STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
RUSSELL LEICHT, APPELLEE; STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT, V. STEVEN W. JORDAN, APPELLEE
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The Florida Supreme Court upheld section 893.135, Florida Statutes, which imposes mandatory minimum sentences for trafficking in four specific controlled substances (marijuana, cocaine, morphine, and opium), rejecting appellees' equal protection challenge that the statute unconstitutionally singles out only these drugs while other equally dangerous drugs are not subject to the same mandatory penalties.
Section 893.135 does not violate the equal protection clause. The legislature has wide discretion in creating statutory classifications, and a classification based on a real difference reasonably related to the subject and purpose of the regulation will be upheld even if another classification might appear more reasonable. The court found a rational basis for the legislature's decision to impose mandatory sentences for marijuana, cocaine, morphine, and opium based on the recognized widespread use, abuse, and trafficking magnitude of these four substances in the state.
[1] A statute is presumed to be valid, and the legislature has broad discretion in creating classifications.
[2] A statutory classification is permissible if it applies equally to all persons within the class and bears a reasonable relationship to a legitimate state objective.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Evils in the same field may be of different dimensions and proportions requiring different remedies. . .. [Rjeform may take one step at a time, addressing itself to the phase of the problem which seems most acute to the legislative mind.... The legislature may select one phase of one field and apply a remedy there, neglecting the others.”
Establishes the legal principle that legislatures have discretion to address problems incrementally and need not classify all similar evils identically.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe state appealed a circuit court ruling declaring section 893.135 unconstitutional. Appellees Leicht and Jordan challenged the statute on equal prot…
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McDONALD, Justice.
The state appealed a circuit court ruling declaring section 893.135, Florida Statutes (1979),1 unconstitutional. This Court stayed further proceedings in the instant cases because of the pending disposition of State v. Benitez, 395 So. 2d 514 (Fla.1981). In Benitez, this Court found section 893.135 to be constitutional. That ruling does not entirely dispose of these two cases, however, because in the trial court the appellees presented an additional challenge to the statute’s constitutionality to the ones covered in Benitez. We again uphold the statute.
Appellees contend that section 893.135 violates equal protection by singling out only four 2 of the controlled substances proscribed in section 893.03, Florida Statutes (1979). They claim that many other drugs are as dangerous and as widely abused as the four for which mandatory sentences have been enacted and that, therefore, there is no rational basis to support the classification set out in section 893.135.' We disagree.
As the United States Supreme Court has stated:
“Evils in the same field may be of different dimensions and proportions requiring different remedies. . .. [Rjeform may take one step at a time, addressing itself to the phase of the problem which seems most acute to the legislative mind.... The legislature may select one phase of one field and apply a remedy there, neglecting the others.” Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc., 348 U.S. 483 [75 S.Ct. 461, 99 L.Ed. 563] .
Two Guys from Harrison-Allentown, Inc. v. McGinley, 366 U.S. 582, 591-92, 81 S.Ct. 1135, 1140, 6 L.Ed.2d 551 (1961). (Footnote omitted.) The legislature has wide discretion in creating statutory classifications, and there is a presumption in favor of validity. North Ridge General Hospital, Inc. v. City of Oakland Park, 374 So. 2d 461 (Fla.1979), appeal dismissed, 444 U.S. 1062, 100 S.Ct. 1001, 62 L.Ed.2d 774 (1980); Powell v. State, 345 So. 2d 724 (Fla.1977). Whether equal protection has been denied depends on whether a classification is reasonably expedient for the protection of the public safety, welfare, health, or morals. Rainey v. Nelson, 257 So. 2d 538 (Fla.1972). A classification based on a real difference which is reasonably related to the subject and purpose of the regulation will be upheld even if another classification or no classification might appear more reasonable. Finlayson v. Connor, 167 So. 2d 569 (Fla.1964).
