Court Opinion

ID: 9530264
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:58:43.650759+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:03.405174
License: Public Domain

*436Caporale, J.,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. I submit that the judge below had no jurisdiction to entertain this matter under the provisions of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 71-6901 et seq. (Cum. Supp. 1994) and that as a consequence, we have no jurisdiction to review it.
Although jurisdiction was not one of the issues presented by the questions certified to us by the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska with regard to a predecessor statute, Orr v. Knowles, 215 Neb. 49, 337 N.W.2d 699 (1983), and thus not addressed therein, I begin by recalling that an appellate court has both the power and duty to consider on its own motion whether the lower tribunal had, and thus the appellate court has, jurisdiction over the matter then before it. See, Jones v. State, 248 Neb. 158, 532 N.W.2d 636 (1995); WBE Co. v. Papio-Missouri River Nat. Resources Dist., 247 Neb. 522, 529 N.W.2d 21 (1995); R-D Investment Co. v. Board of Equal. of Sarpy Cty., 247 Neb. 162, 525 N.W.2d 221 (1995).
As the majority correctly notes, we have held that while not a constitutional prerequisite, the existence of an actual case or controversy nevertheless is necessary for the courts of this state to exercise the judicial power vested in them by Neb. Const. art. V, § 1. Professional Firefighters of Omaha v. City of Omaha, 243 Neb. 166, 498 N.W.2d 325 (1993). See, also, Welch v. Welch, 246 Neb. 435, 519 N.W.2d 262 (1994); State v. Baltimore, 242 Neb. 562, 495 N.W.2d 921 (1993); Mullendore v. Nuernberger, 230 Neb. 921, 434 N.W.2d 511 (1989).
In Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83, 95, 88 S. Ct. 1942, 20 L. Ed. 2d 947 (1968), the U.S. Supreme Court wrote that the case or controversy requirement found in U.S. Const, art. Ill limits the business of the federal courts to “questions presented in an adversary context and in a form historically viewed as capable of resolution through the judicial process.” The U.S. Supreme Court has further explained that the “clash of adverse parties ‘ “sharpens the presentation of issues upon which the court so largely depends for illumination of difficult . . . questions.” ’ ” GTE Sylvania, Inc. v. Consumers Union, 445 U.S. 375, 382-83, 100 S. Ct. 1194, 63 L. Ed. 2d 467 (1980).
As the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit explained in considering the case or controversy requirement in the con*437text of a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment, the test is whether “ ‘there is a substantial controversy between the parties having adverse legal interests Marine Equipment Management Co. v. U.S., 4 F.3d 643, 646 (8th Cir. 1993). The test is not satisfied if the court does not have before it “opposing parties that are fairly motivated to diligently and effectively present the merits of all sides of the issues presented, thereby facilitating the court’s efforts to reach the correct results.” Financial Guar. Ins. v. City of Fayetteville, Ark., 943 F.2d 925, 929 (8th Cir. 1991).
Neb. Const, art. II, § 1, divides the governance of this state among legislative, executive, and judicial departments and provides that “no person or collection of persons being one of these departments, shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others, except as hereinafter expressly directed or permitted.” In recognition of that constitutional provision, we have held on numerous occasions that the Legislature cannot confer upon the courts nonjudicial duties. See, Williams v. County of Buffalo, 181 Neb. 233, 147 N.W.2d 776 (1967) (legislative act attempting to confer upon courts power of determining what lands should be annexed to city violated Constitution); Furstenberg v. Omaha & C. B. Street R. Co., 132 Neb. 562, 272 N.W. 756 (1937) (Supreme Court has no power to regulate public utilities); Searle v. Yensen, 118 Neb. 835, 226 N.W. 464 (1929) (statute requiring court to determine whether power district should be incorporated, what its boundaries should be, et cetera, is invalid, as imposing nonjudicial duties); State v. Neble, 82 Neb. 267, 117 N.W. 723 (1908) (statute providing for appointment of municipal park commissioners by judges of district court is void, as violating Constitution); Tyson v. Washington County, 78 Neb. 211, 110 N.W. 634 (1907) (statute cannot vest judiciary with legislative functions under subterfuge of giving court jurisdiction over such questions on appeal); Horbach v. Tyrrell, 48 Neb. 514, 518, 67 N.W. 485, 486 (1896) (taking of acknowledgment ministerial, not judicial, act, judicial power being “authority of some person or tribunal to hear and determine a controversy and to reduce such determination to a judgment or decree binding the parties thereto”).
