Marshall v. Halquist Stone Co.

512 F. Supp. 379, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11808
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedApril 28, 1981
DocketCiv. A. No. 78-C-463
StatusPublished

This text of 512 F. Supp. 379 (Marshall v. Halquist Stone Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marshall v. Halquist Stone Co., 512 F. Supp. 379, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11808 (E.D. Wis. 1981).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

REYNOLDS, Chief Judge.

This is an action brought by the Secretary of Labor under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. § 801 et seq., to- permanently enjoin the defendant Halquist Stone Company, Inc. (“Halquist”) from refusing to permit warrantless inspections of its stone and gravel quarry in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. See 30 U.S.C. § 818(a)(1). The action is before the court on the Secretary’s motion for summary judgment, which motion will be granted.

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 is a successor statute to the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, formerly 30 U.S.C. § 801 et seq., and it also incorporates the subject matter of the former 1966 Federal Metal and Nonmetallie Mine Safety Act, formerly 30 U.S.C. § 721 et seq. There is no dispute in this case that the Act includes stone and gravel quarries within its definition of mines, see 30 U.S.C. § 802(h)(1); 1966 U.S.Code Congressional and Administrative News at pages 2851-2852, 2870, and 2874, nor is it disputed that [380]*380the Act authorizes warrantless inspections of mines for the purpose of determining if the mines are in compliance with mandatory health and safety standards and if any imminent dangers to the safety of the miners exist. 30 U.S.C. § 813; 1977 U.S.Code Congressional and Administrative News at page 3427.

The defendant challenges the warrantless inspection provision of the Act on Fourth Amendment grounds. It argues that in contrast to underground mines and coal mines in particular, stone and gravel quarries are not a pervasively regulated industry and therefore do not fall within the exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment established by the Supreme Court for such industries, see Colonnade Catering Corp. v. United States, 397 U.S. 72, 90 S.Ct. 774, 25 L.Ed.2d 60 (1970); United States v. Biswell, 406 U.S. 311, 92 S.Ct. 1593, 32 L.Ed.2d 87 (1972), making the warrantless inspection provision of the Act unconstitutional. See Marshall v. Barlow’s, Inc., 436 U.S. 307, 98 S.Ct. 1816, 56 L.Ed.2d 305 (1978).

A threshold issue is whether or not an actual case or controversy between the parties exists. On May 31, 1978, Walter Brey, a federal mine inspector, arrived at the defendant quarry for a health and safety inspection. He was allowed to perform the inspection and was also allowed in when he returned the following day. After Brey had been at the quarry for several hours on June 1, however, the owner Albin Halquist arrived and told Brey that he was harassing the' employees. Brey contends that Halquist also told him to leave and not return without a warrant. Halquist has filed an affidavit stating that he did not tell Brey to leave and said nothing about a warrant.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

See v. City of Seattle
387 U.S. 541 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Colonnade Catering Corp. v. United States
397 U.S. 72 (Supreme Court, 1970)
United States v. Biswell
406 U.S. 311 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc.
436 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Marshall v. Dorofrio
605 F.2d 1196 (Third Circuit, 1979)
Marshall v. Donofrio
465 F. Supp. 838 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1978)
Marshall v. Cedar Lake Sand & Gravel Co.
480 F. Supp. 171 (E.D. Wisconsin, 1979)
Marshall v. Dewey
493 F. Supp. 963 (E.D. Wisconsin, 1980)
Andrus v. P-Burg Coal Co., Inc.
495 F. Supp. 82 (S.D. Indiana, 1980)
Youghiogheny and Ohio Coal Company v. Morton
364 F. Supp. 45 (S.D. Ohio, 1973)
Beltran v. Myers
449 U.S. 1122 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Marshall v. Dewey
449 U.S. 1122 (Supreme Court, 1981)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
512 F. Supp. 379, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11808, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marshall-v-halquist-stone-co-wied-1981.