P. A. B., Inc. v. Stack

440 F. Supp. 937, 3 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1501, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13430
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedOctober 17, 1977
Docket77-6322-Civ-SMA and 77-6360-Civ-SMA
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 440 F. Supp. 937 (P. A. B., Inc. v. Stack) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
P. A. B., Inc. v. Stack, 440 F. Supp. 937, 3 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1501, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13430 (S.D. Fla. 1977).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ON MOTIONS FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

ARONOVITZ, District Judge.

Mr. Justice Brandéis observed in his dissenting opinion in Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 485, 48 S.Ct. 564, 575, 72 L.Ed. 944 (1928):

“In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperilled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example . If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means would bring terrible retribution. Against that pernicious doctrine this Court should resolutely set its face.” 1

That’s what these two cases are all about — to assert the American principle that no official, or entity or agency of a unit of government should “become a law unto himself” or itself.

These actions, consolidated for hearings by the Court upon Motions for Preliminary Injunctions, arise from the efforts of the Broward County Sheriff’s Department and the City of Fort Lauderdale Police Department, their respective officers, agents, servants and employees to enforce the Florida obscenity law, Florida Statutes 847.011, prohibiting the sale or offer for sale of certain allegedly obscene materials including books and films.

JURISDICTION

Injunctive relief and money damages are sought for alleged violations of the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, the Civil Rights Statutes, 42 U.S.C., Secs. 1983, 1985, 1986. Both cases seek relief from alleged extraordinary harassment and abusive treatment of Plaintiffs’ employees, customers and businesses, caused by what is asserted to be a pattern of law enforcement specifically designed and calculated by the defendants to cause economic chaos and result in financial disaster to the Plaintiffs through a continuous process involving the presence of uniformed and plain clothes police officers inside and outside Plaintiffs’ businesses — premises at frequent and continuing intervals; the parking of police cars in the driveways, on the parkways and in front or in the immediate vicinity of Plaintiffs’ establishments for hours at a time, with blinker lights flashing; the stopping and checking of identification of patrons exiting or seeking to enter Plaintiffs’ business establishments; the frequent checking of identification of Plain *940 tiffs’ employees within the premises and the extensive presence of Defendants’ officers designed to harass and intimidate prospective patrons.

Plaintiffs, P.A.B., Inc., et a 1., (Case No. 77-6322-Civ-SMA) also seek to enjoin state court proceedings presently pending against various employees of Plaintiffs arrested under search and arrest warrants for alleged violations of Florida Statute 847.011. Said Plaintiffs also attack F.S. 847.011 as unconstitutional, both facially and as applied, under Miller v. California, infra. Plaintiffs in Ace Adult Book Store, Inc., et al., (Case No. 77-6360-Civ-SMA) seek a declaratory judgment as to the constitutionality of the cited statute but do not demand injunctive relief therefrom nor any injunctive relief relating to or against similar pending state criminal court proceedings involving their employees.

The Hon. Robert L. Shevin, Attorney General of the State of Florida, and the Hon. Reubin O’D. Askew, Governor of the State of Florida, by and through the office of the Florida Attorney General moved for leave to intervene pursuant to Rule 24(b) Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in order to assert defenses relating to the constitutionality of Florida Statute 847.011 and said motion was granted.

This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1332(2), (3), (4) and 28 U.S.C. 1331.

This Memorandum Opinion shall constitute the Court’s Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law pursuant to Rule 52(a) Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

The Court has heard the equivalent of three full days of testimony involving 21 witnesses, and this Opinion is based upon such testimony, the many exhibits, extensive memoranda of law submitted by all parties, and the entire record.

FACTS

All of the Plaintiffs are either owners or operators of adult book stores offering for sale sexually explicit books and materials, and/or peep show projectors therein which display sexually explicit films. P.A.B., Inc. d/b/a Tunnel South Book Store and its President are/is the only Party/Plaintiff in either law suit located within the jurisdiction of the Chief of Police of the City of Fort Lauderdale. Ten other Plaintiffs in both actions have their places of business and/or are employees or officers of businesses in the unincorporated areas of Bro-ward County, Florida over which the Bro-ward County Sheriff exercises jurisdiction, and of which the City of Fort Lauderdale is the county seat.

Plaintiffs complain that the Sheriff and the Chief of Police initiated a crusade of bad faith or harassment geared to their business establishments by flooding the immediate vicinity and areas of said business establishments, commencing on or about June 1, 1977 including and until September 30, 1977 with walking patrols of policemen, parking police cars with blinker lights flashing in front of book stores (said cars both manned and unmanned) checking identifications of employees of adult book stores as well as identification of patrons entering and exiting same, writing down auto license numbers of the employees and customers, suggesting to patrons not to enter adult book stores and conducting other efforts to harass, annoy and embarrass Plaintiffs herein.

Typical of the aforegoing complaints was the testimony of Richard Chapman, an employee of LME d/b/a Eros Book Store, whose testimony, fortified by notes (logged at the times of the incidents) used to refresh his recollection, specifying no less than sixty (60) incidents from about July 8, 1977 through September 29, 1977 in which Broward County Sheriff officers, uniformed and plain clothes, had come into his place of business, either queried him for identification or spoke to a customer or stopped a customer exiting the place of business, or sought identification from customers or cheeked license numbers of autos parked in front of the business establishment, or remained for from five to seven hours at a time parked in front of or in the immediate vicinity of the business establishment. He testified that business dropped substantially as a result of the aforegoing.

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Bluebook (online)
440 F. Supp. 937, 3 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1501, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/p-a-b-inc-v-stack-flsd-1977.