*438Accordingly, while duties which are inherently judicial, such as the fixing of qualifications for and admission to the practice of law, do not require the existence of a case or controversy, see State, ex rel. Wright, v. Hinckle, 137 Neb. 735, 291 N.W. 68 (1940), disputes involving other branches of government will be decided only where there exists a case or controversy, see State Securities Co. v. Ley, 177 Neb. 251, 128 N.W.2d 766 (1964).
In the context presented, there can be no case or controversy where the proceeding contemplates that only the minor’s interests be presented to the court. Indeed, we implicitly so recognized in United Community Services v. The Omaha Nat. Bank, 162 Neb. 786, 77 N.W.2d 576 (1956), a case involving the constitutionality of a statute, in which case it became apparent that all the parties were interested in achieving the same result. We thereupon directed the Attorney General to appear and file a brief in order that we might have “a better opportunity of being informed as to the questions involved.” Id. at 789, 77 N.W.2d at 581. It is no answer to suggest that in a proceeding such as that now before us, protecting the parent’s interest is somehow the obligation of the judge initially hearing the matter, for that judge is, as is this court, under a duty to impartially evaluate the evidence presented. A court can neither develop nor present evidence. See, State ex rel. Grape v. Zach, 247 Neb. 29, 524 N.W.2d 788 (1994); Neb. Code of Jud. Cond., Canon 3 (rev. 1996).
Thus, contrary to our jurisdictional case or controversy requirement, the statutory provisions at issue attempt to confer upon our courts nonjudicial regulatory duties not ordinarily or traditionally held to be within the constitutional powers of the judicial department.
I recognize, of course, that under U.S. Const, art. VI, the provisions of the federal Constitution and the laws of the United States made pursuant thereto are “the supreme Law of the Land” and bind “the Judges in every State,” anything in the Constitution or laws of “any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”
I understand, too, that under the Constitution of the United States, if a state requires a pregnant minor to obtain parental consent to an abortion, the state must provide an alternative pro*439cedure whereby authorization may be obtained and that such proceeding must assure anonymous and expeditious resolution of the issue. Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, 497 U.S. 502, 110 S. Ct. 2972, 111 L. Ed. 2d 405 (1990); Bellotti v. Baird, 443 U.S. 622, 99 S. Ct. 3035, 61 L. Ed. 2d 797 (1979); Planned Parenthood of Missouri v. Danforth, 428 U.S. 52, 96 S. Ct. 2831, 49 L. Ed. 2d 788 (1976). However, I find nothing in federal law which dictates that the proceeding must be conducted in the absence of the confidential representation of the parental interest to raise one’s children. Ohio, supra, merely observes that as the proceeding therein was ex parte, the state could impose upon the minor the heightened clear and convincing standard of proof. We must remember that the U.S. Supreme Court has declared, under the rubric of personal or family privacy and autonomy, that an individual’s freedom of personal choice in matters involving family relationships is á fundamental liberty interest protected by U.S. Const, amend. XIV. Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 102 S. Ct. 1388, 71 L. Ed. 2d 599 (1982). The Court has also recognized that the aforementioned liberty interest includes a parent’s right to rear or direct the upbringing of one’s child. See Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 112 S. Ct. 2791, 120 L. Ed. 2d 674 (1992). See, also, Bd. of Dirs. of Rotary Int’l v. Rotary Club, 481 U.S. 537, 107 S. Ct. 1940, 95 L. Ed. 2d 474 (1987); Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510, 45 S. Ct. 571, 69 L. Ed. 1070 (1925). Moreover, these are concerns in which the state itself also has a stake. Hodgson v. Minnesota, 497 U.S. 417, 110 S. Ct. 2926, 111 L. Ed. 2d 344 (1990) (rights to conceive and raise one’s children are essential, basic civil rights far more precious than property rights, and when parent has assumed primary responsibility for minor’s well-being, state may properly enact laws designed to aid discharge of that responsibility).
Therefore, the absence in these proceedings of anyone designated to represent the parental interest in a confidential manner means that under Nebraska law there was before the judge below no case or controversy which presented a justiciable issue. As a consequence, the judge below lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter. That being so, we lack jurisdiction to *440review the merits. Payne v. Nebraska Dept. of Corr. Servs., 249 Neb. 150, 542 N.W.2d 694 (1996) (when lower court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate merits, appellate court also lacks power to determine merits). See, also, Currie v. Chief School Bus Serv., 250 Neb. 872, 553 N.W.2d 469 (1996) (although extrajurisdictional act of lower court does not vest appellate court with jurisdiction over merits, appellate court has duty to determine whether lower court possessed subject matter jurisdiction).
I would therefore remand with the direction to dismiss.
Fahrnbruch and Lanpheer, JJ., join in this dissent.