Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/366/582/
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 05:58:44+00:00

Document:
Appellant, a corporation operating a large discount department store located on a highway in a suburban section of Lehigh County, Pa., sued in a Federal District Court to enjoin enforcement of certain Pennsylvania Sunday Closing Laws, claiming that they were unconstitutional and that the County District Attorney was discriminating against it. One was a 1939 statute which prohibited all worldly employment or business on Sunday, with narrowly drawn exceptions, on penalty of a fine of $4 or 6 days' imprisonment. The other was a supplementary statute enacted in 1959 which forbade the retail sale on Sunday of 20 specified commodities, on penalty of a fine of up to $100 for the first offense and up to $200 for subsequent offenses within a year or imprisonment for 30 days in default thereof. There were many other Pennsylvania Sunday Laws which prohibited specific activities on Sundays or limited them to certain hours, places or conditions.
1. Since the relief sought was prospective only, the term of office of the District Attorney was about to expire, and appellant's employees could defend against any pending prosecutions on the ground of unconstitutional discrimination, the District Court did not err in refusing to exercise its injunctive powers at that time against alleged discriminatory enforcement by the County District Attorney. Pp. 366 U. S. 588-589.
2. The District Court did not abuse its discretion in declining to pass on the constitutionality of the 1939 statute, on the grounds that there was no imminent threat of appellant being prosecuted under it and that there was a substantial unsettled question of Pennsylvania law as to whether it had been superseded by the 1959 Act as to the specific commodities covered by the latter. P. 366 U. S. 589.
3. The District Court did not abuse its equity power in refusing to continue a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the 1939 statute against appellant, since there was no imminent threat of prosecution. P. 366 U. S. 589.
4. The 1959 Act does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. McGowan v. Maryland, ante, p. 366 U. S. 420. Pp. 366 U. S. 589-592.
5. Since appellant alleges only economic injury to itself, it has no standing to raise the question whether the statute here involved prohibits the free exercise of religion; but it does have standing to raise the question whether it is a law respecting an establishment of religion, within the meaning of the First Amendment. McGowan v. Maryland, supra. P. 366 U. S. 592.
6. In the light of a careful examination of the entirety of the present legislation, the relevant judicial characterizations, and, particularly, the legislative history leading to the passage of the 1959 Act here involved, that Act is not a law respecting an establishment of religion within the meaning of the First Amendment. McGowan v. Maryland supra. Pp. 366 U. S. 592-598.
7. This Court rejects appellant's contention that the State has other means at its disposal to accomplish its secular purpose that would not even remotely or incidentally give state aid to religion. McGowan v. Maryland, supra. P. 366 U. S. 598.
makes unlawful the Sunday retail sale of certain commodities, imposing a fine of up to one hundred dollars for the first offense, is violative of the constitutional guarantees of equal protection of the laws and religious freedom.
of the Maryland laws in providing support for the position that temporal considerations preoccupied the State Legislature.
of four dollars. Appellant then sought an injunction in the court below to restrain the District Attorney from enforcing this statute against it, alleging that the statute was unconstitutional for the reasons stated above and because the District Attorney was discriminating against appellant in enforcing the law. Accordingly, a three-judge court was convened pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2281 and 2284. Before trial, the Pennsylvania Legislature enacted the 1959 provision and appellant amended its complaint to include it, alleging that the District Attorney was threatening to enforce it against appellant.
polo receive similar treatment except the permitted hours are between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Public concerts, of music of high order, though not necessarily sacred, may only be performed after noon.
The off-the-premises sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday is disallowed, but private clubs may sell alcoholic beverages to their members on Sunday, as may hotel restaurants between 1 p.m. and 10 p.m. in first- and second-class Pennsylvania cities if the voters in those cities so choose. Municipalities and third-class Pennsylvania cities have statutory authority to restrain desecrations of the Sabbath day; one statutory section simply empowers various judicial officers to punish persons who profane the Lord's day. Barbering and beauty culture work on Sunday subjects the actor to license revocation. Male prisoners may not perform manual labor on Sunday, and bakery employees are not permitted to commence working on Sunday before 6 p.m.
The statutes generally proscribe hunting and shooting on Sunday, but make an exception for the removal of fur-bearing animals from traps. Sunday fishing from public lands or in public waters is permitted, but not on private property without the consent of the owner. Also banned is the training of dogs except with the permission of the owner upon whose land the activity is undertaken.
to appellant of being prosecuted under the 1939 enactment. The court also felt it its duty to refrain from passing upon the 1939 statute because it believed that there was a substantial unsettled question of Pennsylvania law as to whether the 1939 Act was superseded by the 1959 Act so far as the specific commodities covered by the latter statute. Regarding appellant's contention that McGinley was enforcing the 1939 statute discriminatorily, the court held that, since McGinley had recently made substantial efforts to compel observance of the statute by numerous retail stores, since the relief appellant sought was wholly prospective, and since McGinley's term of office as District Attorney was expiring within a month of the decision, there was no basis for finding that there would be future discriminatory enforcement of the 1959 statute, 179 F.Supp. 944. On appeal brought under 28 U.S.C. § 1253, we noted probable jurisdiction. 362 U.S. 960.
was incorrect in refusing to exercise its injunctive powers at that time.
