute provided for the recovery of damages assessed with reference to the degree of culpability of the defendant. In 1972 G. L. c. 229, §§ 1, 2, as amended through St. 1971, c. 801, fixed limits “not less than five thousand nor more than one hundred thousand dollars.” “The damages thus recoverable are in the main penal or punitive. They are designed to punish one guilty of causing the loss of a human life through negligence . . ..” Macchiaroli v. Howell, 294 Mass. 144, 146 (1936).
In this setting the Leccese case, decided by a unanimous court in February, 1972, held that a fetus never bom alive was not a “person” covered by our statute. The decision was not the result of inattention or oversight. It followed prior decisions, squarely in point, in Keyes v. Construction Serv. Inc. 340 Mass. 633 (1960), and Henry v. Jones, 306 F. Supp. 726 (D. Mass. 1969), and clear language in Torigian v. Watertown News Co. Inc. 352 Mass. 446, 448 (1967). We noted how far we had gone in “revising” the rule of Dietrich v. Northampton, 138 Mass. 14 (1884), and pointed out some of the policy considerations involved. We said that the authorities elsewhere “are somewhat split,” and cited Restatement 2d: Torts, § 869 (Tent. Draft No. 16, April 24, 1970, pp. 174-182), and Proc. Am. Law Inst. 1970, pp. 371-375, where the problem is fully discussed with exhaustive citation of cases on both sides of the issue.
*3632. The present case. In October, 1972, some eight months after the Leccese decision, a woman was killed as a result of an automobile accident while riding in a car apparently driven by her husband. She was eight and one-half months pregnant, and the fetus also died. An action for the wrongful death of the wife could be maintained for the benefit of the husband, but under the Leccese case no recovery could be had for the death of a fetus never born alive. On the authority of the Leccese case, the trial judge in the present case allowed a motion for summary judgment for the defendants. The court’s reversal of that judgment thus has the effect of doubling the civil penalty recoverable on behalf of the husband.
3. Subsequent developments. Since the Leccese decision several things have happened. In Gaudette v. Webb, 362 Mass. 60, 71 (1972), we held “that the right to recovery for wrongful death is of common law origin.” For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 1974, our statute has been made compensatory rather than punitive. G. L. c. 229, §§ 1, 2, as amended by St. 1973, c. 699, §§ 1, 2. The Supreme Court of the United States has held that a fetus is not a “person” within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and is not a “child” under the Social Security Act. Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113, 157-159 (1973). Burns v. Alcala, 420 U. S. 575, 578-585 (1975). The authorities elsewhere on actions for the wrongful death of a fetus never born alive are still “somewhat split,” as we said in the Leccese case, but there are three more cases rejecting the requirement of live birth. One of them was decided under a punitive statute like ours. Eich v. Gulf Shores, 293 Ala. 95, 98, n. 4 (1974), a five-to-four decision on a question of first impression, where the court cited the Leccese case but failed to recognize that it was decided under a punitive statute.
4. Retroactivity and punishment. The fundamental change in our statute from punishment to compensation fully justifies reconsideration of judge-made rules fash*364ioned under our former punitive statute, but it greatly reduces the usefulness of reconsideration of the rules governing cases arising under the statute now superseded. Cf. Higgins v. Emerson Hosp. 367 Mass. 714, 715-716 (1975) (charitable immunity). I therefore do not pursue further the general question when it is proper to overrule a prior decision retroactively, when the overruling should be prospective only, and when we should first give the Legislature an opportunity to consider the problem. Cf. Morash & Sons, Inc. v. Commonwealth, 363 Mass. 612, 623-624 (1973) (sovereign immunity). For many reasons, “adherence to precedent should be the rule and not the exception”; a judge “would err if he were to impose upon the community as a rule of life his own idiosyncracies of conduct or belief.” Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process, 108, 149 (1921). Suffice it that the events since 1972 do not seem to warrant a retroactive revision of the law as it existed in 1972 and 1973.
