State v. Henry

717 P.2d 189, 78 Or. App. 392, 1986 Ore. App. LEXIS 2626
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 9, 1986
Docket31300, 31301; CA A26439
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 717 P.2d 189 (State v. Henry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Henry, 717 P.2d 189, 78 Or. App. 392, 1986 Ore. App. LEXIS 2626 (Or. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinions

[394]*394YOUNG, J.

Defendant appeals his conviction for dissemination of obscene material.1 ORS 167.087(1). He was indicted, inter alia, for dissemination of magazines entitled “Bronco Buster” and “3-Way Cum.” He demurred to the indictment on the ground that the facts stated do not constitute an offense, because ORS 167.087 is unconstitutional. He stipulated that he had sold the magazines in question. The sole issue for the jury was whether the magazines were obscene within the definition of ORS 167.087(2). He was found guilty only in connection with the magazine “3-Way Cum.” On appeal he argues that the court erred in overruling the demurrer.2

Defendant argues that ORS 167.087 is unconstitutionally “vague” and “overbroad” and violates his right to freedom of expression under Article I, section 8, of the Oregon Constitution. “Vagueness” is a catchword for a number of possible constitutional violations. For example, in State v. Hodges, 254 Or 21, 27, 457 P2d 491 (1969), the court explained:

“A vague statute lends itself to an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power to the judge and jury, and, by permitting the jury to decide what the law will be, it offends the principle, if not the rule, against ex post facto laws.”3

A vague statute also violates Article I, section 20, of the Oregon Constitution, in that it invites “standardless and unequal application of penal laws.”4 State v. Graves, 299 Or [395]*395189, 197, 700 P2d 244 (1985); State v. Robertson, 293 Or 402, 408, 649 P2d 569 (1982). Defendant’s argument here is that the definition of obscenity, ORS 167.087(2), is so subjective that it fails to give potential defendants notice of its scope and allows the fact finder to decide, after the fact and according to its own sensibilities, whether particular material is obscene.

A claim of “overbreadth” asserts that the terms of the statute exceed constitutional boundaries by purporting to reach conduct protected by constitutional guarantees. State v. Robertson, supra, 293 Or at 410. “Overbreadth” in this context refers to a violation of Article I, section 8, which provides in part:

“No law shall be passed restraining the free expression of opinion, or restricting the right to speak, write, or print freely on any subject whatever * * *.”

A statute will be struck down as unconstitutionally overbroad if its terms could hypothetically prohibit protected speech even if, in the instance before the court, the defendant’s conduct could be constitutionally prohibited by a more narrowly drawn statute. See State v. Robertson, supra; State v. Woodcock, 75 Or App 659, 706 P2d 1012 (1985), rev den 300 Or 506 (1986).

Finally, defendant contends that ORS 167.087 is unconstitutional, because Article I, section 8, flatly bans the enactment of legislation directed to the substance of communication. This contention is distinct from an overbreadth challenge, because overbreadth analysis assumes that, although in the particular instance some regulation of the subject might be constitutional, the means reach too far. Defendant’s argument here is that the subject of obscenity is wholly withdrawn from legislative purview.5

[396]*396Vagueness and overbreadth are distinct constitutional challenges. However, the constitutional principles of freedom of expression and certainty of penal laws interact in that a statutory prohibition of “communication” is particularly vulnerable to constitutional attack for vagueness. State v. Blair, 287 Or 519, 523, 601 P2d 766 (1979). We conclude that the statutory definition of obscenity, ORS 167.087(2), is unconstitutionally vague under Article I, sections 20 and 21, of the Oregon Constitution.6

ORS 167.087 provides in part:

“(1) A person commits the crime of disseminating obscene material if he knowingly makes, exhibits, sells, delivers or provides, or offers or agrees to make, exhibit, sell, deliver or provide, or has in his possession with intent to exhibit, sell, deliver or provide any obscene writing, picture, motion picture, films, slides, drawings or other visual reproduction.
“(2) As used in subsection (1) of this section, matter is obscene if:
“(a) It depicts or describes in a patently offensive manner sadomasochistic abuse or sexual conduct;
“(b) The average person applying contemporary state standards would find the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest in sex; and
“(c) Taken as a whole, it lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”

The definition of “obscenity” in subsection (2) was [397]*397first enunciated in Miller v. California, 413 US 15, 24, 93 S Ct 2607, 37 L Ed 2d 419 (1973),7 and was later applied to consensual adult pornography in Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton, 413 US 49, 93 S Ct 2628, 37 L Ed 2d 446 (1973). The court in Miller, determined that the “specific prerequisites [of the Miller test] will provide fair notice to a dealer in such material that his public and commercial activities may bring prosecution.” Justice Brennan, dissenting in Paris Adult Theatre I, explained:

“[A]fter 16 years of experimentation and debate I am reluctantly forced to the conclusion that none of the available formulas, including the one announced today, can reduce the vagueness to a tolerable level while at the same time striking an acceptable balance between the protections of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, on the one hand, and on the other the asserted state interest in regulating the dissemination of certain sexually oriented materials. Any effort to draw a constitutionally acceptable boundary on state power must resort to such indefinite concepts as ‘prurient interest,’ ‘patent offensiveness,’ ‘serious literary value’ and the like. The meaning of these concepts necessarily varies with the experience, outlook, and even idiosyncracies of the person defining them. Although we have assumed that obscenity does exist and that we ‘know it when [we] see it,’ we are manifestly unable to describe it in advance except by reference to concepts so elusive that they fail to distinguish between protected and unprotected speech.” 413 US at 84. (Citations omitted.)

Despite Justice Brennan’s views, the

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733 P.2d 28 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1987)
State v. Meier
719 P.2d 516 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1986)
State v. Earing
719 P.2d 517 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1986)
State v. Ray
719 P.2d 922 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1986)
State v. Henry
717 P.2d 189 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
717 P.2d 189, 78 Or. App. 392, 1986 Ore. App. LEXIS 2626, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-henry-orctapp-1986.