Furthermore, we do not believe that the three-judge District Court abused its discretion in declining to pass on the constitutionality of the 1939 statute for the reasons stated. Railroad Commission v. Pullman Co., 312 U. S. 496. The court below made clear that, if appellant's employees were threatened with prosecution under the 1939 Act, and if the Pennsylvania courts decided that the 1939 Act still applies to appellant, that would be time enough to consider that statute's validity. Similarly, we do not believe that the court abused its equity power in refusing to continue the preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the 1939 statute against appellant, since there was no imminent threat of prosecution.
The standards for evaluating these contentions have been set out in McGowan v. Maryland, ante, at pp. 366 U. S. 425-426; we need not restate them here. First, appellant's argument overlooks the fact that the 1939 Pennsylvania statute prohibits all worldly employment or business, with narrowly drawn exceptions; the 1959 enactment now before us simply supplements the prior regulation. The existing system then imposes a greater penalty for the Sunday sale of some items at retail than it imposes for other Sunday retail sales and for the other Sunday activities that appellant seems to have assumed are not forbidden at all. Of course, as to works of charity, necessity or recreation, the State Legislature could find that the interests of its citizens are best served by permitting these Sunday activities; that their interference with the absolute tranquility of the day is justified by their requirement and desirability. McGowan v. Maryland, supra, at 366 U. S. 426.
Sunday retail selling newly acute."
179 F.Supp. at 952. [Footnote 6] It was within the power of the legislature to have concluded that these businesses were particularly disrupting the intended atmosphere of the day because of the great volume of motor traffic attracted, [Footnote 7] the danger of their competitors also opening on Sunday, [Footnote 8] and their large number of employees.
remedies. . . . Or the reform may take one step at a time, addressing itself to the phase of the problem which seems most acute to the legislative mind. . . . The legislature may select one phase of one field and apply a remedy there, neglecting the others."
To prove its argument, appellant relies on the language of the present laws in question, on the prior history of this legislation, and on various statements of the Pennsylvania courts in interpreting the statutes. We agree that an inquiry into these matters is relevant. McGowan v. Maryland, supra, at p. 366 U. S. 431.
later, and again in 1700, which once more stated the purposes of preventing "Looseness, Irreligion, and Atheism," and of better permitting on Sunday the reading of the scriptures at home or the frequenting of meetings of religious worship. Id. at 192. 2 Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania 3-4. In 1705, some changes appeared.
The preamble of the statute remained religious, [Footnote 12] and the stated purposes of Bible reading and religious worship continued. However, some of the exceptions still present in the 1939 statute first appeared, but a specific ban on the drinking of alcoholic beverages in public houses was enacted. Id. at 175-177. The most apparent forerunner of the 1939 statute was passed in 1779. The preamble stated only that the purpose was "for the due observation of the Lord's day." 9 Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania 333. No mention was made of Bible reading or religious worship, and the specific Sunday prohibition concerning alcoholic beverages was omitted. By 1786, the preamble completely disappeared, 12 Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania 314. See 15 Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania 110 for the final colonial enactment in 1794.
jurisdictional section authorizing the punishment of persons who "profane the Lord's day." But many of the activities historically considered to be profane -- e.g., the consumption of alcoholic beverages -- are now no longer totally prohibited. There is a general immunity for religious motion pictures and some of the recently exempted activities are permitted only during Sunday afternoons.
"All agree that, to the wellbeing of society, periods of rest are absolutely necessary. To be productive of the required advantage, these periods must recur at stated intervals, so that the mass of which the community is composed may enjoy a respite from labour at the same time. They may be established by common consent, or, as is conceded, the legislative power of the state may, without impropriety, interfere to fix the time of their stated return and enforce obedience to the direction. When this happens, some one day must be selected, and it has been said the round of the week presents none which, being preferred, might not be regarded as favouring some one of the numerous religious sects into which mankind are divided. In a Christian community, where a very large majority of the people celebrate the first day of the week as their chosen period of rest from labour, it is not surprising that that day should have received the legislative sanction; and as it is also devoted to religious observances, we are prepared to estimate the reason why the statute should speak of it as the Lord's day, and denominate the infraction of its legalized rest, a profanation. Yet this does not change the character of the enactment. It is still, essentially, but a civil regulation made for the government of man as a member of society, and obedience to it may properly be enforced by penal sanctions."
position. But these cases, the last of which was decided more than thirty years ago, did not squarely decide a constitutional contention. More persuasively, in the only recent appellate case dealing with the constitutionality of the 1939 statute, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed an opinion which specifically relied on the language and reasoning of Specht. Commonwealth v. Bauder, 188 Pa.Super. 424, 145 A.2d 915, affirming 14 Pa.D. & C.R.2d 571.
