Yuen v. Municipal Court

52 Cal. App. 3d 351, 125 Cal. Rptr. 87, 1975 Cal. App. LEXIS 1463
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 21, 1975
DocketCiv. 36350
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 52 Cal. App. 3d 351 (Yuen v. Municipal Court) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yuen v. Municipal Court, 52 Cal. App. 3d 351, 125 Cal. Rptr. 87, 1975 Cal. App. LEXIS 1463 (Cal. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinions

Opinion

SCOTT, J.

Eddy Yuen was charged with a violation of section 129 1(b) of the Municipal Police Code of the City and County .of San Francisco. Yuen’s demurrer to the complaint was overruled. The superior court granted his petition for writ of prohibition permanently restraining the municipal court from taking any further action against him. The basis for the order was that the subject matter covered by the ordinance had been preempted by state law. The People, who are the real party in interest, appeal.

I. The People first contend that the subject matter of the ordinance has not been preempted by state law as to either loitering or weapons control such that the ordinance is not unconstitutional under section 7, article XI of the California Constitution.1

The ordinance provides as follows:

“SEC. 1291. Prohibiting Loitering While Carrying Concealed Weapons. (a) As used in this section, but in no wise limited thereto, ‘dangerous or deadly weapon’ shall mean: Any knife with a blade three inches or more in length; any spring-blade, switch-blade, or snap-blade knife or other similar type knife; any knife any blade of which is automatically released by a spring mechanism or other mechanical device; any ice pick, or similar sharp, stabbing tool; any straight edge razor or any razor blade fitted to a handle; any cutting, stabbing, bludgeoning weapon or device capable of inflicting grievous bodily harm.
[354]*354“(b) It shall be unlawful for any person, while carrying concealed upon his person any dangerous or deadly weapon, to loaf or loiter upon any public street, sidewalk, or alley, or to wander about from place to place, with no lawful business thereby to perform, or to hide, lurk, or loiter upon or about the premises of another.
“(c) It shall be unlawful for any person who has concealed upon his person or who has in his immediate physical possession any dangerous or deadly weapon to engage in any fight or to participate in any other rough or disorderly conduct upon any public place or way or upon the premises of another.'
“(d) It shall be unlawful for any person who has concealed upon his person any dangerous or deadly weapon to loiter about any place where intoxicating liquors are sold or any other place of public resort.
“(e) The foregoing restrictions shall not be deemed to prohibit the carrying of ordinary tools or equipment carried in good faith for uses of honest work, trade or business or for the purpose of legitimate recreation.”

There are three tests to determine whether a subject has been preempted by the Legislature: 1) whether the subject matter has been so fully and completely covered by general law as to indicate that it has become exclusively a matter of state concern; 2) whether the subject matter has been partially covered by general law couched in such terms as to indicate clearly that a paramount state concern will not tolerate further or additional local action; or 3) whether the subject matter has been partially covered by general law, and the subject is of such a nature that the adverse effect of a local ordinance on the transient citizens of the state outweighs the possible benefit to the municipality. (In re Hubbard (1964) 62 Cal.2d 119, 128 [41 Cal.Rptr. 393, 396 P.2d 809], overruled on other grounds in Bishop v. City of San Jose (1969) 1 Cal.3d 56, 63 [81 Cal.Rptr. 465, 460 P.2d 137]; Galvan v. Superior Court (1969) 70 Cal.2d 851, 859-860 [76 Cal.Rptr. 642, 452 P.2d 930].)

A local municipal ordinance is invalid if it attempts to impose additional requirements in a field that is preempted by the general law. (In re Moss (1962) 58 Cal.2d 117, 118 [23 Cal.Rptr. 361, 373 P.2d 425]; cf. Crownover v. Musick (1973) 9 Cal.3d 405, 416 [107 Cal.Rptr. 681, 509 P.2d 497]; Younger v. Berkeley City Council (1975) 45 Cal.App.3d 825, 830 [119 Cal.Rptr. 830].)

[355]*355A. In Gleason v. Municipal Court (1964) 226 Cal.App.2d. 584 [38 Cal.Rptr. 226], the court found that a Los Angeles loitering statute was not preempted by the state vagrancy statute, Penal Code section 647. There the proscribed loitering was in tunnels, subways, and in general, freeway areas. The court stated, at page 586: “It is evident that the Legislature did not intend to occupy the entire field of loitering and preclude local legislation thereon.” Penal Code section 647 is limited by its terms and applications. It makes no mention of loitering while carrying concealed, dangerous or deadly weapons.

The San Francisco ordinance, as the Los Angeles ordinance in Gleason, “supplements the state legislation in a field which we consider the Legislature did not intend to preempt.” (226 Cal.App.2d at pp. 587-588.)

In In re Hoffman (1967) 61 Cal.2d 845 [64 Cal.Rptr. 97, 434 P.2d 353], the court found constitutional, in part, another Los Angeles Municipal Code prohibiting loafing or loitering about a train depot. Although preemption was not an issue discussed in that opinion, Gleason was cited with approval at page 853, where the court stated: “As so interpreted the first part of the ordinance is a justified police measure that protects the city’s interest in assuring public safety (cf. Gleason v. Municipal Court (1964) 226 Cal.App.2d 584, 587 [38 Cal.Rptr. 226]) without interfering with the legitimate exercise of any constitutionally protected activity.”

Yuen relies on In re Moss, supra, 58 Cal.2d 117 and In re Koehne (1963) 59 Cal.2d 646 [30 Cal.Rptr. 809, 381 P.2d 633] in support of his position that state law has preempted local ordinances purporting to control so-called “loitering” or “vagrancy.” As Yuen asserts, the California Supreme Court has held preempted certain local ordinances which dealt with various aspects covered by the general law. In re Moss held invalid a local ordinance covering indecent shows, upon its conclusion that the state had adopted a general scheme for the regulation of the criminal aspects of sexual activity and determined, to the exclusion of local regulation, what acts of exposure and exhibition shall be criminal. In re Koehne held invalid a local ordinance covering public intoxication upon its conclusion that the state had adopted a general scheme for the regulation of the criminal aspects of being intoxicated in a public place (59 Cal.2d at p. 648).

Despite Yuen’s assertion that these cases dealt with “vagrancy in the form of intoxication” or “vagrancy in the context of lewd or lascivious [356]*356purposes or behavior,” it is clear that the court was not dealing with vagrancy statutes as such, but rather, was dealing with specifically drawn statutes aimed at the subjects which the court held were preempted by the general law.

In applying the three Hubbard

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Yuen v. Municipal Court
52 Cal. App. 3d 351 (California Court of Appeal, 1975)

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Bluebook (online)
52 Cal. App. 3d 351, 125 Cal. Rptr. 87, 1975 Cal. App. LEXIS 1463, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yuen-v-municipal-court-calctapp-1975.