Dasher v. Boyett

365 F. Supp. 809, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12140
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedAugust 27, 1973
DocketNo. 73-12-Civ.-Oc
StatusPublished

This text of 365 F. Supp. 809 (Dasher v. Boyett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dasher v. Boyett, 365 F. Supp. 809, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12140 (M.D. Fla. 1973).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION and ORDER

TJOFLAT, District Judge.

Plaintiffs invoke this Court’s jurisdiction under Title 28, United States Code, Sections 1343(3) and 1343(4) to redress deprivations of rights as provided in Title 42, United States Code, Section 1983. Plaintiffs seek injunctive relief from defendants’ further retention of materials seized as allegedly obscene under Florida law and defendants’ continuation or institution of criminal prosecutions against plaintiffs under state obscenity laws. Plaintiffs also seek a declaratory judgment under Title 28, United States Code, Section 2201 that newly adopted Florida Statute Chapter 73-120 1 is ei[811]*811ther unconstitutional as written or as enforced by defendants, and damages.

Plaintiff Fred Dasher is the owner of a store outside of Wildwood, Florida, which offers a variety of books, magazines, newspapers, and devices for sale to adults, and contains machines for the viewing of films .by adults. Plaintiff Randall Dasher, the owner’s son, is employed as a clerk in the store. Plaintiffs allege that on July 3, 1973, law enforcement officials of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Department and the Wild-wood Police Department executed a search warrant issued by a judge of the Circuit Court for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida, by removing from plaintiffs’ store the complete inventory of some 8,000 items for sale or viewing in an amount valued at $22,000. At the same time, plaintiffs were arrested, charged with possession of obscene material, and released on their own recognizance. Plaintiffs further allege that on July 10, 1973, substantially the same events reoccurred, and that they have been threatened with further seizure and arrests if the store’s shelves and machines are restocked with similar items.

The parties stipulate that the two seizures were conducted pursuant to two search warrants issued by the same circuit court judge. The first warrant was issued ex parte after judicial examination of four magazines bought at plaintiffs’ store by a law enforcement officer in undercover capacity. The second warrant was similarly issued after the judge viewed three such magazines. Both warrants described in detail the location of the premises to be searched, and commanded the officers to enter the premises, search diligently for “obscene material of any description”, and seize all such material.

Plaintiffs claim that defendants have infringed on their rights guaranteed by the First, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Federal Constitution by enforcing an unconstitutional state statute and by acting pursuant to constitutionally defective search warrants. Plaintiffs contend that, since defendants knew or should have known that the statute and search warrants were defective, they have acted in bad faith and are merely harassing plaintiffs by prosecuting them.

In order for this Court to interfere with the state criminal proceedings pending against plaintiffs the hurdle of Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 699 (1971), must be overcome. Younger held that “a federal court should not enjoin a state criminal prosecution begun prior to the institution of the federal suit except in very unusual situations, where necessary to prevent immediate irreparable injury.” Samuels v. Mackell, 401 U.S. 66, at 69, 91 S.Ct. 764, at 766, 27 L.Ed.2d 688 (1971). The Court in Younger indicated that a showing of bad faith prosecution, undertaken without reasonable expectation of conviction and for purposes of harassment, may consti[812]*812tute the requisite irreparable injury. Some appellate decisions have construed the Younger test to be disjunctive, i. e., the state criminal prosecution may be enjoined upon a showing of either bad faith or immediate irreparable injury. See Duncan v. Perez, 445 F.2d 557 (5th Cir. 1971); Thomie v. Dennard, 459 F.2d 1037 (5th Cir. 1972); Alga, Inc. v. Crosland, 459 F.2d 1038 (5th Cir. 1972). A construction more consonant with the language and policies of Younger is that great and immediate irreparable injury is the sole benchmark; bad faith and harassment are merely means of proving irreparable injury. See Le Flore v. Robinson, 446 F.2d 715 (5th Cir. 1971), Goldberg concurring, at 717; Sandquist v. Pitchess, 332 F.Supp. 171 (C.D.Cal.1971) at 174-176.

Younger made it clear that the standard of irreparable injury cannot be met where a plaintiff’s federally protected rights can be vindicated in the state criminal proceeding. 401 U.S. at 46, 91 S.Ct. 764. The vital policy implemented by Younger is that federal courts should have a proper respect for the relatively autonomous functions allowed states in enforcing their criminal laws. With this in mind, plaintiffs’ bare allegations that defendants acted in bad faith and for purposes of harassment do not state a claim which warrants an evidentiary hearing because plaintiffs do not assert that they.will be unjustly denied relief in state court or that resort to state court will otherwise prove futile in avoiding the injury which they are allegedly suffering.

The principal thrust of plaintiffs' attack in their argument before the Court is that the two search warrants are patently defective: the circuit judge received evidence about a few select books, but directed the seizure of whatever else the officers deemed obscene as they went about the task of executing the warrants. Plaintiffs acknowledge that the immediate relief sought — the return of the seized materials — could be obtained if the state court were to quash the warrants on plaintiffs’ motion. However, plaintiffs have made no attempts to have those search warrants quashed in state court. They make no allegation that any of the state judges to whom they could apply are unwilling or unable to discharge their constitutional duty to conduct a fair hearing and to grant plaintiffs prompt relief if, in law, they are entitled to it. Nor do plaintiffs contend that the state court is incompetent to entertain in good faith a constitutional attack on Florida Statute Chapter 73-120. If plaintiffs succeed in quashing the search warrants, the suppression of that evidence in the pending criminal proceeding would no doubt follow. The suppression of the evidence could well bring an end to the criminal prosecution which they seek this Court to stay. These alternatives open to plaintiffs negate any contention that release of the seized materials and termination of the criminal prosecution must be sought in federal court in order for irreparable injury to be avoided.

The facts of this case as dis-:. closed by the complaint and in argument accentuate plaintiffs’ • failure to allege the degree of injury required to overcome Younger, Plaintiffs assert that defendants acted in bad faith in that they knew,- or should have known, of the alleged defects in the search warrants and the unconstitutionality of the state law under which they acted.

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Related

Younger v. Harris
401 U.S. 37 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Gary Duncan v. Leander H. Perez, Jr.
445 F.2d 557 (Fifth Circuit, 1971)
Oscar Thomie v. B. E. Dennard
459 F.2d 1037 (Fifth Circuit, 1972)
Alga, Inc. v. David Crosland
459 F.2d 1038 (Fifth Circuit, 1972)
Sandquist v. Pitchess
332 F. Supp. 171 (C.D. California, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
365 F. Supp. 809, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12140, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dasher-v-boyett-flmd-1973.