Kathleen A. OLSON and Amy Howard, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. BISMARCK PARKS AND RECREATION DISTRICT, Defendant and Appellee.
No. 20010249.
Supreme Court of North Dakota.
April 16, 2002.
2002 ND 61 | 642 N.W.2d 864
SANDSTROM, Justice, concurring specially.
[¶ 15] Because part I of the majority opinion is dispositive of the appeal, and because—as the majority holds in part I—the issue in part II was not properly raised on appeal, I would not reach the issue in part II. See
[¶ 16] Dale Sandstrom
Orell D. Schmitz, Schmitz, Moench & Schmidt, Bismarck, for plaintiffs and appellants.
Ronald F. Fischer, Pearson Christensen, Grand Forks, for defendant and appellee.
Douglas A. Bahr (on brief), Solicitor General and Reid Alan Brady (on brief), Assistant Attorney General, Attorney General‘s Office, Bismarck, for amicus curiae.
[¶ 1] Kathleen A. Olson and Amy Howard appealed from a summary judgment dismissing their negligence action against the Bismarck Parks and Recreation District (“District“) because the District wаs immune from suit. We conclude, under the circumstances of this case, the limited liability afforded the District for recreational use of property under
I
[¶ 2] On November 26, 2000, Olson and Howard were seriously injured while sledding on a hill at Bismarck‘s Tom O‘Leary golf course, which is owned, operated, and maintained by the District. During the winter, about 100 acres of the Tom O‘Leary Recreational Complex are open free of charge to the general public for sledding, snowboarding, tobogganing and
[¶ 3] Olson and Howard sued the District, claiming it negligently failed to maintain the sledding area in a safe and hazard-free condition for its users. The District contended the lawsuit was barred by the recreational use immunity statutes,
II
[¶ 4] Summary judgment is a procedural device for promptly and expeditiously disposing of an action without a trial if either party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law and no dispute exists as to either the material facts or the reasonable inferences to be drawn from undisputed facts, or resolving the factual disputes will not alter the result. Anderson v. Meyer Broadcasting Co., 2001 ND 125, ¶ 14, 630 N.W.2d 46. Whether a statute is constitutional presents a question of law which is fully reviewable on appeal. State v. Burr, 1999 ND 143, ¶ 9, 598 N.W.2d 147.
A
[¶ 5] The relevant provisions of
Subject to the provisions of section 53-08-05, an owner of land owes no duty of care to keep the premises safe for entry or use by others for recreational purposes or to give any warning of a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity on such premises to persons entering for such purposes.
Subject to the provisions of section 53-08-05, an owner of land who either directly or indirectly invites or permits without charge any person to use such property for recreational purposes does not thereby:
- Extend any assurance that the premises are safe for any purpose;
- Confer upon such persons the legal status of an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed; or
- Assume responsibility for or incur liability for any injury to person or property caused by an act or omission of such persons.
Nothing in this chapter limits in any way any liability which otherwise exists for:
- Willful and malicious failurе to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity; or
- Injury suffered in any case when the owner of land charges the person or persons who enter or go on the land other than the amount, if any, paid to the owner of the land by the state.
In this chapter, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires:
- “Charge” means the amount of mon-
ey asked in return for an invitation to enter or go upon the land. - “Land” includes all public and private land, roads, wаter, water-courses, and ways and buildings, structures, and machinery or equipment thereon.
- “Owner” includes tenant, lessee, occupant, or person in control of the premises.
- “Recreational purposes” includes any activity engaged in for the purpose of exercise, relaxation, pleasure, or education.
[¶ 6] Almost all states have statutes that limit a landowner‘s liability for personal injury suffered by a person using the land recreationally. Robin C. Miller, Annotation, Effect of Statute Limiting Landowner‘s Liability for Personal Injury to Recreational User, 47 A.L.R.4th 262 (1986). Generally, the statutes are “intended to reduce the growing tendency of landowners to withdraw land from recreational access by removing the risk of gratuitous tort liability that a landowner might run unless he could successfully bar any entry to his property for enumerated recreational uses.” 62 Am.Jur.2d Premises Liability § 119 (1990) (footnote omitted). The recreational use immunity stаtutes were first enacted in North Dakota in 1965, and were also intended to “encourage landowners to make available to the public, land and water areas and other property for recreational purposes by limiting their liability toward users.” 1965 N.D. Sess. Laws ch. 337.
[¶ 7] This Court has previously construed the recreational use immunity statutes. In Stokka v. Cass County Elec. Coop., Inc., 373 N.W.2d 911, 915-16 (N.D. 1985), this Court upheld the constitutionality of the provisions of
[¶ 8] In 1993, the Legislature first amended the statutes by changing the language of
B
[¶ 9] Olson and Howard argue
No special privileges or immunities shall ever be granted which may not be altered, revoked or repealed by the legislative assembly; nor shall any citizen or class of citizens be granted privileges or immunities which upon the same terms shall not be granted to all citizens.
