Athenaco, Ltd. v. Cox

335 F. Supp. 2d 773, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18484
District Court, E.D. Michigan·Decided September 2, 2004·No. No. CIV.04-70027·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER

ANNA DIGGS TAYLOR, Chief Judge.

Before the court is a facial challenge to amendments to a Michigan statute governing the dissemination, exhibition and display of sexually explicit materials deemed harmful to minors. 2003 Mich. Public Act 192, M.C.L. §§ 722.671(a), (b) and (e), 722.675 and 722.677; M.S.A. §§ 25.254(1)(a),(b) and (e),(5), (7) (herein[778] after the “Act”). For the reasons explained more fully herein, the court must reject Plaintiffs’ challenge.

I.

Plaintiffs are bookstore proprietors and trade associations that represent book, magazine and recording publishers, retailers and distributors.1 Plaintiffs maintain that their stores and members carry materials that may be deemed harmful to minors by Defendants, pursuant to the Act; that they fear prosecution under the Act; that physically complying with the Act’s requirements places them in the untenable position of infringing upon the First Amendment rights of others to browse among their merchandise; and that compliance with the Act could result in Plaintiffs being mischaracterized as “adult bookstores.” Plaintiffs seek to have the Act declared void on its face, alleging that it is vague and overbroad. Defendants, Michigan’s Attorney General and the State’s eighty-three (83) county prosecutors, counter that the Act is not written as broadly as Plaintiffs interpret it to be; that the Act merely regulates the manner in which certain materials may be displayed, not the materials’ content; and that the Act has narrowly defined the term “harmful to minors” in a manner that is constitutional. Defendants also point out that Plaintiffs do not contest the definitions of sexually explicit material or the term “harmful to minors” which have existed since 1978. 1978 Public Act 33, M.C.L. §§ 722.673-.674; M.S.A. §§ 25.254(4), (5).

The Act imposes criminal liability for those who knowingly disseminate or distribute sexually explicit matter that is harmful to minors. The State considers anyone less than 18 years of age to be a minor. M.C.L. § 722.671(d); M.S.A. 25.254(l)(d). A person who disseminates material proscribed by the Act is subject to a maximum penalty of 2 years in prison and/or a fine of $10,000. M.C.L. § 722.675; M.S.A. § 25.254(5).2 Persons with managerial responsibility who display prohibited material face up to 93 days imprisonment and/or a fine of not more than $5,000, unless they display the material in a restricted area. M.C.L. § 722.677; M.S.A. § 25.254(7).3

[779] Signed on November 5, 2003, the Act was slated to take effect January 1, 2004. Plaintiffs initially filed a motion for preliminary injunction. The parties stipulated to convert Plaintiffs’ original motion for preliminary injunction into a motion for summary judgment. In lieu of filing an answer, Defendants also filed a motion for summary judgment and agreed to stay the Act’s enforcement until this court ruled upon the merits. This memorandum constitutes the court’s findings of fact and law on the Act’s constitutionality.

II.

Standard of Review

Summary judgment will issue if the moving party demonstrates that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the undisputed facts of record indicate that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56; Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In order to mount a successful facial challenge, Plaintiffs must establish that no set of circumstances exist under which the Act would be valid. U.S. v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 745, 107 S.Ct. 2095, 95 L.Ed.2d 697 (1987). If the Act is readily susceptible to a narrowing construction that would make it constitutional, it must be upheld. Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville, 422 U.S. 205, 216, 95 S.Ct. 2268, 2276, 45 L.Ed.2d 125 (1975). Additionally, Michigan courts presume that all legislation is constitutional and are bound by the state’s Constitution to construe legislation to preserve its constitutionality. DeRose v. DeRose, 469 Mich. 320, 326, 666 N.W.2d 636 (2003); People v. Neumayer, 405 Mich. 341, 362, 275 N.W.2d 230 (1979). The court will not, however, rewrite laws to make them constitutional. Eubanks v. Wilkinson, 937 F.2d 1118, 1122 (6th Cir.1991). The state legislature must draft its own statutes. Furthermore, in adjudicating facial challenges, the court must proceed “with caution and restraint, as invalidation may result in unnecessary interference with a state regulatory program.”4 Erznoznik, supra, 422 U.S. at 216, 95 S.Ct. at 2276.

III.

A. Overbreadth

The court’s task is to determine whether the Act reaches a substantial amount of constitutionally protected conduct. Village of Hoffman Est. v. Flipside, 455 U.S. 489, 495, 102 S.Ct. 1186, 71 [780] L.Ed.2d 362 (1982). If not, the over-breadth challenge must fail. Id. The over-breadth doctrine should be employed hesitantly and as a matter of last resort. American Booksellers v. Webb, 919 F.2d 1493, 1502 (11 th Cir.1990).

1. Challenged Provisions

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Athenaco, Ltd. v. Cox, 335 F. Supp. 2d 773, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18484 (E.D. Mich. 2004).

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Athenaco, Ltd. v. Cox
335 F. Supp. 2d 773 (E.D. Michigan, 2004)