Court Opinion

ID: 9696454
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 18:48:32.340792+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:22.505814
License: Public Domain

Murphy, C. J.

dissenting'.

I fully agree with the majority that Maryland Code, Art. 26A, § 12 (f) (1) compels the conclusion “that serious financial hardship under § 12 (f) (1) need not result solely from out-of-pocket expenditures, but may also occur as a result of the loss of earnings or the loss of support alone.” I do not agree, however, with the majority’s holding that the *70loss of “maternal care” constitutes the loss of “support” within the contemplation of § 12 (f) (1).
Section 12 (f) (1) provides that the Board shall make awards only where it finds that the claimant will “suffer serious financial hardship, as a result of the loss of earnings or support and the out-of-pocket expenses incurred as a result of the injury ....” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 1603 (1971) defines “out-of-pocket” expenses as “consisting of or requiring an actual cash outlay.” From the tenor of § 12 (f) (1) it is clear that the words “loss of earnings or support,” “out-of-pocket expenses” and “financial hardship” were intended to implicate only direct financial losses actually incurred as a result of the criminal act, and not a loss of services, the financial measure of which would have to be estimated over an extended period of years. A statute should be construed according to the ordinary and natural import of its language, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context, without resorting to subtle or forced interpretations for the purpose of extending or limiting its operation. Department of Motor Vehicles v. The Greyhound Corp., 247 Md. 662, 234 A. 2d 255 (1967). In my judgment, the majority, while paying lip service to this well-settled principle of statutory construction, ignores its proper application.
The phrasing in § 12 (f) (1), i.e., “loss of earnings or support,” together with the juxtaposition of the words “earnings” and “support” in the statute, evidences an intent to associate one concept with the other. In Chayt v. Zoning Appeals Board, 177 Md. 426, 9 A. 2d 747 (1939), our predecessors analyzed the words “ ‘arranged, intended or designed,’ ” which was the key phrase in a zoning ordinance. The Court concluded “ ‘. .. that when two or more words of analogous meaning are coupled together they are understood to be used in their cognate sense, express the same relations and give color and expression to each other.’ ” (Emphasis added.) Similarly, I think the legislature fully intended that “earnings” and “support” would express the “same relations,” i.e., an economic relation. Further evidence of this relationship is found in § 7 of Art. 26A where it is stated *71that “ [n]o award shall be made on a claim unless the claimant has incurred a minimum out-of-pocket loss of one hundred dollars or has lost at least two continuous weeks’ earnings or support.” (Emphasis added.) Again, “support” is conceptualized as a matter of economics.
Section 12 (f) (1) requires that financial hardship be measured by losses of a direct pecuniary nature. Since the claimants incurred no out-of-pocket expenses, loss of earnings or support which resulted in serious financial hardship within the sense contemplated by § 12 (f) (1), I would affirm the judgment.