Case Name: John DOE, et al., Appellants, v. Sandra MORTHAM, etc., Appellee
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1998-03-19
Citations: 708 So. 2d 929
Docket Number: No. 88677
Parties: John DOE, et al., Appellants, v. Sandra MORTHAM, etc., Appellee.
Judges: KOGAN, C.J., and OVERTON, WELLS and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 708
Pages: 929–939

Head Matter:
John DOE, et al., Appellants, v. Sandra MORTHAM, etc., Appellee.
No. 88677.
Supreme Court of Florida.
March 19, 1998.
Philip G. Butler, Jr., of Butler & Brown, P.A., West Palm Beach, for Appellants.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and George Waas, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

Opinion:
SHAW, Justice.
We have on appeal an order of the trial court declaring several Florida statutes facially constitutional. The district court certified that the order involves issues of great public importance requiring immediate resolution by this Court. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(5), Fla. Const. We affirm as explained below.
John and Jane Doe filed a complaint in circuit court in February 1996 seeking a declaratory judgment that sections 106.071, 106.143, and 106.144, Florida Statutes (1995), governing campaign advertising and financing, are unconstitutional. Although the Does had not been charged with any violations under the statutes, they nevertheless asserted that the statutes are overbroad and infringe on their First Amendment right to engage in anonymous political advocacy. The trial court denied the complaint and the district court certified the issue to this Court. The Does argue inter alia that the reporting and identification requirements of the statutes are overbroad and violate both Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976), and McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 514 U.S. 334, 115 S.Ct. 1511, 131 L.Ed.2d 426 (1995). We disagree.
I. OVERBREADTH
The basic contours of First Amendment overbreadth doctrine were set out in Broadrick v. Oklahoma, 413 U.S. 601, 93 S.Ct. 2908, 37 L.Ed.2d 830 (1973), wherein the United States Supreme Court upheld against facial attack an Oklahoma statute that barred state employees from participating in certain political activities:
It has long been recognized that the First Amendment needs breathing space and that statutes attempting to restrict or burden the exercise of First Amendment rights must be narrowly drawn and represent a considered legislative judgment that a particular mode of expression has to give way to other compelling needs of society. As a corollary, the Court has altered its traditional rules of standing to permit — in the First Amendment area — "attacks on overly broad statutes with no requirement that the person making the attack demonstrate that his own conduct could not be regulated by a statute drawn with the requisite narrow specificity." Litigants, therefore, are permitted to challenge a statute not because their own rights of free expression are violated, but because of a judicial prediction or assumption that the statute's very existence may cause others not before the court to refrain from constitutionally protected speech or expression.
The consequence of our departure from traditional rules of standing in the First Amendment area is that any enforcement of a statute thus placed at issue is totally forbidden until and unless a limiting construction or partial invalidation so narrows it as to remove the seeming threat or deterrence to constitutionally protected expression. Application of the overbreadth doctrine in this manner is, manifestly, strong medicine. It has been employed by the Court sparingly and only as a last resort. Facial overbreadth has not been invoked when a limiting construction has been or could be placed on the challenged statute. .
It remains a "matter of no little difficulty" to determine when a law may properly be held void on its face and when "such summary action" is inappropriate. But the plain import of our cases is, at the very least, that facial overbreadth adjudication is an exception to our traditional rules of practice and that its function [is a] limited [one].... To put the matter another way . we believe that the overbreadth of a statute must not only be real, but substantial as well, judged in relation to the statute's plainly legitimate sweep. It is our view that [the Oklahoma statute] is not substantially overbroad and that whatever overbreadth may exist should be cured through case-by-ease analysis of the fact situations to which its sanctions, assertedly, may not be applied.
Id. at 611-616, 93 S.Ct. at 2915-2918 (citations and footnote omitted) (emphasis added). See also Board of Airport Comm'rs v. Jews for Jesus, Inc., 482 U.S. 569, 574, 107 S.Ct. 2568, 2572, 96 L.Ed.2d 500 (1987) ("A statute may be invalidated on its face, however, only if the overbreadth is 'substantial.' ").