Moreover, we must take account of our long-standing tradition that penal statutes must be construed strictly. Melody v. Reab, 4 Mass. 471, 473 (1808). Libby v. New York, N. H. & H. R.R. 273 Mass. 522, 525-526 (1930). Davey Bros. Inc. v. Stop & Shop, Inc. 351 Mass. 59, 63 (1966). Wood v. Commissioner of Correction, 363 Mass. 79, 81 (1973). We have refused to permit the exaction of a double penalty for a single wrong by separate wrongful death actions against principal and agent. Leonard v. Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co. 298 Mass. 393, 396 (1937). Cf. Arnold v. Jacobs, 316 Mass. 81, 84 (1944); Kuklis v. Commonwealth, 361 Mass. 302, 305-307 (1972). The doubling of the penalty accomplished by the present decision may be distinguishable, but it similarly relates to a single act of negligence.
Finally, we have a strong tradition against retroactive punishment. It is highly doubtful whether the Legislature could by a 1975 statute impose liability for a 1972 death or double a civil penalty for 1972 negligence. Cf. *365Price v. Railway Exp. Agency, Inc. 322 Mass. 476, 483-484 (1948). Certainly we would not construe a statute extending liability as having retroactive effect unless such an intent was distinctly indicated. Bucher v. Fitchburg R.R. 131 Mass. 156, 157-158 (1881). Kelley v. Boston & Maine R.R. 135 Mass. 448, 449 (1883). Yates v. General Motors Acceptance Corp. 356 Mass. 529, 531 (1969). The Legislature has often amended the wrongful death statute, and has regularly made the amendments effective the January 1 following enactment. St. 1958, c. 238, § 10. St. 1962, c. 306, § 2. St. 1965, c. 683, § 2. St. 1967, c. 666, § 2. St. 1971, c. 801, § 2. St. 1972, c. 440, § 2. St. 1973, c. 699, § 2. St. 1973, c. 957, § 2. It is at least anomalous for us to accomplish by decision what legislation would not and probably could not accomplish. Cf. Bouie v. Columbia, 378 U. S. 347, 353-355 (1964); Commonwealth v. Harrington, 367 Mass. 13, 20-21 (1975).
5. The law of the future. For reasons adequately stated in the opinion of the court, I am persuaded that we should not follow the Leccese case in cases arising on or after January 1, 1974. Cf. Diaz v. Eli Lilly & Co. 364 Mass. 153, 161-165 (1973). The tendency of our tort law is to abandon efforts to establish arbitrary lines or borders for rights or liabilities so as to avoid difficulties of proof, since such lines or borders unnecessarily produce incongruous and indefensible results. See Chrisafogeorgis v. Brandenberg, 55 Ill. 2d 368, 375 (1973); Speiser, Recovery for Wrongful Death, §§ 4:32-4:33 (1966). In the absence of any indication that the Legislature directed its attention to the problem, its use of the word “person” should not prevent us from arriving at a result in harmony with the general tendency of our law. Cf. Gaudette v. Webb, 362 Mass. 60, 71-72 (1972). “Arbitrary rules which were originally well founded have thus been made to yield to changed conditions, and underlying principles are applied . . ..” Anchor Elec. Co. v. Hawkes, 171 Mass. 101, 106 (1898).
*3666. Viability. In Torigian v. Watertown News Co. Inc. 352 Mass. 446, 448 (1967), we followed the “vast majority of cases” and the unanimous view of textwriters and legal commentators “that nonviability of a fetus should not bar recovery.” See Note, 70 Mich. L. Rev. 729, 751-756 (1972). “There is of course no virtue in Viable’ as a criterion of whether the child is entitled to recover. It is in any case a very unsatisfactory test. It is very difficult to prove, and is usually a matter of medical guess. Viability is a relative matter, depending not only upon the age of the fetus, but upon many other factors, such as the health of the mother.” Restatement 2d: Torts, § 869 (Tent. Draft No. 16, April 24, 1970, p. 174). We should not now lend support to a test we have wisely discarded.