Neal v. Wilkes
Neal v. Wilkes
Opinion of the Court
We granted leave to appeal to consider whether defendant is exempt from liability pursuant to the recreational land use act (RUA), MCL 324.73301(1), for injuries plaintiff sustained while riding an all-
I. PACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Plaintiff injured her back while riding as a passenger on defendant’s ATV, which was being driven by defendant’s brother on defendant’s property in the village of Dimondale.
II. STANDARD OP REVIEW
At issue in this case is the proper interpretation of MCL 324.73301(1). The proper interpretation of a statutory provision is a question of law that this Court reviews de novo. Morales v Auto-Owners Ins Co, 469 Mich 487, 490; 672 NW2d 849 (2003). Likewise, a trial court’s ruling on a summary disposition motion is a question of law that this Court reviews de novo. Schmalfeldt v North Pointe Ins Co, 469 Mich 422, 426; 670 NW2d 651 (2003).
III. ANALYSIS
The RUA, MCL 324.73301(1), provides:
Except as otherwise provided in this section, a cause of action shall not arise for injuries to a person who is on the land of another without paying to the owner, tenant, or lessee of the land a valuable consideration for the purpose of fishing, hunting, trapping, camping, hiking, sightseeing, motorcycling, snowmobiling, or any other outdoor recreational use or trail use, with or without permission, against the owner, tenant, or lessee of the land unless the injuries were caused by the gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct of the owner, tenant, or lessee.
Defendant contends that our decision in Wymer should be overruled because it is inconsistent with the plain language of the RUA. We agree. “[0]ur primary task in construing a statute, is to discern and give effect to the intent of the Legislature.” Sun Valley Foods Co v Ward, 460 Mich 230, 236; 596 NW2d 119 (1999). “The words of a statute provide ‘the most reliable evidence of its intent....’” Id., quoting United States v Turkette, 452 US 576, 593; 101 S Ct 2524; 69 L Ed 2d 246 (1981). Although the Wymer Court noted that its task was to ascertain the legislative intent, it failed to recognize that the language of the statute is the best source for determining legislative intent. Instead, Wymer found it “reasonable to assume that the Michigan statute has the similar general purpose of similar acts in other jurisdictions ... .”
Before Wymer, in Winiecki v Wolf, 147 Mich App 742, 745; 383 NW2d 119 (1985), in which the plaintiff was injured while playing with “land skis” in the defendants’ backyard, the Court of Appeals concluded that the EUA precluded the plaintiffs action against the defendants, stating:
[The RUA], as the trial court has already observed, is clear and unambiguous. Plaintiff was a person on the lands of another, without paying a consideration, for the purpose of an outdoor recreational use. The statute offers nothing on its face excluding from its application the backyard of residential property. If the Legislature did not intend the statute to apply to parcels of land this size, it was within its power to insert words limiting the statute’s application, e.g., to lands in their natural state. As we, however, are constrained to apply the statute as written, we cannot say that the trial court erred in relieving defendants of liability based on the recreational use statute.
This understanding of the RUA is truer to the language of the RUA than is the Wymer Court’s interpretation of the RUA. There is absolutely no indication in the language of the RUA that the Legislature intended its application to be limited to vacant or undeveloped lands. As the Court of Appeals in the instant case stated, “[ajlthough nothing in the statutory language
The RUA makes no distinction between large tracts of land and small tracts of land, undeveloped land and developed land, vacant land and occupied land, land suitable for outdoor recreational uses and land not suitable for outdoor recreational uses, urban or suburban land and rural land, or subdivided land and unsubdivided land.
In this case, plaintiff was injured “on the land of another without paying to the owner... a valuable consideration for the purpose of.. . an[] . . . outdoor recreational use . . . ,”
rV. CONCLUSION
The RUA exempts an owner of land from liability for injuries suffered by a person while that person is using the owner’s land for specified purposes if that person has not paid the owner a valuable consideration for such use, unless the injuries were caused by the owner’s gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct. This exemption applies to the owners of large tracts of land and small tracts of land, undeveloped land and developed land, vacant land and occupied land, land suitable for outdoor recreational uses and land not suitable for outdoor recreational uses, urban or suburban land and rural land, and subdivided land and unsubdivided land. Plaintiff injured herself while using defendant’s land for a specified purpose (riding an ATV) without having paid defendant a valuable consideration
An “atv” is defined as a “3- or 4-wheeled vehicle designed for off-road use that has low-pressure tires, has a seat designed to he straddled by the rider, and is powered by a 50cc to 500cc gasoline engine or an engine of comparable size using other fuels.” MCL 324.81101(a).
