Bionic Auto Parts and Sales, Inc. v. Tyrone C. Fahner

721 F.2d 1072, 14 Fed. R. Serv. 1035, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 24599
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 23, 1983
Docket82-1138, 82-1139 and 82-1186
StatusPublished
Cited by50 cases

This text of 721 F.2d 1072 (Bionic Auto Parts and Sales, Inc. v. Tyrone C. Fahner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bionic Auto Parts and Sales, Inc. v. Tyrone C. Fahner, 721 F.2d 1072, 14 Fed. R. Serv. 1035, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 24599 (7th Cir. 1983).

Opinion

TIMBERS, Circuit Judge.

The Illinois State Attorney General, along with other public officials, 1 appeals from an injunction entered in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Milton I. Shadur, District Judge, prohibiting enforcement of § 5-401(e) of the Illinois Vehicle Code, Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 95y2, § 5-401(e) (1981), and Paragraph 5 of Administrative Rule 5-401A, which authorize warrantless administrative searches of the business premises of automotive parts dealers, scrap processors and parts rebuilders. The district court reasoned that, because the searches authorized by the Illinois legislature left state officials with too much discretion, they could not be conducted without the safeguard of a warrant as required by the Fourth Amendment. The court also held that Paragraph 1G of Administrative Rule 5-401A violated the Fifth Amendment in requiring licensees to record their own violations of related criminal statutes. 2 Following the district court’s award of injunctive and declaratory relief, the state legislature added two new sections to the Vehicle Code relating to warrantless searches. Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 951/2, §§ 5-100-1, 5-403.

We hold that the addition of the two new sections has cured any unconstitutional taint which the Vehicle Code otherwise might have had. We agree with the district court, however, that Paragraph 1G of Rule 5-401A, which was not amended subsequent to the district court’s decision, violates the Fifth Amendment at least with respect to some of the appellees as more fully set forth below, and we affirm the district court’s judgment as to them. We vacate the injunction in all other respects.

I.

In response to the Fourth Amendment challenge, the district court awarded full injunctive and declaratory relief to appel-lees by its judgment entered December 28, 1981. The section of the Vehicle Code invalidated, § 5-401(e), reads:

“Every record required to be maintained under this Section shall be open to inspection by the Secretary of State or his authorized representative or any peace officer for inspection at any reasonable time during the night or day. Such inspection may include examination of the premises of the licensee’s established place of business for the purpose of determining the accuracy of required records.”

The district court held that the broad authorization for warrantless searches in this section of the Code, limited only by the requirement that inspections be “at any reasonable time during the night or day”, vested excessive discretion in the state officials.

On January 1, 1983, approximately one month after we heard oral argument in this case, Public Law 82-984 went into effect, *1076 adding to the Illinois Vehicle Code § 5-100-1 and § 5-403 which provide as follows:

“Sec. 5-100-1. Findings and Purpose. The General Assembly finds that: (1) crimes involving the theft of motor vehicles and their parts have risen steadily over the past years, with a resulting loss of millions of dollars to the residents of this State; and (2) essential to the criminal enterprise of motor vehicle theft operations is the ability of thieves to transfer or sell stolen vehicles or their parts through legitimate commercial channels making them available for sale to the automotive industry; and (3) motor vehicle dealers, used parts dealers, scrap processors, automotive parts recyclers, and re-builders are engaged in a type of business which often exposes them and their operations to pressures and influences from motor vehicle thieves; and (4) elements of organized crime are constantly attempting to take control of businesses engaged in the sale and repair of motor vehicles so as to further their own criminal interests; and (5) close and strict government regulation of motor vehicle dealers, used parts dealers, scrap processors, automotive parts recyclers, and re-builders will significantly reduce the numbers of motor vehicle-related thefts in this State. It is, therefore, the intent of the General Assembly to establish a system of mandatory licensing and record keeping which will prevent or reduce the transfer or sale of stolen motor vehicles or their parts within this State.”
“Sec. 5-403. (1) Authorized representatives of the Secretary of State including officers of the Secretary of State’s Department of Police, other peace officers, and such other individuals as the Secretary may designate from time to time shall make inspections of individuals and facilities licensed under Chapter 5 of the Illinois Vehicle Code for the purpose of reviewing records required to be maintained under Chapter 5 for accuracy and completeness and reviewing and examining the premises of the licensee’s established place of business for the purpose of determining the accuracy of the required records. Premises that may be inspected in order to determine the accuracy of the books and records required to be kept includes all premises used by the licensee to store vehicles and parts that are reflected by the required books and records. ...
(3) The licensee or a representative of the licensee shall be entitled to be present during an inspection conducted pursuant to Chapter 5, however, the presence of the licensee or an authorized representative of the licensee is not a condition precedent to such an inspection.
(4) Inspection conducted pursuant to Chapter 5 may be initiated at any time that business is being conducted or work is being performed, whether or not open to the public or when the licensee or a, representative of the licensee, other than a mere custodian or watchman, is present. The fact that a licensee or representative of the licensee leaves the licensed premises after an inspection has been initiated shall not require the termination of the inspection.
(5) Any inspection conducted pursuant to Chapter 5 shall not continue for more than 24 hours after initiation....
(7) No more than 6 inspections of a premises may be conducted pursuant to Chapter 5 within any 6 month period except pursuant to a search war-rant____”

The legislation neither explicitly repealed nor amended § 5-401(e), the section which was held unconstitutional by the district court below. Apparently, the old statute remains in force, side-by-side with the new one. Appellees therefore invite us first to adjudicate the constitutionality of the old statute. We decline the invitation.

While not expressly so stated, we believe that new § 5-403 unquestionably places limits on the frequency and duration of the searches authorized in old § 5-401(e). For example, § 5-403(4) provides that *1077 searches be conducted only during the dealer’s normal business hours, and § 5-403(7) places a cap of six searches without a warrant during any six-month period. The new provision in essence circumscribes the open-ended authorization in § 5-401(e) to conduct inspections “at any reasonable time during the night or day”. Section 5-403, the more recent and specific provision of the Illinois Vehicle Code, governs any warrantless search conducted henceforth in Illinois. See generally Inter-Continental Promotions, Inc. v. MacDonald,

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Bluebook (online)
721 F.2d 1072, 14 Fed. R. Serv. 1035, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 24599, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bionic-auto-parts-and-sales-inc-v-tyrone-c-fahner-ca7-1983.