Nova Records, Inc. v. Sendak

706 F.2d 782
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedApril 15, 1983
DocketNo. 81-1107
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 706 F.2d 782 (Nova Records, Inc. v. Sendak) 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
Nova Records, Inc. v. Sendak, 706 F.2d 782 (7th Cir. 1983).

Opinion

PELL, Circuit Judge.

The plaintiffs, who are Indiana tobacco and snuff accessories retailers, appeal from the district court’s decision, following a full hearing, that Indiana’s drug paraphernalia statute is facially constitutional. The primary -issue on appeal is whether the statute is violative of due process because of its alleged vagueness. The appellants also claim that the statute is violative of the First Amendment.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Predecessors of the Indiana Statute

Indiana House Enrolled Act 1468 (codified as Ind.Code §§ 16-6-8.5-5, 35^18-4-8.1, 35-48-4-8.2, 35-48-4-8.3 (Supp.1980)) (HEA 1468 or Indiana statute) represents the State’s third attempt to regulate drug paraphernalia. The first provision, enacted [784]*784in 1975, was repealed after one member of a three-judge panel convened to judge the constitutionality of the law issued a temporary restraining order against its enforcement. (

In 1977, the legislature enacted another statute which was quite similar to that previously repealed. Both the 1975 and 1977 statutes included a non-exclusive list of items deemed to be per se “paraphernalia.” In February, 1980, a three-judge panel issued a declaratory judgment that the 1977 statute was unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. Indiana Chapter NORML v. Sendak, No. TH 75-142-C (S.D.Ind.1980) (NORML). On March 3, 1980, Governor Bowen signed HEA 1468 into law. HEA 1468 expressly repealed the 1977 statute and became effective on April 30, 1980. As a result of the repeal, the defendants’ appeal regarding the 1977 statute was dismissed for mootness by this court in 1980.

B. Provisions of the Challenged Statute

The Indiana statutory provisions challenged on this appeal deal with the manufacture and possession of drug paraphernalia, dealing in or delivery of paraphernalia, and provide for forfeiture of a broad class of items, the use of which is related to violations of Indiana controlled substances law. Ind.Code §§ 16-6-8.5-5, 35-48-4-8.1, 35-48-4-8.2, 35-48-4-8.3 (Supp.1980). Although the Indiana statute reportedly was patterned on the same provisions that provided the basis for the Model Drug Paraphernalia Act (Model Act) drafted by the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States Department of Justice, the Indiana law differs from the model legislation.1 HEA 1468 has no separate definitional section but does incorporate a scienter requirement into the substantive provisions. It lacks any illustrative examples of prohibited items as well as factors to be considered in determining whether an object is included under the statutory prohibition.

Turning initially to the substantive sections of the Indiana statute, the first deals with the manufacture or design of paraphernalia:

A person who knowingly or intentionally manufactures or designs an instrument, device, or other object that he intends to be used primarily for:
(1) introducing into the human body a controlled substance;
(2) testing the strength, effectiveness, or purity of a controlled substance, or
(3) enhancing the effect of a controlled substance
in violation of this chapter, commits manufacture of paraphernalia, a Class D felony.

Id. § 35-48-4-8.1. The following section, which prohibits dealing in paraphernalia, id. § 35-48-4-8.2, differs from the manufacturing section quoted supra only in that the operative word is “delivers” rather than “manufactures or designs.”

The third of the substantive offense sections prohibits possession of paraphernalia. It follows the same pattern as the two prior sections. It refers to “a person who possesses a raw material, instrument, device, or other object that he intends to use for” and then recites the “introducing . .., testing . .., enhancing” litany quoted above. Id. § 35-48-4-8.3. Possession of paraphernalia, like manufacture and dealing, is generally a Class D felony. Section 35-48-4-8.-3(b) provides, however, that it is a Class A misdemeanor if the violator intends to use the “raw material, instrument, device, or other object ... with marijuana, hash oil, or hashish” and has no prior conviction involving those substances.

Under Indiana law, Class D felonies are punishable by imprisonment for a fixed term of two years and a fine of up to ten thousand dollars. Two additional years of imprisonment are possible if aggravated circumstances exist. Id. § 35-50-2-7. A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by-im[785]*785prisonment for a fixed term of not more than one year and a fine of up to five thousand dollars. Id. § 35-50-3-2.

The forfeiture section provides for forfeiture of the following:

(1) All controlled substances with respect to which there has been any violation of controlled substances law;

(2) “[R]aw materials, instruments, devices and other objects that are used, or intended for use by the person in possession of them,” in violating the controlled substances law;

(3) Any containers for property described in clauses (1) and (2), supra;

(4) All conveyances, including vehicles, used to facilitate the transportation or concealment of property described in clauses (1) and (2);

(5) Books, records, and other materials “used or intended for use by the person in possession of them” in violation of a law relating to controlled substances. Id. § 16-6-8.5-5(a).

Subsection (b) of the forfeiture provision provides that the property enumerated in subsection (a) is subject to forfeiture upon court process. The subsection also provides that seizure without process may be made if one of four conditions is met. The condition most relevant .to this appeal is that property is subject to seizure incident to an arrest made pursuant to the statute.

G. The Plaintiffs

The plaintiffs operate retail businesses in Indiana. Prior to the effective date of HEA 1468, the plaintiffs displayed and offered for sale the following: records, recording tapes, stereo equipment, clothing, jewelry, leather goods, snuff products and accessories, and tobacco goods and accessories. Included in their inventories were water pipes, “bong” pipes, chamber pipes, glass, ceramic and wood pipes. They assert that each item in their inventory had a recognized and established legal use; further, the plaintiffs state that they did not display or merchandise their inventory in such a way as to encourage any illegal activity.

Before enforcement of HEA 1468 commenced, the plaintiffs removed a variety of merchandise, including some literature, from their shelves. The retailers assert that the purpose of removing articles from display was to preclude any possibility of being charged under the statute, thereby losing the right to challenge its facial constitutionality.

D. Enforcement of the Statute

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Nova Records, Inc. v. Sendak
706 F.2d 782 (Seventh Circuit, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
706 F.2d 782, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nova-records-inc-v-sendak-ca7-1983.