State Ex Rel. Smith v. City of Oak Creek ( 1987 )

SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, J.

(dissenting). The issue here is not whether we think this man should have a license. The issue is whether the legislature barred him from having a license. I agree with Judgev Wedemeyer who dissented in the court of appeals.

The legislative history shows that the phrase "habitually been a law offender” was intended to refer to persons convicted of misdemeanors, forfeiture offenses or ordinance violations.

Furthermore by reading the habitual offender phrase to mean persons who are shown to have habitually violated the law whether or not they are convicted, the majority in effect reads into the statute a good moral character requirement. Consideration of a licensee’s good moral conduct was deliberately eliminated from the statute as a requisite for a license. Whether or not the legislature was wise in omitting a good moral character requirement, the court should not modify the statute. I therefore dissent.