[¶ 10] A facially neutral statute may violate equal protection in its application or effect. State v. Wilt, 371 N.W.2d 159, 160 (N.D. 1985); State v. Mathisen, 356 N.W.2d 129, 133 (N.D. 1984). Generally, a party may only challenge the constitutionаlity of a statute as applied to that party. State v. Dvorak, 2000 ND 6, ¶ 28, 604 N.W.2d 445; Tooz v. State, 76 N.D. 599, 607, 38 N.W.2d 285, 290 (1949). Consequently, when addressing equal protection challenges to legislation, we have often noted a person to whom a statute constitutionally may be applied cannot challenge the statute on the ground that it might conceivably be applied unconstitutionally to others. First Bank of Buffalo v. Conrad, 350 N.W.2d 580, 584 (N.D. 1984); State v. Morris, 331 N.W.2d 48, 58 (N.D. 1983); State v. Unterseher, 255 N.W.2d 882, 886 (N.D. 1977); State v. Amerada Petroleum Corp., 71 N.W.2d 675, 680 (N.D. 1955); Benson v. Schneider, 68 N.W.2d 665, 670 (N.D. 1955); Asbury Hosp. v. Cass County, 72 N.D. 359, 392, 7 N.W.2d 438, 456 (1943).
[¶ 11] All regularly enacted statutes carry a strong presumption of constitutionality, which is conclusive unless the party challenging the statute clearly demonstrates that it contravenes the state or federal constitution. In re M.D., 1999 ND 160, ¶ 25, 598 N.W.2d 799. When a statute is challenged on equal protection grounds and an important substantive right is involved, we apply an intermediate standard of review which requires a close correspondence between the statutory classification and the legislative goal. Gange v. Clerk of Burleigh County Dist. Court, 429 N.W.2d 429, 433 (N.D. 1988). The right to recover for personal injuries is an important substantive right. Dickie v. Farmers Union Oil Co. of LaMoure, 2000 ND 111, ¶ 5, 611 N.W.2d 168; Bouchard v. Johnson, 555 N.W.2d 81, 87 (N.D. 1996); Hanson v. Williams County, 389 N.W.2d 319, 325 (N.D. 1986). Therefore, the inquiry in this case is whether there is a close correspondence between the statutory classification and the legislative goal. We may consider unarticulated legislative purposes or goals in an equal protection analysis of a statutory classification. Haney v. North Dakota Workers Comp. Bureau, 518 N.W.2d 195, 202 (N.D. 1994); State v. Knoefler, 325 N.W.2d 192, 195 (N.D. 1982).
C
[¶ 12] Olson and Howard have not cited, nor have we found, any caselaw striking down as unconstitutional similar recreational use immunity statutes. Rather, courts have uniformly rejected a variety of constitutional attacks against such legislation. See, e.g., Mattice v. United States, Dep‘t of Interior, 969 F.2d 818, 822 (9th Cir. 1992) (holding California statutes did not violate equal protection when applied to public landowner); Simpson v. United States, 652 F.2d 831, 833-34 (9th Cir. 1981) (holding same); Harlan v. Frazier, 635 F. Supp. 718, 724 (W.D. La. 1986),
[¶ 13] Olson and Howard rely on statements made by a majority of this Court in Hovland v. City of Grand Forks, 1997 ND 95, 563 N.W.2d 384. In Hovland at ¶¶ 12, 13, 16, the majority declined to interpret the recreational use immunity statutes as applying to political subdivisions because it would raise “a serious equal protection question“:
If public lands were granted immunity for all recreational activities, Caroline could not recover for her injuries because she was using the bike path for a recreational use, but had she been using the bike path for a non-recreational use she would be allowed to recover. This interpretation allows the government to treat two classes of persons injured on рublic lands differently: it forbids recovery for personal injuries incurred during recreational activities, but permits recovery for personal injuries incurred during non-recreational activities. The recreational use immunity statute was created to encourage private landowners to permit public access to private lands. In the context of public access to private lands, the disparate treatment of recreational users seems to make sense. In the context of public access to public lands, the disparate treatment is much harder to understand.
. . . .
The legislative history does not disclose any reason why a recreational user of public lands could not recover for personal injuries when a non-recreational user could. Without a close correspondence with legislative goals supporting this classification, the statutе might well fail an equal protection challenge under an intermediate standard of review.
