United States v. Bash

258 F. Supp. 807, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10030
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedOctober 3, 1966
DocketCr. No. 3662
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 258 F. Supp. 807 (United States v. Bash) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Bash, 258 F. Supp. 807, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10030 (N.D. Ind. 1966).

Opinion

BEAMER, District Judge.

Defendants, having been found guilty by a jury as charged in Counts I and III of the Indictment charging the use of an interstate facility in aid of unlawful gambling activity (Title 18 U.S.C. §§ 1952 and 2), have filed motions in arrest of judgment and for new trial.

Defendants’ primary contentions in their post trial motions are that Title 18 U.S.C. § 19521 is unconstitutionally vague, indefinite, and ambiguous; and further that Title 18 U.S.C. § 1952 has been unconstitutionally applied in this case because the Court interpreted the statute as not requiring the jury to find that the defendants had formed a specific intent to violate the statute. More specifically with regard to the second point, defendants contend that to sustain a conviction under Title 18 U.S.C. § 1952, the government must prove that defendants knowingly intended to violate a Federal law and that the jury should have been permitted to consider defendants’ asserted ignorance of their violation of a Federal statute in determining their guilt or innocence.

Several other courts have previously passed upon defendants’ general [809]*809argument that Title 18 U.S.C. § 1952 is unconstitutionally vague, and all have rejected this contention See United States v. Zizzo, 338 F.2d 577 (7th Cir. 1964) cert. den. 381 U.S. 915, 85 S.Ct. 1530, 14 L.Ed.2d 435; Bass v. United States, 324 F.2d 168 (8th Cir. 1963). „ . .... The Zizzo and Bass cases involved travel . . , ,, .. „ m interstate commerce m aid of an un- ... ... .... ... lawful gambling activity. The constitux- i-x x m-fi io tt ciíi c mto t. tionality of Title 18 U.S.C. § 1952 has . , . .. . . , . ,. also been upheld m cases involving the „ : , . ?, . use of an interstate facility m aid of . „ . ... ,. ... „ . „ unlawful gambling activities. Turf Center Inc. v. United States, 325 F.2d 793 (9th Cir. 1963); United States v. Borgese, 235 F.Supp. 286 (D.C.N.Y.1964); United States v. Smith, 209 F.Supp. 907 (D.C.Ill.1962). The Court is m complete x -XT. xi. , . i. %. ,. agreement with these cases which hold xtT x ixi. i. o x- meo • j -xx that although Section 1952 is admittedly 1. . -x • -xi.- xi. /r x-x x- i broad, it 18 rnthm the ConSt,tut.onaI power of Congress over interstate com- , . * x-x x- i xi. merce and is not unconstitutional on the , . ground of vagueness.

Defendants’ second contention, namely that a specific intent to violate the Federal law is a necessary element of an offense under Section 1952, has not yet been expressly ruled upon in any reported decision.2 Defendants argue that the statutory language, in accordanee with the principle that criminal statutes are to be strictly construed, requires a specific intent to violate the federal statute as an element of the offense. The relevant statutory language is as follows:

“Whoever * * * uses any fácility in interstate * * * commerce * * * with intent to * * * promote, manage, establish, carry on, or facilitate the promotion [etc.] of any unlawful activity, and thereafter performs * * * shall be fined * * (Emphasis added.)

Defendants contend that the words “with lntent” relate back to the words “who- „ , , ,, , . , . ever uses ’ and should be construed to . . . , , , . .... ... require use of an interstate facility with .... . ... , , an intent to violate this federal law so ,, , . . , . . . ,. that ignorance of the federal violation ... , , „ m, „ , might constitute a defense. The Court . ... . . ls of the opinion that defendants con- . ... X. ...... ., tention m this regard is without merit, .... . , . Although criminal statutes are to be , . ,, , , . . , strictly construed, this does not require ... _ ... ,, .... . this Court to ignore the dictates of corn- , , , , ,,, mon sense and to defeat the very pur- „ ,. , , ,. , , pose of the act by creating unwarranted r ,. ... .. „ j i exceptions to its operation. Kordel v. TT .. . , ooc „ „ United States, 335 U.S. 345, 349, 69 S.Ct. „„ T eo ’ . 106, 93 L.Ed. 52, 56 (1948). The words ,< ... . x x»> , • , . with intent obviously refer to the . . .. A „ . . ... words immediately following, namely, to » , » . , fac¿ tate ,. .. ,, . . . . the promotion * * * of any unlawful .. .. ***„„,, x « , . , activity * * . The term unlawful . . , activity is defined m so far as relevant here as “any business enterprise involving gambling * * * in violation of the laws of the State in which *. * * committed * * The criminal in-tent is the intent to promote or facilitate a gambling enterprise in violation of the laws of the State in question. In other words, the language of Title 18 U.S.C. § 1952 requires a specific intent to promote or facilitate the violation of state law and not a specific intent to violate the federal law. A defense based upon ignorance that activities were in violation of state law could be relevant 011 the lssue of intent to promote or facilitate an activity in violation of state laws, whereas an assertion of ignorance that the activities were in violation of the federal statute is irrelevant in the [810]*810light of the statutory language. We conclude, therefore, that the words of the statute cannot be construed as requiring a specific intent to violate the federal statute nor does the statutory language make the defense of ignorance of the federal law available to the defendants.

The conclusion that the statutory language itself does not require a specific intent to violate the federal law does not, however, necessarily mean that such specific intent is not an element of the offense. The omission of any such express requirement in the statutory language still may not negate the requirement of specific intent under certain circumstances. For example, the Supreme Court has held that where an innocently passive person fails to register as a convicted felon as required by a city ordinance, because of ignorance of the existence of the ordinance and the registration requirement, a conviction of such a person is an unconstitutional application of the registration ordinance. Lambert v. People of State of California, 355 U.S. 225, 78 S.Ct. 240, 2 L.Ed.2d 228 (1957). The case at bar is distinguishable for two reasons:

1. In Lambert,

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258 F. Supp. 807, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10030, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bash-innd-1966.