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Local 514 Transport Workers Union of America v. Keating12/16/2003
ystem,' the whole is invalidated by the unconstitutionality of a part." T. Sedgwick, The Interpretation and Construction of Statutory and Constitutional Law, 414 (2d ed. 1874). In sum, the U. S. Supreme Court, this Court and authors such as Stern, Cooley, and Sedgwick, agree that a severability analysis is used to determine whether a law, invalid in part, may nevertheless have its valid parts enforced. Thus, I decline to join the Court's opinion rejecting the application of such analysis to the present controversy.
What did the People intend when Art. 23 § 1A became law? A severability analysis attempts to determine such intent. The challenge to Art. 23 § 1A based upon application to workers covered by the Railway Labor Act, Civil Service Reform Act, Postal Reorganization Act, and the National Labor Relations Act is based solely upon the general and broad nature of the language in Article 23. No language in Art. 23 § 1A specifically targets such employees or makes reference to federal law.
In 1996 this Court stated that: "Four years ago, this Court held that the people's legislative power as defined in article 5, section 1, of the Oklahoma Constitution does not include the power to use the initiative process to attempt to change federal constitutional law." In re Initiative Petition No. 364, 1996 OK 129, 930 P.2d 186, 195, citing, In re Petition No. 349, State Question No. 642, 1992 OK 122, 838 P.2d 1. No language in Article 23 § 1A may be reasonably construed as an attempt to overturn federal law. These two opinions stating the People's inability to amend federal law via a State Question predate the passage of Art. 23 § 1, and this Court may presume that the People, acting as a legislative body, were aware of such authority. Further, It is nothing unique to the jurisprudence of this State that federal law may be used to carve out an exception to applying an Oklahoma legislative act to certain groups of people. See, e.g., Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Chickasaw Nation, 515 U.S. 450, 458 -459, 115 S.Ct. 2214, 132 L.Ed.2d 400 (1995), (Court noted its holdings where it has held unenforceable a number of state taxes whose legal incidence rested on a tribe or on tribal members inside Indian country).
This Court has construed, when possible, statutes and constitutional provisions so as to give effect to valid parts thereof. We have said that, as a matter of statutory interpretation, a reasonable and rational statutory construction that upholds the validity of a legislative act will be used by courts. TXO Production Corp. v. Oklahoma Corp. Commission, 1992 OK 39, 829 P.2d 964, 968 - 969. The People's intent to have a partial application of law combined with an absence of any showing of an intent to subvert federal law supports a conclusion of an intent that the valid portions of Article 23 § 1 should be applied as severed.
On this issue the parties discuss the lack of a severability clause, and the application of 75 O.S. § 11a. Section 11a is a statutorily required presumption of severability. Facially, this section applies to "statutes". Whether § 11a applies does not matter in this constitution-based controversy. This is because the absence of a severability clause in Art. 23 § 1A, is not determinative.
When construing a federal statute the U. S. Supreme Court has stated that while the presence of a severability clause shows Congress' intent for severance, the absence of the clause does not carry with it a showing of an opposite intent.
The inquiry is eased when Congress has explicitly provided for severance by including a severability clause in the statute. This Court has held that the inclusion of such a clause creates a presumption that
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