City of Baton Rouge v. Knox

697 So. 2d 262, 1997 La. LEXIS 1721, 1997 WL 362799
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJuly 1, 1997
DocketNos. 95-KA-2850, 95-KA-3042
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 697 So. 2d 262 (City of Baton Rouge v. Knox) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Baton Rouge v. Knox, 697 So. 2d 262, 1997 La. LEXIS 1721, 1997 WL 362799 (La. 1997).

Opinions

| iCALOGERO, Chief Justice.

In two separate proceedings below, the trial courts declared Baton Rouge Code of Ordinance, Title 13:1019, entitled “Drug Paraphernalia Prohibited”, to be preempted by state law under La. R.S. 14:143, a statute which prohibits a political subdivision from enacting an ordinance defining as an offense conduct that is defined and punishable as a felony under state law. One of the trial courts also ruled that the Baton Rouge ordinance was unconstitutional. Because we agree that the city ordinance violates La. R.S. 14:143 in that it defines and punishes as a misdemeanor the same conduct defined and punished as a felony under the state law provisions of La. R.S. 40:1031 et seq., the state statutes on “Transactions in Drug Related Objects Prohibited,” we affirm the trial courts’ rulings on the nonconstitutional ground of preemption and therefore preter-mit consideration of defendants’ constitutional arguments.1

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendants Izeal Knox, Clay Alexander, Gail Gautreaux and Gordon Robinson were charged as first offenders with violations of the City of Baton Rouge Code of Ordinance, Title 13:1019, Drug Paraphernalia Prohibited.2 Each defendant filed a motion to quash, arguing that the ordinance was “preempted” by |2La. R.S. 14:143 because the ordinance hinders and interferes with the right of the State to obtain a felony conviction under La. R.S. 40:1031 et seq. (the state statutes entitled “Transactions in Drug Related Objects Prohibited”)3, that it was unconstitutional because it was vague and overbroad, that it was invalid because it was inconsistent with and/or in contravention of La. R.S. 40:1032, that the ordinance violated the prohibition against double jeopardy, and that its forfeiture provisions were inconsistent with state law.

On the motions to quash filed by defendants Knox and Alexander, City Court Judge Donald Johnson signed a judgment finding Title 13:1019 unconstitutional because it “is inconsistent and or in contravention with LSA-R.S.40:1031 et seq. and is therefore unconstitutional under the Louisiana Constitution of 1974”. Judge Johnson further ruled that Title 13:1019 “is preempted by LSA-R.S. 14:143”. No specific provision of the state constitution was cited by Judge Johnson as being violated by Title 13:1019.4

[265]*265lain the eases of defendants Gautreaux and Robinson, City Court Judge Suzan Ponder held that Title 13:1019 was preempted by La. R.S. 14:143, making no express ruling on the constitutionality of the ordinance. Both Judge Johnson and Judge Ponder granted the motions to quash.

The records were lodged in this court at the request of the City of Baton Rouge, presumably on direct appeal pursuant to La. Const. Art. V, Section 5(D), and the eases were consolidated. On closer examination, our appellate jurisdiction should rightfully be asserted only over the case where the city court judge made an express finding of unconstitutionality; that is, in 95-KA-2850, City of Baton Rouge versus Izeal Knox and Clay Alexander. There was no such finding of uneonstitutionality in the consolidated matter of 95-KA-3042, City of Baton Rouge versus Gail Gautreaux and Gordon Robinson, where Judge Ponder denied the motion to quash on the finding that the ordinance was preempted by state law. Contrary to the statement of Judge Johnson, preemption under La. R.S. 14:143 is not a constitutional issue, and a finding of preemption is not tantamount to a finding of unconstitutionality. City of Baton Rouge v. Goings, 95-2542 (La.12/13/96), 684 So.2d 396; City of Baton Rouge v. Ross, 94-0695 (La.4/28/95), 654 So.2d 1311. However, in the interest of judicial economy, we exercise our supervisory jurisdiction over this latter matter, treating it as a writ application granted under our supervisory jurisdiction.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

The issue initially presented to us today is whether Title 13:1019, a Baton Rouge City ordinance which restricts transactions in drug paraphernalia and drug related objects, is preempted by the state statutory provisions of La. R.S. 40:1031 et seq. because the municipal ordinance defines as a misdemean- or conduct that |4may be punishable as a felony under state law, contrary to La. R.S. 14:143. While this Court exhaustively addressed the preemptive effect of La. R.S. 14:143 in Ross, this is the first time we consider the applicability of La. R.S. 14:143 to a state statute which defines a relative felony; that is, the statute proscribes conduct that may be considered a misdemeanor or a felony offense, depending upon the number of prior convictions of the same offense.

In Ross, we examined the scope of the City’s power to enact ordinances as a pre-1974 Home Rule Charter municipality. Article VI, Sec. 4 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 expressly contemplated the continuance of existing home rule charter governments and preserved the powers, functions and duties that were in effect at the time the new constitution was adopted. However, the 1974 Constitution also provided a limit on the power of home rule charter governments. Article VI, Sec. 9(A) provides:

(A) Limitations. No local governmental subdivision shall (lj define and provide for the punishment of a felony; or (2) except as provided by law, enact an ordinance governing private or civil relationships.

In Ross, we discussed at length the home rule charter government limits of Article VI, Sec. 9 and its jurisprudential progeny. Justice Tate in State v. Suire, 319 So.2d 347 (La.1975) and Justice Dennis in State v. Foy, 401 So.2d 948 (La.1981) called for the legislature to clarify the issue of concurrent state and local police regulation under the 1974 constitution and the conflict between the home rule charter , government’s powers enumerated in Article VI, Sec. 4 and its limita[266]*266tions listed in Article VI, Sec. 9. Ross, p. 7-8, 654 So.2d at 1317.

In response, presumably, in 1983 the legislature enacted La. R.S. 14:143 which provides:

No governing authority of a political subdivision shall enact an ordinance defining as an offense conduct that is defined and punishable as a felony under state law.

|sWe concluded in Ross that La. R.S. 14:143 did not unconstitutionally infringe upon the powers of a pre-1974 home rule charter governing authority, but rather was a constitutional exercise of the legislature’s police power. However, we limited our blessing of La. R.S. 14:143 as a constitutional exercise of legislative authority only if narrowly construed, “since an expansive reading of the preemptive scope of the statute might ‘impermissibly infringe upon the local affairs of a home rule government’ [cites omitted].” Ross, p. 14, 654 So.2d at 1320.

In accordance with this narrow construction, we directed that the preemptive effect of La. R.S. 14:143 is limited to a facial comparison of the municipal ordinance and the comparable state felony statutes to determine whether the municipal ordinance is sufficiently similar to the state felony statute so as to constitute the “same offense” for double jeopardy purposes.5

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State v. Bridgewater
726 So. 2d 987 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)

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Bluebook (online)
697 So. 2d 262, 1997 La. LEXIS 1721, 1997 WL 362799, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-baton-rouge-v-knox-la-1997.