(Footnote omitted). These statements are dicta, and we are not compelled by stare decisis to follow them. Id. at ¶ 18. We do not follow the path outlined in the Hovland dicta here because, under the circumstances of this case, we believe there is a
[¶ 14] The recreational use immunity statutes create two classes of persons and treat them differently: nonpaying recreational users of another‘s land and all other persons using the land of another. The class distinction is based upon the location and nature of the injured person‘s conduct when the injury occurs. See Harlan, 635 F. Supp. at 724. Although not clearly articulated in the legislative history of the 1995 amendments, the primary purpose of the recreational use immunity statutes hаs not changed since their original enactment in 1965. The statutes are intended to provide limited tort immunity to landowners and to encourage them to provide access to their land without charge for public recreational use. Such encouragement was necessitated by the threat of tort liability which had led some landowners throughout the country to bar people from using their land. See Simpson, 652 F.2d at 833. We agree with the Idaho Supreme Court that thе “encouragement of recreation enhances the physical well-being of ... people, has a positive effect on [the] economy,” and is an important legislative goal. Johnson, 684 P.2d at 272. It is logical for the Legislature to conclude that a limitation on a landowner‘s liability exposure to nonpaying recreational users has an influence on the landowner‘s decision not to exclude recreational users from the land. Id. Limited tоrt immunity is the quid pro quo for the noncommercial opening of property to the public for recreational use. Hendrickson v. Georgia Power Co., 80 F. Supp. 2d 1374, 1378 (M.D. Ga. 2000). The recreational use immunity statutes therefore protect landowners when others use the property without charge for their personal enjoyment, see Harlan, at 724, but continue to hold landowners responsible for their willful and malicious conduct.
[¶ 15] Olson and Howard argue the logic for providing a private landowner with limited liability in exchange for opening land for public use without charge for recreational purposes does not have the same justification when applied to public landowners because, “[i]n theory, public land is already open to the public.” This argument is unpersuasive. The distinction urged by Olson and Howard has been rejected by several courts. In Gard v. United States, 594 F.2d 1230, 1233 (9th Cir. 1979), the court addressed the appellant‘s argument that the Nevada sightseer statute did not aрply to the government:
[Gard] argues first that the purpose of [the statute] is to encourage landowners to open up their land to recreational use and that such a rationale does not apply to the Government. We disagree. Gard does not suggest that the Government could not completely close various federal lands to public use if it felt its potential tort liability was too great. Thus the principle of encouraging lаndowners to open their land by limiting potential tort liability applies with equal force to the Government as to other landowners.
See also Jones v. United States, 693 F.2d 1299, 1302 (9th Cir. 1982); Otteson v. United States, 622 F.2d 516, 519 (10th Cir. 1980); McCarver v. Manson Park and Recreation Dist., 92 Wash. 2d 370, 597 P.2d 1362, 1366 (1979). Olson and Howard do not argue the District lacks the power to close or severely limit the use of its land to the public. The District and other governmental entities have the power to control the use of public lands. See, e.g.,
[¶ 16] Olson and Howard raise hypothetical examples of situations in which the recreational use immunity stat-
[¶ 17] Under the undisputed facts of this case, we conclude the recreational use immunity statutes advance the important legislative goal of opening property to the public for recreational use in a manner that closely corresponds to the achievement of that goal. We hold
III
[¶ 18] Olson and Howard do not argue the District‘s actions in this case were “[w]illful and malicious” under
[¶ 19] GERALD W. VANDE WALLE, C.J., WILLIAM A. NEUMANN, and DALE V. SANDSTROM, JJ., concur.
NEUMANN, Justice, concurring.
[¶ 20] I have joined the majority in this case despite the dicta I authored in Hovland v. City of Grand Forks, 1997 ND 95, 563 N.W.2d 384. On the facts of this case, I see a close correspondence between the statutory classification in
[¶ 21] The legislature has declared a general policy of protecting citizens from injury caused by the negligent omissions of others. However, the legislature also realized this policy could limit the availability of free recreational opportunities for those same citizеns. The legislature decided our people would best be served by increasing free recreational opportunities, even if the safe use of those free opportunities would have to depend primarily upon the caution and watchfulness of those who use them. To my mind that is a clear close correspondence between classification and legislative goal.
[¶ 22] What is more of a mystery and concern to me is thе expansively broad language of the act, encompassing not just recreational facilities but every publicly owned building, road and “ways” in the State of North Dakota. The effect of that broad language is to treat drivers and pedestrians on our public streets and sidewalks differently, depending on their pur-
[¶ 23] Fortunately, as the majority opinion points оut, none of those facts are presented in this case. I have therefore joined the majority.
[¶ 24] MARY MUEHLEN MARING, and DALE V. SANDSTROM, JJ., concur.
MARING, Justice, specially concurring.
[¶ 25] Although I concur in the result, I write separately because I disagree with the majority opinion‘s conclusion that the primary purpose of the recreational use immunity statutes has not changed since their original enactment in 1965. The majority does acknowledge that when the recreational use statutes were first enaсted the purpose was to encourage private landowners to open their lands for recreational use by the public by removing the potential for liability. 1965 N.D. Sess. Laws ch. 337. However, when the Legislature changed the definition of land in
[¶ 26] I also disagree with the majority‘s conclusions that “[l]ike skiing, winter sledding has many inherent risks and dangers” and that “[v]oluntary participants in sporting and recreational activities are presumed to have consented, by their participation, to those injury-causing events which are known, apparent, or reasonably foreseeable consequences of the participation.” In this case, there was no issue whether Olson was engaged in a recreational activity, and I consider these statements nothing but dicta.
[¶ 27] MARY MUEHLEN MARING.