Unpublished opinion per curiam, issued September 17, 2002 (Docket No. 230494).
469 Mich 872 (2003).
469 Mich 942 (2003).
It is impossible for us to determine whether these other acts are indeed “similar” to Michigan’s act in any particular respect because Wymer failed to cite any of these “similar acts.”
Immediately before Wymer, supra, stated that the purpose of the rua is to make available to the public “vast areas of vacant but private lands,” id. at 78, it asserted that the purpose of the rua is “to encourage owners of land to make land and water areas available to the public for recreational purposes by limiting their liability toward persons entering thereon for such purposes.” Id. at 77. Although we agree that the purpose of the RUA is to encourage owners of private land to make their land available to the public, we can find no basis to conclude that the purpose of the rua is to encourage only owners of vast areas of vacant private land in this regard.
This language suggests that the Court of Appeals might well have reached a different conclusion in this case had it not been bound by Wymer.
Although we recognize the importance of stare decisis, we conclude that it is appropriate to overrule Wymer because it is clearly inconsistent with the language of the RUA and, thus, was wrongly decided. Further, there are no relevant “reliance” interests involved and overruling Wymer would, therefore, not produce any “practical real-world dislocations.” See Robinson v Detroit, 462 Mich 439, 465-466; 613 NW2d 307 (2000).
We disagree with the dissent’s assertion that an “urban residential backyard” is not a natural resource. Post at 674 (emphasis in original). Rather, in our judgment, land is a natural resource whether it is urban or rural, residential or non-residential, someone’s backyard or a state park. See Random House Webster’s College Dictionary (1991) (defining “natural resources” as “the natural wealth of a country, consisting of land. ..”).
We use the terms “specified purpose” and “specified activity” throughout this opinion as a summary phrase for describing “fishing, hunting, trapping, camping, hiking, sightseeing, motorcycling, snowmobiling, or any other outdoor recreational use or trail use ... .” See MCL 324.73301(1).
Plaintiff and the dissent argue that the fact that the Legislature amended the RUA after Wymer was decided, but did not amend the language at issue here, means that the Legislature must have agreed with the Wymer Court’s interpretation of the RUA. However, as we recently explained in People v Hawkins, 468 Mich 488, 507-510; 668 NW2d 602 (2003), neither “legislative acquiescence” nor the “reenactment doctrine” may “be utilized to subordinate the plain language of a statute.” “Legislative acquiescence” has been repeatedly rejected by this Court because “Michigan courts [must] determine the Legislature’s intent from its words, not from its silence.” Donajkowski v Alpena Power Co, 460 Mich 243, 261; 596 NW2d 574 (1999). Although, where statutory language is ambiguous, the reenactment doctrine may be a more useful tool of construction, “[i]n the absence of a clear indication that the Legislature intended to either adopt or repudiate this Court’s prior construction, there is no reason to subordinate our primary principle of construction—to ascertain the Legislature’s intent by first examining the statute’s language—to the reenactment rule.” Id. at 508-509.
The dissent concludes that the fact that the Legislature amended § 73301(2) of the RUA to apply to “land of any size, including, but not limited to, urban, suburban, subdivided, and rural land,” but did not similarly amend § 73301(1) is a “clear indication” of its intentions. Post at
The dissent uses the doctrine of ejusdem generis to conclude that the rua only applies to “large undeveloped tracts of land.” Post at 675. As noted above, the doctrine of ejusdem generis, applies where a general term follows a listing of several specific terms. The rua uses the general term “land.” The dissent applies the doctrine of ejusdem generis to define the term “land.” However, the term “land” does not follow a listing of specific terms. Therefore, while it is appropriate to apply the doctrine of ejusdem generis to “other recreational uses” because it follows a listing of several specific types of recreational uses, it is not appropriate to apply the doctrine of ejusdem generis to “land” because “land” does not follow a listing of several specific types of land.
