792 N.E.2d 736 | Ohio Ct. App. | 2003
{¶ 3} Hood filed a wrongful death complaint seeking to collect insurance proceeds, on behalf of herself and decedent's adult son, for the wrongful death of her husband. In her complaint, Hood alleged that she and decedent's son are each entitled to recover up to $25,000 under the "each person" limitation in the tortfeasor's liability policy and are collectively subject to the $50,000 "each accident" limit. Hood further alleged that R.C.
{¶ 4} State Farm, however, raised affirmative defenses alleging that it already paid Hood pursuant to the terms and provisions of a release executed by Hood, and that Hood asserted no claim or cause of action upon which she could collect damages in excess of $25,000.
{¶ 5} Hood filed a motion for summary judgment, wherein she advanced her argument that R.C.
{¶ 6} The trial court rejected Hood's constitutional challenge and granted State Farm's motion for summary judgment, finding that other courts have rejected similar constitutional arguments. Hood filed a timely notice of appeal, and presents the following assignments of error:
{¶ 7} "I. The trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Defendant.
{¶ 8} II. Ohio Revised Code Section
{¶ 10} We have previously held "it is axiomatic that a litigant's failure to raise an issue in the trial court waives the litigant's right to raise that issue on appeal." Mark v. Mallot Mfg. Co. Inc. (1995),
{¶ 11} In its cross motion for summary judgment, State Farm specifically asserted that its policy language was sufficient to limit its liability in this case, in light of R.C.
{¶ 13} In support of her argument that R.C.
{¶ 14} In enacting S.B. 20, the legislature clearly and unequivocally stated that its intention was to supercede the Supreme Court's holding in Savoie. See Section 10, Am.Sub.S.B. No. 20. Hood argues that this enactment, specifically reversing a holding of the Ohio Supreme Court, constitutes an improper legislative usurpation of the judiciary's power.
{¶ 15} We begin our constitutional analysis by noting two well-established legal principles. The first principle is that "[s]tatutes are presumed to be constitutional unless shown beyond a reasonable doubt to violate a constitutional provision." Beagle v.Walden (1997),
{¶ 16} Hood would have us find R.C.
{¶ 17} In Sheward the Supreme Court stated that, in enacting Am.Sub.H.B. No. 350, the General Assembly sought to usurp the court's constitutional authority by refusing to recognize cases that held that the General Assembly was constitutionally barred from depriving a claimant of a right to a remedy before the claimant knew or should have known of an injury. Id. at 476. In contrast, the Supreme Court's holding in Savoie, which the legislature sought to invalidate with S.B. 20, was grounded in public policy considerations, as expressed by the legislature and the court — not in constitutional prohibitions. Savoie v.Grange Mutual Ins. Co. (1993),
{¶ 18} In Beagle, the Ohio Supreme Court addressed a certified question for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern *204
Division, regarding a similar constitutional challenge to the uninsured and underinsured motorist provisions of S.B. 20. A plurality of the court noted, "[i]nterpretation of the state and federal Constitutions is a role exclusive to the judicial branch. In the absence of a constitutional concern, however, the judiciary's function is to interpret the law as written by the General Assembly. `[T]he legislature is the final arbiter of public policy, unless its acts contravene the state or federal Constitutions.'" Id. at 62, citing State v. Smorgala
(1990),
{¶ 19} In Beagle, the plurality further noted that the court's decision in Savoie relied upon a judicial interpretation of the legislative purpose behind R.C.
{¶ 20} Similarly, we find that, in Savoie, the Supreme Court found policy provisions that purport to consolidate and/or limit wrongful death damages were unenforceable because they "directly violate the policy expressed by the General Assembly and this court." Savoie v. GrangeMutual Ins. Co. (1993),
{¶ 21} Hood next argues that R.C.
{¶ 22} This court has previously addressed a "Right to a Remedy" challenge to R.C.
{¶ 23} We find that R.C.
{¶ 24} Hood's due process argument presumably relies upon a belief that her entitlement to wrongful death benefits is a fundamental right, for which a governmental deprivation would be subject to strict scrutiny. See, e.g. Sorrell v. Thevenir (1994),
{¶ 25} As noted by the Tenth District Court of Appeals, "Am.Sub.S.B. No. 20 neither affirmatively deprives wrongful death beneficiaries of a meaningful right to a remedy, nor limits the amount of damages a wrongful death plaintiff may recover in a civil action. Rather, the challenged statutory provisions merely permit an insurance company to set forth in the insurance policy limits on the amount beneficiaries may recover from the insurance company pursuant to the contractual entitlement created by the policy. Because Am.Sub.S.B. No. 20 does not limit the exercise of a discernable constitutional right, plaintiffs' substantive *206
due process challenge must fail." Carrier v. StateFarm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. (Sept. 16, 1999), Franklin App. No. 98AP-1291, unreported. We agree with the Tenth District. Consequently, we hold that R.C.
{¶ 26} Hood's final constitutional argument is that R.C.
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.
Harsha, J. and Abele, J.: Concur in Judgment and Opinion. *207