Case Title: McArthur v. State

Citation: 191 So. 2d 429

Docket Number: 

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 1966-09-21T00:00:00Z

Document:
191 So. 2d 429 (1966)
Jack E. McARTHUR, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 35114.

Supreme Court of Florida.
September 21, 1966.
Rehearing Denied October 24, 1966.
Edward L. Bush, Palatka, for appellant.
Earl Faircloth, Atty. Gen., and James G. Mahorner, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
ROBERTS, Justice.
The appellant was convicted of the offense of driving an automobile upon the highways of this state while under the influence of intoxicating liquor to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired, in violation of Florida Statute § 317.201 F.S.A. In making his defense, he challenged the constitutionality vel non of the statute on the ground of vagueness, contending that it did not set up ascertainable standards so that men of common intelligence are not required to guess at what it intends to prohibit and punish. The trial court upheld the statute against the attack, and said:
We have jurisdiction under Section 4.2, Article V, Constitution of Florida, F.S.A., and Florida Appellate Rule 2.1, subd. a(5) (a), 31 F.S.A.
An ordinance prohibiting disorderly conduct was upheld against the constitutional attack for vagueness by the District Court of Appeal, Second District, which on Page 320 in the case of City of St. Petersburg v. Calbeck, 114 So. 2d 316, said:
The decision in City of St. Petersburg v. Calbeck, supra, was cited with approval by the District Court of Appeal, Third District, in Snow v. State, 179 So. 2d 99, upholding a vagrancy ordinance.
In State v. Suess, 236 Minn. 174, 52 N.W.2d 409, the Supreme Court of Minnesota, upholding a statute against a charge of vagueness, said:
*431 Also compare Tracey v. State, Fla., 130 So. 2d 605 and cases therein cited; and United States v. Pertillo, 332 U.S. 1, 67 S. Ct. 1538, 91 L. Ed. 1877.
We therefore agree with the trial court that the statute is constitutional.
Affirmed.
THORNAL, C.J., and THOMAS, DREW, O'CONNELL, CALDWELL and ERVIN, JJ., concur.