Plaintiff argues in the alternative that the rua does not apply because plaintiff was not on defendant’s property for the “purpose” of an outdoor recreational use, but, rather, was on defendant’s property for the “purpose” of a social visit. In other words, plaintiff argues that the RUA only applies to individuals who enter upon land with the specific intent of using the land for a specified purpose; it does not apply to individuals who enter the land for some other purpose, such as a social visit, and who, incidentally to this purpose, subsequently use the land for a specified purpose. We disagree. Plaintiff, like the Court in Wymer, is adding words to the act that simply are not there. The RUA states that an owner of land is not hable for injuries to a person who is “on the [owner’s] land” “for the purpose of” a specified activity. Nothing in the act’s language limits its application to individuals who enter the land for the purpose of a specified activity. Rather, the act clearly applies to individuals who, at the time of the injury, are on the land of another for a specified purpose. One’s initial purpose for entering the land is not relevant.
Plaintiff contends that defendant should be held hable for plaintiffs injuries even if the RUA does apply because plaintiffs injuries were caused by defendant’s gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct. Although plaintiff alleged in her complaint that her injuries were caused by defendant’s negligence, nowhere in her complaint does she allege that her injuries were caused by defendant’s gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct. Moreover, even if plaintiffs allegations are accented as true, i.e., that defendant knew of the dangers of operating an ATV with a passenger on it, and of driving the ATV over the uneven area of his backyard, and yet failed to warn plaintiff of these dangers, these allegations still do not support plaintiffs contention that her injuries were caused by defendant’s gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). Today, the majority holds that the Recreational Land Use Act (RUA), MCL 324.73301(1), applies to outdoor recreational activities on all types of land. Therefore, the majority believes that it must overrule this Court’s prior unanimous opinion in Wymer v Holmes, 429 Mich 66; 412 NW2d 213 (1987). Because I believe the majority ignores the words of the statute, the intent of the Legislature, and the amendment of the statute by the Legislature, I must respectfully dissent.
I. THE RECREATIONAL LAND USE ACT AND WYMER v HOLMES
MCL 324.73301 states, in pertinent part, the following:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a cause of action shall not arise for injuries to a person who is on the land of another without paying to the owner, tenant, or lessee of the land a valuable consideration for the purpose of fishing, hunting, trapping, camping, hiking, sightseeing, motorcycling, snowmobiling, or any other outdoor recreational use or trail use, with or without permission, against the owner, tenant, or lessee of the land unless the injuries were caused by the gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct of the owner, tenant, or lessee.
*673 (2) A cause of action shall not arise for injuries to a person who is on the land of another without paying to the owner, tenant, or lessee of the land a valuable consideration for the purpose of entering or exiting from or using a Michigan trailway as designated under part 721 or other public trail, with or without permission, against the owner, tenant, or lessee of the land unless the injuries were caused by the gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct of the owner, tenant, or lessee. For purposes of this subsection, a Michigan trailway or public trail may be located on land of any size including, but not limited to, urban, suburban, subdivided, and rural land.
In Wymer, supra at 79, this Court held that the RUA “was intended to apply to large tracts of undeveloped land suitable for outdoor recreational uses. Urban, suburban, and subdivided lands were not intended to be covered by the RUA.” Id.
The current majority now states that there “is absolutely no indication in the language of the RUA that the Legislature intended its application to be limited to vacant or undeveloped lands.” Ante at 666. The majority’s interpretation eliminates the liability of a landowner, tenant, or lessee when a person who does not pay consideration and who participates in any outdoor recreational activity is injured, unless the landowner,
II. THE LEGISLATURE’S INTENT
While the majority contends that its decision is dictated by the words used by the Legislature, the majority conveniently discounts and ignores facts that are contrary to its opinion. Notably, the RUA is found in the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, MCL 324.101 et seq., the purpose of which is “to protect the environment and natural resources of the state ... .” 1994 PA 451. Other sections of the act deal with forest and mineral resource development, MCL 324.701 et seq.; use of water in mining low-grade iron ore, MCL 324.3501 et seq.; sand dune protection and management, MCL 324.35301 et seq.; and state forest recreation, MCL 324.83101 et seq., to name just a few. It is highly unlikely that an urban residential backyard was among the state’s natural resources considered in the RUA.