Having carefully examined the entirety of the present legislation, the relevant judicial characterizations and, particularly, the legislative history leading to the passage of the 1959 Act immediately before us, we hold that neither the statute's purpose nor its effect is religious. See McGowan v. Maryland, supra, at p. 366 U. S. 449. Moreover, for the same reasons stated in McGowan v. Maryland, supra, at pp., 366 U. S. 449-452, we reject appellant's contention that the State has other means at its disposal to accomplish its secular purpose that would not even remotely or incidentally give state aid to religion.
"§ 4699.4. Worldly employment or business on Sunday"
"Whoever does or performs any worldly employment or business whatsoever on the Lord's day, commonly called Sunday (works of necessity and charity only excepted), or uses or practices any game, hunting, shooting, sport or diversion whatsoever on the same day not authorized by law, shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding, be sentenced to pay a fine of four dollars ($4), for the use of the Commonwealth, or, in default of the payment thereof, shall suffer six (6) days' imprisonment."
"Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit the dressing of victuals in private families, bake-houses, lodging-houses, inns and other houses of entertainment for the use of sojourners, travelers or strangers, or to hinder watermen from landing their passengers, or ferrymen from carrying over the water travelers, or persons removing with their families on the Lord's day, commonly called Sunday, nor to the delivery of milk or the necessaries of life, before nine of the clock in the forenoon, nor after five of the clock in the afternoon of the same day."
These laws, in their entirety, may be found in 4 Purdon's Pa.Stat.Ann. §§ 1, 30.202, 59-66, 81-91, 121-127, 151-157, 181-185, 307(c); 18 Purdon's Pa.Stat.Ann. §§ 632, 633, 4651, 4699.4, 4699.9, 4699.10; 24 Purdon's Pa.Stat.Ann. § 19-1903; 30 Purdon's Pa.Stat.Ann. §§ 118, 138, 153, 265, 273; 34 Purdon's Pa.Stat.Ann. §§ 1311.702, 1311.719, 1311.721, 1311.731, 1311.1205; 43 Purdon's Pa.Stat.Ann. § 361; 47 Purdon's Pa.Stat.Ann. §§ 3-304, 4-406, 4-492; 51 Purdon's Pa.Stat.Ann. § 623; 53 Purdon's Pa.Stat.Ann. §§ 23130, 37403(24); 61 Purdon's Pa.Stat.Ann. §§ 184, 195; 63 Purdon's Pa.Stat.Ann. §§ 281-28, 519, 559.
"has no reason to believe and, therefore, does not aver that [the new District Attorney] will discriminatorily enforce [the] laws as did his predecessor. . . ."
Concomitantly, appellant states the statute violates due process for these same reasons.
"The penalty is a fine of 5s., and nobody will suggest that that is effective in any way. It simply means the payment of 5s., with a little expense added to that, in order to keep open on Sundays, and it seems to me that the Statute of 1677, applied to modern conditions, is nothing short of ridiculous."
308 Parliamentary Debates, Commons, 2167.
"It was several months ago, over a year ago, that a business from New Jersey moved into the aforementioned Whitehall Township of Lehigh County. It was known as the 'Two Guys from Harrison.' They started operating on Sunday. It was a novelty. The people came from Northampton, Bucks, Monroe, Pike, Schuylkill, and all the surrounding counties, so much so that they jammed traffic on the highways of the Seventh Street Pike in Allentown and Whitehall Township. However, the people came and they did business. There were other enterprises along the same route which were open on Sunday and doing business."
36 Pennsylvania Legislative Journal 1143.
"So far, happily, the great combine and chain stores have not entered on Sunday trading, but they are business enterprises, and it is not impossible that they may find themselves compelled by economic considerations and pressure of local circumstances to open on Sunday, because Parliament takes no action to control and regulate Sunday business in retail shops. If that development should take place, we shall find our shopping centres on a Sunday no different in any way from the bustle, noise and glamour of the weekday trade."
308 Parliamentary Debates, Commons, 2166.
The basic English Sunday statute, 29 Charles II, c. 7 (1677), imposed differing fines for different proscribed activities.
MR. JUSTICE BLACK is of the opinion that appellant also has standing to raise the second contention and that the claim is without merit. See McGowan v. Maryland, ante, at p. 366 U. S. 429.
