Sequoia Books, Inc. v. Ingemunson

713 F. Supp. 1233, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6108, 1989 WL 63219
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 1, 1989
DocketNo. 88 C 10181
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 713 F. Supp. 1233 (Sequoia Books, Inc. v. Ingemunson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sequoia Books, Inc. v. Ingemunson, 713 F. Supp. 1233, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6108, 1989 WL 63219 (N.D. Ill. 1989).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

KOCORAS, District Judge:

This case comes before the Court on Defendants' Motion to Dismiss. For the following reasons, Defendants’ Motion is granted.

DISCUSSION

The issue raised in this motion is whether the Forfeiture Provision of the Illinois Criminal Obscenity Statute is constitutional under the First and Fourth Amendments to the United States’ Constitution. The Forfeiture Provision provides in pertinent part:

(3)Any person who has been convicted previously of the offense of obscenity and who shall be convicted of a second or subsequent offense of obscenity shall forfeit to the State of Illinois:
(i) Any property constituting or derived from any proceeds such person obtained directly or indirectly, as a result of such offense; and
(ii) Any of the person’s property used in any manner, wholly or in part, to commit such offense.
(4) Forfeiture Hearing. At any time following a second or subsequent conviction for obscenity, the court shall, upon petition by the Attorney General or the State’s Attorney, conduct a hearing to determine whether there is any property that is subject to forfeiture as provided hereunder. At the forfeiture hearing the People shall have the burden of establishing by preponderance of the evidence that such property is subject to forfeiture.
(5) Prior Restraint.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as authorizing the prior restraint of any showing performance or exhibition of allegedly obscene films, plays or other presentations or of any sale or distribution of allegedly obscene materials.

I. First Amendment Challenge

The plaintiff maintains that the Forfeiture Provision at issue is facially invalid because it operates as an impermissible prior restraint which under the First Amendment is subject to the middle-level of scrutiny enunciated in United States v. O’Brien, 391 U.S. 367, 88 S.Ct. 1673, 20 L.Ed.2d 672 (1968). The plaintiff argues that the Forfeiture Provision acts as a prior restraint because it may adversely affect plaintiff's right to sell protected speech in the future by forcing plaintiff to forfeit such protected speech. The defendants, relying on Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc., 478 U.S. 697, 106 S.Ct. 3172, 92 L.Ed.2d 568 (1986), argue that the Forfeiture Provision is a subsequent punishment, not a prior restraint, and thus, any First Amendment analysis is inappropriate. We hold that defendants’ position is most correctly in line with United States Supreme Court precedent and other recent case law.

In United States v. O'Brien, 391 U.S. 367, 88 S.Ct. 1673, 20 L.Ed.2d 672 (1968), the Court found that where speech and nonspeech elements are combined in the same course of conduct, State regulation of such conduct is justified if “it is within the constitutional power of the Government; if it furthers an important or substantial government interest; if the governmental interest is unrelated to the suppression of free expression; and if the incidental restriction on alleged First Amendment freedoms is no greater than is essential to the furtherance of that interest.” Id. at 377, 88 S.Ct. at 1679. The Supreme Court then determined that this test was applicable to a statute which imposed criminal sanctions on one who destroys a draft registration card, finding the burning of a draft card to carry some message of opposition to the draft.

The Supreme Court has applied this test in other cases involving governmental regulation of conduct which contains an expressive element. See e.g. Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, 468 U.S. 288, 104 S.Ct. 3065, 82 L.Ed.2d 221 (1984) (Ban on demonstrators camping in Lafayette Park and on the Mall in Washington, D.C. in protest of the plight of the homeless); United States v. Albertini, 472 U.S. 675, 105 S.Ct. 2897, 86 L.Ed.2d 536 (1985) (protestor’s conviction for re-entering a military base after being subject to an order barring him from entering that establishment based on his previous improper conduct on the base). However, the United States Supreme Court in Arcara v. [1235]*1235Cloud Books, Inc., 478 U.S. 697, 106 S.Ct. 3172, 92 L.Ed.2d 568 (1986), refused to apply O’Brien’s First Amendment analysis in determining the constitutionality of a New York statute which authorized the closure for one year of any building in which any lewdness, assignation, or prostitution was conducted. In Arcara, the respondents owned and operated an “adult” bookstore where they permitted patrons to engage in various sexual activity and to solicit prostitution. The respondents argued that the closure order sought by petitioner would impose an incidental burden on respondents’ legal bookselling activity and accordingly they were entitled to First Amendment protection under O’Brien. The Court rejected that argument and held that O’Brien did not apply because the regulated sexual conduct manifested absolutely no element of protected expression. The Court went on to uphold the closure statute even though it seriously burdened the sale of protected materials. The Court held that booksellers may not claim special protection from government regulation of their nonprotected conduct simply because the regulation by happenstance imposes a burden on the bookseller’s protected conduct. Arcara, 106 S.Ct. at 3177.

In light of the above stated principles, the plaintiff’s argument misses the mark for two reasons. First, the Illinois Obscenity Statute and its Forfeiture Provision regulate completely unprotected conduct. Accordingly, because the regulated conduct here is void of any protected expression, the plaintiff is not entitled to the First Amendment protection bestowed by O’Brien and its progeny. In addition, the plaintiff here has failed to distinguish between a prior restraint and the adverse impact on a person’s legal rights resulting from the imposition of a subsequent punishment. While a prior restraint on speech gives rise to First Amendment protection, the fact that the forfeiture penalty at issue may indirectly burden plaintiff’s future speech does not mean that the First Amendment is implicated. A subsequent punishment is applied only after the due process of a criminal trial and whatever “chilling effect” it may have is intended and legitimate. United States v. Pryba, 674 F.Supp. 1504, 1513 (E.D.Va.1987). “The Constitution does not forbid punishment for a crime simply because that punishment might affect free expression.” Id. As the United States Supreme Court in Arcara, supra, so aptly stated:

.... [Ejvery civil and criminal remedy imposes some conceivable burden on First Amendment protected activities.

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Bluebook (online)
713 F. Supp. 1233, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6108, 1989 WL 63219, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sequoia-books-inc-v-ingemunson-ilnd-1989.