In Interest of BS

469 N.W.2d 860, 162 Wis. 2d 378
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedApril 2, 1991
Docket90-0830, 90-0831, 90-0832
StatusPublished

This text of 469 N.W.2d 860 (In Interest of BS) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Interest of BS, 469 N.W.2d 860, 162 Wis. 2d 378 (Wis. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

162 Wis.2d 378 (1991)
469 N.W.2d 860

IN the INTEREST OF B.S., a person under the age of 18 years: STATE of Wisconsin, Appellant,
v.
B.S., Respondent.[†]
IN RE the INTEREST OF K.E., a person under the age of 18 years: STATE of Wisconsin, Appellant,
v.
K.E., Respondent.[†]
IN the INTEREST OF M.P., a person under the age of 18 years: STATE of Wisconsin, Appellant,
v.
M.P., Respondent.[†]

Nos. 90-0830, 90-0831, 90-0832.

Court of Appeals of Wisconsin.

Oral argument November 15, 1990.
Decided April 2, 1991.

*384 For the appellant the cause was submitted on the briefs of Donald J. Hanaway, attorney general, and Sally L. Wellman, assistant attorney general. Oral argument by Sally L. Wellman.

For the respondents the cause was submitted on the briefs of Steven P. Weiss, assistant state public defender. Oral argument by Steven P. Weiss.

Before Eich, C.J., Gartzke, P.J., and Dykman, J.

GARTZKE, P.J.

The state appeals from an order declaring that sec. 48.355(6), Stats.[1] which provides for *385 sanctions when a juvenile delinquent violates a dispositional order, is unconstitutional because it deprives juveniles of liberty without due process of law, contrary to the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution. The issues are (1) whether the sanctions statute is a punitive contempt provision which denies juveniles the procedural due process protections granted to adults facing punitive contempt; and (2) if it is not, whether the procedure specified in the statute provides adequate due process protections.

We conclude that the statute is not facially punitive or a contempt provision. We also conclude that nothing in the procedure it specifies deprives a juvenile of liberty without due process of law. To the extent that the statute fails affirmatively to specify an element of minimum due process, case law and other statutes fill the omission. We therefore reverse the judgment declaring the statute unconstitutional.

*386 I. BACKGROUND

[1]

It is important immediately to note that the constitutional challenge is to the face of the sanctions statute, not to its application. The statute has not yet been applied in these proceedings to any of the four juveniles involved. A statute challenged on due process grounds may be "constitutionally invalid as applied when it operates to deprive an individual of a protected right although its general validity as a measure enacted in the legitimate exercise of state power is beyond question." Boddie v. Connecticut, 401 U.S. 371, 379 (1971). We deal here with the "general validity" of the statute and not with possible invalidity in its application.

[2]

Moreover, it is irrelevant that the present form of the statute results from a partial veto by the Governor of sec. 48.355(6) as enacted by the legislature, 1987 Wis. Act 27, sec. 880y. We ignore the respondents' criticism of the resulting statute as one which is not a "well thought out, well reasoned legislative enactment." The statute is a legislative result, since the Governor's partial veto was effective only because the legislature did not override it. State ex rel. Kleczka v. Conta, 82 Wis. 2d 679, 709, 264 N.W.2d 539, 552 (1978). We determine the facial constitutionality of the resulting statute, not its wisdom.

Briefly described, the statutory background is this: In Wisconsin, a "delinquent" is a child who is less than eighteen but twelve or more years old who has violated a state or federal criminal law. Section 48.02(3m), Stats. The juvenile court has exclusive jurisdiction over an alleged delinquent. Section 48.12(1), Stats. Whether delinquency allegations "are supported beyond a reasonable doubt" is determined at a fact-finding hearing. Section 48.31(1), Stats. The judge who adjudges a child *387 delinquent following a fact-finding hearing must enter a dispositional order. Section 48.34, Stats. The available dispositions under sec. 48.34 range from counseling through transfer to a secured correctional facility, and include special care or treatment, loss of a driver's license, or participation in a supervised work program. The chosen disposition "shall employ those means necessary to maintain and protect the child's well-being which are the least restrictive of the rights of the parent or child and which assure the care, treatment or rehabilitation of the child and the family, consistent with the protection of the public." Section 48.355(1), Stats.

The dispositional order must state "the conditions with which the child is required to comply." Section 48.355(2)(b)7., Stats. If the child violates a specified condition, and if at the dispositional hearing "the judge explained the conditions to the child and informed the child of the possible sanctions" for a violation, the statute permits the court to impose on the child one of the four "sanctions" specified in the sanctions statute, sec. 48.355(6), Stats.

With that background, we turn to facts in this appeal. The order appealed was entered in consolidated juvenile proceedings involving B.S., M.P. and K.E. The state subsequently moved to impose sanctions on each child pursuant to sec. 48.355(6), Stats., for having violated a condition of a delinquency dispositional order entered against the child. Each dispositional order stated the conditions with which the child was required to comply, and each sanction motion alleged a specific condition violation.

In the case of B.S., the sanction motion alleges that his condition violation was his failure to cooperate with all expectations of a particular program and to follow all prior conditions of supervision, to attend school without *388 unexcused absences, to obey reasonable rules of his mother and a social worker and to participate in counseling and therapy. In M.P.'s case, the motion states that he violated a condition that he commit no further law violation, his new violation being theft. The motion as to K.E. asserts that he violated specific conditions in that he failed to successfully participate in a particular program, missed curfews, had unexcused school absences, and used controlled substances.

Before the sanctions motions were heard, each child challenged the constitutionality of sec. 48.355(6), Stats., the sanctions statute. The challenges succeeded. The juvenile court held that the sanctions statute violates due process because it permits the court to order a delinquent child placed in detention for up to ten days for violating a court-ordered condition of a delinquency dispositional order, without giving the child the opportunity to purge the contempt. The court concluded that the statute is punitive and imposes punishment without due process of law.

The juvenile court concluded that the sanctions statute violates due process for a second reason. The statute provides only that before imposing a sanction the court must hold a hearing at which the child is entitled to counsel and to present evidence.[2] The court concluded that the statute is constitutionally defective because of omissions. It does not define the scope of the hearing[3]

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469 N.W.2d 860, 162 Wis. 2d 378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-interest-of-bs-wisctapp-1991.