Von Weidlein International, Inc. v. Young

517 P.2d 295, 16 Or. App. 81, 1973 Ore. App. LEXIS 676
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided December 24, 1973·Published·Cited by 27 cases

Opinion

517 P.2d 295 (1973)

VON WEIDLEIN INTERNATIONAL, INC. and Northwest Bottling Company, Inc., Oregon Corporations, Petitioners,
v.
Thomas F. YOUNG et al., Respondents.

Court of Appeals of Oregon.

Argued and Submitted November 27, 1973.
Decided December 24, 1973.
Rehearing Denied January 23, 1974.
Review Denied March 5, 1974.

*297 Alex L. Parks, Portland, argued the cause for petitioners. With him on the brief were White, Sutherland, Parks & Heath and David F. Rennie, Portland.

W. Michael Gillette, Solicitor Gen., Salem, argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief were Lee Johnson, Atty. Gen., John E. Moore, Chief Counsel, Criminal Justice & Special Investigation Division, and Al J. Laue, Asst. Atty. Gen., Salem.

Before SCHWAB, C.J., and THORNTON and TANZER, JJ.

TANZER, Judge.

This is a proceeding for judicial review of orders of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission which cancelled petitioners' liquor licenses. Petitioner Von Weidlein International, Inc.'s license entitled it to sell and distribute beer and wine, and petitioner Northwest Bottling Company had a distiller's license. Since the orders of cancellation were identical in substance, we consider them together.

The proceedings to revoke petitioners' licenses were brought pursuant to ORS 471.315(1)(b), which provides that "[t]he commission may cancel or suspend any license if it finds or has reasonable ground to believe * * * [t]hat the licensee * * * [h]as made any false representation or statement to the commission in order to induce or prevent action by the commission." In addition to their basic contention that there is insufficient evidence to support the commission's finding that they made such false representations or statements, petitioners raise two threshold constitutional issues.

First, petitioners contend that ORS 471.315(1)(b) is unconstitutionally vague and ambiguous in that it does not specifically require that the false representations or statements be "material" or that they be made "intentionally." This contention is based on the premise that the subsection is essentially a codification of common law fraud, and that the existence of an intentional, material misrepresentation, relied upon by the commission, is an integral element thereof.

The statute has previously been construed to require that the misrepresentation be material. Hart v. Oregon Liquor Control Com., 181 Or. 406, 409, 182 P.2d 364 (1947). We do not construe the statute to require that the misrepresentation be intentional. If an innocent but material misrepresentation were instrumental in the commission's decision to grant a license, it would be reasonable to allow the commission to revoke its decision when it found that the facts were not as represented.

Petitioners' contention that the statute is a codification of common law fraud and that revocation would be permissible only if the commission had in fact relied on the misrepresentation to its detriment, cf. Conzelmann v. N.W.P. & D. Prod. Co., 190 Or. 332, 225 P.2d 757 (1950), is incorrect. The statute permits revocation based on any misrepresentation made "in order to induce or prevent action by the commission." The evil aimed at by the statute is the possibility that the commission may be misinformed. It is not required that the commission actually believe the erroneous information. That being so, it is clear that the statute was not intended to be circumscribed by the elements of common law fraud.

Petitioners' second preliminary attack is upon the constitutionality of ORS 471.290(1)[1] which provides that a person applying for a liquor license may be compelled *298 as a prerequisite to provide to the commission the following information:

"* * * the name and address of the applicant, his citizenship, location of the place of business which is to be operated under the license, and such other pertinent information as the commission may require. * * *"

Petitioners contend that the phrase "such other pertinent information as the commission may require" is unconstitutional, presumably because it is so vague as to constitute an improper delegation of authority. In the alternative, they argue that because the Oregon Liquor Control Commission has not promulgated administrative rules as to what constitutes "other pertinent information," it may not require the disclosure of information other than name and address, citizenship, location, and similar matters.

In approaching this issue, we note the basic rule that when a statute is challenged as unconstitutionally vague, the first duty of a court is to interpret the statute, if possible, in a manner which will result in its being upheld. City of Portland v. White, 9 Or. App. 239, 495 P.2d 778, Sup.Ct. review denied (1972). Thus, we do not search for intolerable lengths to which the unconstrued statute might be extended; rather, we attempt to confine the broad language within reasonable bounds and thereby give effect to its provisions.

A statute granting administrative powers is sufficient if it provides guidance to the agency to which is delegated the duty to apply the statute. Bergford v. Clack. Co./Trans. Serv., Or. App., 97 Adv.Sh. 2319, 515 P.2d 1345 (decided November 19, 1973). The information sought by the commission and furnished by petitioners all comes within the meaning of ORS 471.295(4)(c), (f) and (i),[2] which enables the commission to deny a license if it finds that the applicant has been convicted of a felony, that he is not of good repute and moral character, or that he is not financially responsible. In short, ORS 471.290 authorizes the commission to require sufficient information to enable it to perform its duty under ORS 471.295.

Petitioners also argue that the commission may not require "other pertinent information" because it has not promulgated administrative regulations. While it is clear that the commission cannot deny a license without first establishing regulatory standards, Sun Ray Dairy v. OLCC, Or. App., 517 P.2d 289 (decided this day), the information at issue in this case was obtained pursuant to a specific statutory mandate, and the existence or not of regulations is not material. Furthermore, petitioners' complaint comes late. The information was given without complaint or protest, the licenses were granted, and petitioners received the benefit of the law they now challenge. The significant question at this stage of the proceedings, under ORS

Von Weidlein International, Inc. v. Young, 517 P.2d 295, 16 Or. App. 81, 1973 Ore. App. LEXIS 676 (Or. Ct. App. 1973).

517 P.2d 295 (Von Weidlein International, Inc. v. Young) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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