To be constitutionally permissible, a classification must apply equally and uniformly to all persons within the class and bear a reasonable and just relationship to a legitimate state objective. Haber v. State, 396 So. 2d 707 (Fla.1981). We find that section 893.135 is neither arbitrary nor unreasonable and that its provisions apply equally to all persons similarly situated. There may, as appellees contend, be other drugs as hazardous as the ones included in section 893.135. The legislature, however, has recognized the widespread use and abuse of marijuana, cocaine, morphine, and opium as an area of special concern and has acted accordingly. We acknowledge the magnitude of trafficking in these four drugs that exists in this state, and we have no difficulty in ascertaining a rational basis for the legislature’s actions in providing escalating mandatory minimum sentences regarding these substances.
We find that section 893.135 does not violate the equal protection clause and reaffirm the statute’s constitutionality.3 The trial court order is vacated.
It is so ordered.
SUNDBERG, C. J., and ADKINS, BOYD, OVERTON, ENGLAND and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur. . Florida’s newly enacted “drug trafficking” statute.
. Cannabis, § 893.135(l)(a), Fla.Stat.; cocaine, § 893.135(l)-(b), Fla.Stat.; and morphine and opium, § 893.135(l)(c), Fla.Stat. . Due to our holding, we do not discuss appel-lees’ arguments regarding severability.
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Grant v. State, 770 So. 2d 655 (Fla. 2000)…to some legitimate state interest.” LeBlanc v. State, 382 So. 2d 299, 300 (Fla.1980) (citations omitted). The Legislature “has wide discretion in creating statutory classifications, and there is a presumption in favor of validity.” State v. Leicht, 402 So. 2d 1153, 1154 (Fla.1981) (citations omitted). A statutory classification will be deemed to violate equal protection only if it causes “different treatments so disparate as relates to the difference in classification so as to be wholly arbitrary.” In Re Esta…
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Dep't OF Ins. v. Se. Volusia Hosp. Dist., 438 So. 2d 815 (Fla. 1983)…aving found the issue of unlawful delegation to be dispositive. Under the equal protection clauses, governmental acts that classify persons arbitrarily may be invalid if they result in treating similar people in a dissimilar manner. State v. Leicht, 402 So. 2d 1153, 1155 (Fla.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 989, 102 S.Ct. 1611, 71 L.Ed.2d 848 (1982); State v. Lee, 356 So. 2d 276, 279 (Fla.1978). Appellants contend that hospitals and physicians are not similarly situated and we agree. While both may fall under a…
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Fred v. Sasso, 431 So. 2d 204 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)…suspect or quasi-suspect class was involved, the “substantial relation” standard was applied. The “just and reasonable relation” language was also specifically equated to the “substantial relation” standard. Id. at 279. Finally, in State v. Leicht, 402 So. 2d 1153, 1154 (Fla.1981), the court upheld a drug trafficking law, specifying that it satisfied the rational basis test. In defining the applicable standard for that test, the court referred to a requirement of a “reasonable and just relationship.” Id. at 1…
Previewing 3 of 20 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Williamson v. Lee Optical of Okla., Inc., 348 U.S. 483 (U.S. 1955)
- State v. Benitez, 395 So. 2d 514 (Fla. 1981)
- Two Guys from Harrison-Allentown, Inc. v. McGinley, 366 U.S. 582 (U.S. 1961)
- N. Ridge Gen. Hosp., Inc. v. City OF Oakland Park, 374 So. 2d 461 (Fla. 1979)
- Finlayson v. Doyle Conner, 167 So. 2d 569 (Fla. 1964)
- Haber v. State, 396 So. 2d 707 (Fla. 1981)
- Rainey v. Florine Nelson, 257 So. 2d 538 (Fla. 1972)
- N. Ridge Gen. Hosp., Inc. v. City of Oakland Park, 444 U.S. 1062 (U.S. 1980)
- Carlson v. Minnesota, 444 U.S. 1062 (U.S. 1980)
- Merritt H. Powell v. State, 345 So. 2d 724 (Fla. 1977)