Kelley v. Tancredo

913 P.2d 1127, 20 Brief Times Rptr. 455, 1996 Colo. LEXIS 54
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedApril 1, 1996
DocketNo. 95SA398
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 913 P.2d 1127 (Kelley v. Tancredo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kelley v. Tancredo, 913 P.2d 1127, 20 Brief Times Rptr. 455, 1996 Colo. LEXIS 54 (Colo. 1996).

Opinions

Justice ERICKSON

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

The petitioners, Louis L. Kelley, Kate L. Reinisch, and James Allan McGregor, as registered electors of the state of Colorado, bring this original proceeding pursuant to section 1-40-107(2), IB C.R.S. (1995 Supp.), to review the action of the initiative title setting board (the Board) in fixing the title, ballot title and submission clause, and summary for a proposed initiative constitutional amendment designated as “Parental Rights” (the Initiative). We approve the action of the Board.

The Initiative would amend article II, section 3 of the Colorado Constitution by providing parents with the “natural, essential and inalienable right[ ]” “to direct and control the upbringing, education, values, and discipline of their children.” The text of the Initiative is attached as APPENDIX A. The title, ballot title and submission clause, and summary prepared by the Board are attached as APPENDIX B.

The petitioners assert that: (1) the Board failed to follow the procedures set forth in section 1-^40 — 106(1), IB C.R.S. (1995 Supp.), and, accordingly, lacked jurisdiction to hold hearings on the Initiative; (2) the Initiative violates article V, section 1(5.5) of the Colorado Constitution and section 1-40-106.5, IB C.R.S. (1995 Supp.), because it contains multiple unrelated purposes in a single measure; (3) the title, ballot title and submission clause, and summary do not express the true intent and meaning of the Initiative and are inadequate to inform voters of the purpose and effect of the measure; and (4) the summary does not include an adequate fiscal impact statement as required by section 1-40-106(3)(a), IB C.R.S. (1995 Supp.). We approve the Board.

I

On November 2, 1995, the Legislative Council1 held a hearing on the Initiative to ascertain the proponents’ intent and objective in proposing the amendment. The proponents of the Initiative responded to questions addressing the impact of the amendment on existing state laws governing children. On November 15, 1995, pursuant to section 1-40-106(1),2 the Board held a hearing and fixed a title, ballot title and submission clause, and summary for the Initiative.

On November 21, 1995, the petitioners filed a motion for rehearing, contending that the Board’s action should be set aside because: (1) the Initiative violated the single-subject requirement of article V, section 1(5.5) of the Colorado Constitution and sec[1130]*1130tion 1-40-106.5; (2) the title, ballot title and submission clause, and summary fail to fairly and accurately express the true intent and meaning of the initiative; (3) the title, ballot title and submission clause, and summary as fixed by the board “make[ ] it virtually certain that voters would be surprised by the widespread changes that the measure would work on [existing statutes and procedures];” and (4) the summary does not include a meaningful fiscal impact statement.3

On December 6, 1995, the petitioners; the proponents; and representatives from the Colorado Education Association, Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood, the Colorado Coalition for the Protection of Children, and AMEND4 appeared and presented arguments to the Board on their petition for rehearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Board denied the petitioners’ motion for rehearing in its entirety.

II

A

Article V, section 1 of the Colorado Constitution reserves to registered electors the right to initiate constitutional amendments. Subsection 5.5 of that section requires that each initiative be limited to a single subject and provides in pertinent part:

No measure shall be proposed by petition containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title; but if any subject shall be embraced in any measure which shall not be expressed in the title, such measure shall be void only as to so much thereof as shall not be so expressed. If a measure contains more than one subject, such that a ballot title cannot be fixed that clearly expresses a single subject, no title shall be set and the measure shall not be submitted to the people for adoption or rejection at the polls.

Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(5.5); see § 1-40-106.5.

The single subject requirement prohibits the inclusion of “incongruous subjects in the same measure, especially the practice of putting together in one measure subjects having no necessary or proper connection,” § 1-40-106.5(1)(e)(I), and is designed to protect the voters from surprise and fraud. § 1-40-106.5(l)(e)(II); see In re Title, Ballot Title and Submission Clause, and Summary Regarding Amend Tabor 32, 908 P.2d 125, 128 (Colo.1995) (hereafter Amend Tabor 32); In re Title, Ballot Title and Submission Clause, and Summary Regarding Amend Tabor 25, 900 P.2d 121, 124-25 (Colo.1995) (hereafter Amend Tabor 25); In re Proposed Initiative “Public Rights in Waters II”, 898 P.2d 1076, 1078 (Colo.1995) (hereafter “Public Rights in Waters II”). The General Assembly intended that this section be “liberally construed, so as to avert the practices against which they are aimed and, at the same time, to preserve and protect the right of initiative and referendum.” § 1-40-106.5(2).

The Board’s duty is to designate and fix a title, ballot title and submission clause, and a summary for initiated petitions before these petitions are signed by electors. § 1-40-106(3), IB C.R.S. (1995 Supp.). Section 1-40-106.5(3) directs the Board to “apply judicial decisions construing the constitutional single-subject requirement for bills and ... follow the same rules employed by the general assembly in considering titles for bills.”

In order to violate the single-subject requirement, the text of the measure must “relate[ ] to more than one subject and [have] at least two distinct and separate purposes which are not dependent upon or connected with each other.” In re Title, Ballot Title and Submission Clause, and Summary Regarding Petition Procedures, 900 P.2d 104, 109 (Colo.1995) (hereafter Petition Procedures)-, see “Public Rights in Waters II”, 898 P.2d at 1078-79; People v. Sours, 31 Colo. 369, 405, 74 P. 167, 178 (1903). The [1131]*1131single subject requirement is not violated if the “matters encompassed are necessarily or properly connected to each other rather than disconnected or incongruous.” Amend Tabor 25, 900 P.2d at 125; see “Public Rights in Waters II”, 898 P.2d at 1079.

In reviewing the Board’s actions, “[w]e do not address the merits of proposed initiatives,” nor “interpret the meaning of language contained in such proposals”. In re Proposed Initiative Concerning “Automobile Insurance Coverage”, 877 P.2d 853, 856 (Colo.1994). It is “beyond the scope of our review ...

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Related

In Re Proposed Ballot Initiative
913 P.2d 1127 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1996)

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Bluebook (online)
913 P.2d 1127, 20 Brief Times Rptr. 455, 1996 Colo. LEXIS 54, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kelley-v-tancredo-colo-1996.