Further, the doctrine of ejusdem generis also supports the conclusion reached in Wymer and confirms the folly of the majority’s interpretation. This Court explained the doctrine in Sands Appliance Servs, Inc v Wilson, 463 Mich 231, 242; 615 NW2d 241 (2000):
“[Ejusdem generis] is a rule whereby in a statute in which general words follow a designation of particular subjects, the meaning of the general words will ordinarily*675 be presumed to be and construed as restricted by the particular designation and as including only things of the same kind, class, character or nature as those specifically enumerated.” [Quoting People v Brown, 406 Mich 215, 221; 277 NW2d 155 (1979).]
The RUA refers to “fishing, hunting, trapping, camping, hiking, sightseeing, motorcycling, snowmobiling, or any other outdoor recreational use or trail use. .. .” MCL 324.73301(1). The activities described in the statute are all activities that take place on large, undeveloped tracts of land. With the exception of house hunting, bargain hunting, and the occasional actions of Elmer Fudd in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, hunting is an activity that is actually prohibited in urban and suburban neighborhoods. When the Legislature wrote about snowmobiling, it is doubtful that it was referring to riding a snowmobile back and forth in a residential backyard like a duck at a carnival shooting game. The fact that the Legislature listed activities that can only be accomplished on large, undeveloped tracts of land indicates that it did not intend for the statute to cover residential lawns
Finally, in support of its conclusion that § 73301(1) applies to all land, the majority states that the Legislature “could have used the words ‘vacant or undeveloped land of another’ ” in § 73301(1) if the RUA was only
III. THE REENACTMENT RULE
Under the reenactment rule, “ [i]f a legislature reenacts a statute without modifying a high court’s practical construction of that statute, that construction is implicitly adopted.” People v Hawkins, 468 Mich 488, 519; 668 NW2d 602 (2003) (CAVANAGH, J., dissenting), citing 28 Singer, Statutes and Statutory Construction (2000 rev), Contemporaneous Construction, § 49.09, pp 103-112. The Legislature “is presumed to be aware of an administrative or judicial interpretation of a statute and to adopt that interpretation when it [reenacts] a statute without change . . . .” Lorillard, a Div of Loew’s The-atres, Inc v Pons, 434 US 575, 580; 98 S Ct 866; 55 L Ed 2d 40 (1978). “The reenactment rule differs from the legislative-acquiescence doctrine in that the former canon provides ‘prima facie evidence of legislative intent’ by the adoption, without modification, of a statutory provision that had already received judicial interpretation.” Hawkins, supra at 488, quoting Singer at 107.
IV CONCLUSION
Plaintiffs injury occurred while at defendant’s home, which is located in a residential subdivision. Plaintiff was injured while on defendant’s lawn-, a lawn that defendant had mowed that very day. While the majority asserts that the RUA bars plaintiffs claim, the practical import of the majority’s tortuous reasoning is that any outdoor recreational activity that occurs on any parcel of land will fall within the purview of the statute. On the basis of the words chosen by the Legislature, as well as its actions in amending the statute, I do not believe that our Legislature intended for the RUA to cover activities such as those that routinely take place at
Accordingly, I respectfully dissent and would affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals because plaintiffs claim is not barred by the Recreational Land Use Act.
Wymer interpreted a former version of the rua, but the difference is not relevant to the issue or outcome of this case.
The majority improperly characterizes my use of the doctrine of ejusdem generis. Because the majority ignores the Legislature’s intent, I use the doctrine to examine the types of activities the Legislature meant to include when it used the phrase “any other outdoor recreational use.” A proper use of ejusdem generis leads to the conclusion that the activities covered by the statute are only those engaged in on large, open tracts of land, consistent with Wymer’s interpretation of the statute. While I do not believe that the Legislature meant to include activities such as a rousing game of shuffleboard or horseshoes, the majority’s strained reading of the statute now covers activities such as those.
Following today’s decision, people invited to such a party, or to a neighborhood barbecue, should be forewarned to “be sure to bring a dish (consideration) to pass.”
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