"Whereas, the glory of Almighty God and the good of Mankind, is the reason & end of government, and therefore, government in itself is a venerable Ordinance of God. And forasmuch as it is principally desired and intended by the Proprietary and Governor and the freemen of the Province of Pennsylvania and territories thereunto belonging, to make and establish such Laws as shall best preserve true Christian and Civil Liberty, in opposition to all Unchristian, Licentious, and unjust practices (Whereby God may have his due, Caesar his due, and the people their due) from tyranny and oppression on the one side, and insolence, and Licentiousness on the other, so that the best and firmest foundation may be layd for the present and future happiness of both the Governor and people, of the Province and territories aforesaid, and their posterity."
"Be it therefore Enacted by William Penn, Proprietary and Governour, by, and with the Advice and Consent of the Deputies of the freemen of this Province and Counties aforesaid, in Assembly met, and by the Authority of the same, That these following Chapters and Paragraphs shall be the Laws of Pennsylvania and the territories thereof."
"Chap. I. Almighty God, being Only Lord of Conscience father of Lights and Spirits, and the author as well as object of all Divine knowledge, faith, and Worship, who only can enlighten the mind, and persuade and convince the understandings of people. In due reverence to his Sovereignty over the Souls of Mankind. . . ."
"But to the end That Looseness, irreligion, and Atheism may not Creep in under pretense of Conscience in this Province, Be It Further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That according to the example of the primitive Christians, and for the ease of the Creation, Every first day of the week, called the Lord's day, People shall abstain from their usual and common toil and labour, That whether Masters, Parents, Children, or Servants, they may the better dispose themselves to read the Scriptures of truth at home, or frequent such meetings of religious worship abroad, as may best sute their respective persuasions."
Charter and Laws of the Province of Pennsylvania 1682-1700, 107-108.
"To the end that all people within this province may with the greater freedom devote themselves to religious and pious exercises."
36 Pennsylvania Legislative Journal 1139, 2553, 2682-2683.
"As I read this bill, I find nothing in it which is of a religious nature. The bill is prompted by the thousands of letters that we have all received in the Senate of Pennsylvania, asking us to do something for the men and women who work in the department stores. These people are not asking to go to church; they are asking for a day of rest."
"I do not find anyone complaining about the Act passed at the last Session concerning the automobile business."
"This is a bill which has been crystalized by, I think, a very great organized labor section in our Commonwealth, the American Federation of Labor. They are in favor of it. They are heading up a group of people who have no particular voice to speak for them. I believe it is the obligation of the Senate of Pennsylvania to vote for this bill in order to give some recognition to the men and women who work and who are compelled to work on Sundays, whether they like it or whether they do not like it."
"This is not a bill. It is, rather, an indictment of our civilization which makes this kind of legislation possible and necessary. It is too bad that business will not permit its employees to have a day of rest. It is too bad that we must legislate morals, as we may be doing in this bill."
Id. at 1139. See also id. at 1137-1140, 2564-2565, 2682-2685.
"The error of the plaintiff's position is that it confounds the reason of the prohibition with its actual effect, and thus mistakes the mere restraint of physical exertion for the fetters that clog the freedom of mind and conscience. But were this otherwise, the plaintiff's argument is inapplicable to the act of 1794. The conclusions drawn from some of its language are as inexpressive of its practical operation as of the principal intent of its makers. The phraseology used may indicate a conviction of the holy character of the first day of the week, but, as this simple expression of an abstract opinion, which all other men are at liberty to adopt or reject, carries with it no obligation beyond the influence attendant upon the expression itself, it cannot be said a primary object of the act was, authoritatively, to assert the supremacy of Sunday as of Divine appointment. Had such been the intent, irrespective of its statutory character as a day of rest from secular employment, its framers would not have stopped short with a bare interdiction of labour and worldly amusements. Following the example offered by older states and communities, they would have commanded the performance of religious rites, or at least some express recognition of the day as the true Sabbath. Such a requisition, we agree with the plaintiff in error, would be a palpable interference with the rights of conscience. But nothing like this is exacted. On the contrary, everyone is left at full liberty to shape his own convictions, and practically to assert them to the extent of a free exercise of his religious views. In this as in other respects, the conscience of each is left uncontrolled by legal coercion, to pursue its own inquiries and to adopt its own conclusions. In this aspect of the statute, there is therefore nothing in derogation of the constitutional inhibition."
See Johnston v. Commonwealth, 22 Pa. 102, 111 (1853); Commonwealth v. Nesbit, 34 Pa. 398, 405-409 (1859); Society for Visitation of Sick v. Commonwealth ex rel. Meyer, 52 Pa. 125, 135 (1866); Sparhawk v. Union Passenger R. Co., 54 Pa. 401, 408-409, 423 (1867); Commonwealth v. American Baseball Club, 290 Pa. 136, 141, 143, 138 A. 497, 499 (1927).
Two Guys from Harrison-Allentown, Inc.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 § 1253
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 § 19
 § 361
 § 623
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.