Applying the above law to the present case, we conclude that Florida sections 106.071, 106.143, and 106.144 are not substantially overbroad and that any infirmity can be cured by the narrowing construction given below. The statutes are not censorial, i.e., they "are not directed at particular groups or viewpoints," but rather seek "to regulate political activity in an even-handed and neutral manner." 413 U.S. at 616, 93 S.Ct at 2918. As the federal Court noted, "such statutes have in the past been subject to less exacting overbreadth scrutiny." Id. The Florida statutes are grounded in valid state concerns and include unquestionably lawful provisions within their scope: They impose reporting and identification requirements on the vast array of paid political advertisements promulgated in conjunction with formal campaigns and party apparatuses; and they require that the anonymous "Paid political advertisement" designation be placed on campaign advertisements. When compared to the statutes' plainly legitimate sweep, any arguable infirmity left uncured by our construction today is insubstantial and can be dealt with on an "as applied" basis.
II. BUCKLEY v. VALEO
The United States Supreme Court in Buckley conducted a detailed analysis of the Federal Election Campaign Act (the federal Act). Section 484(e) of the federal Act provides in part:
Every person (other than a political committee or candidate) who makes contributions or expenditures, other than by contribution to a political committee or candidate, in an aggregate amount in excess of $100 within a calendar year shall file with the Commission a statement containing the information required by this section.
Buckley, 424 U.S. at 160, 96 S.Ct. at 701 (emphasis added). The term "expenditure" is defined in section 431(f) as follows:
(f) "expenditure"—
(1) means a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money or anything of value, made for the purpose of—
(A) influencing the nomination for election, or the election, of any person to Federal office, or to the office of presidential and vice presidential elector; or
(B) influencing the results of a primary election held for the selection of delegates to a national nominating convention of a political party or for the expression of a preference for the nomination of persons for election to the office of President of the United States....
Buckley, 424 U.S. at 147-48, 96 S.Ct. at 695 (emphasis added).
The federal Court was concerned that the phrase "for the purpose of . influencing" in section 431(f) was vague in that it could be construed to embrace not just funds spent in the advocacy of a specific candidate, but also funds spent in the discussion of political issues and candidates in general. See Buckley, 424 U.S. at 39-44, 76-80, 96 S.Ct. at 644-47, 662-63. Because such a reading would hinder the free exchange of ideas, the federal Court limited "expenditure" in section 434(e) to reach "only funds used for communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate." Id. at 80, 96 S.Ct. at 664 (footnote omitted).
In the present ease, to the extent that section 106.071 uses the word "issue" and section 106.144 incorporates the phrase "which endorses or opposes any referendum," we find that none of this language is fatally vague. The word "issue" can reasonably be read as pertaining to any specific referendum issue, and the phrase "which endorses or opposes any referendum" is clear on its face. The federal Court in Buckley limited the reach of section 434(e) to embrace only communications concerning "a clearly identified candidate," as opposed to a referendum issue, not because restrictions on issues are improper per se, but rather because section 434(e) addresses "expenditures" and the definition of "expenditure" in section 431(f) by its very terms applies only to political candidates. The federal Court later explained:
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, at issue in Buckley, regulates only candidate elections, not referenda or other issue-based ballot measures; and we construed "independent expenditures" to mean only those expenditures that "expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate."
McIntyre, 514 U.S. at 356, 115 S.Ct. at 1523. To limit Florida sections 106.071 and 106.144 to "political candidates" simply because federal sections 434(e) and 431(f) are so limited would be illogical where that criterion is written into the latter statutes and absent from the former.
The only arguably vague language in the Florida sections is the phrase "with respect to any candidate or issue" in section 106.071. This language suffers from the same infirmity as that in Buckley in that it can be read as applying to communications that merely discuss in general terms political issues and candidates. This vagueness, however, can be cured simply by reading the phrase to reach only those funds used for communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or referendum issue. See Buckley, 424 U.S. at 80, 96 S.Ct. at 664. We so read the statute.
III. McINTYRE v. OHIO ELECTIONS COMMISSION
The United States Supreme Court in McIntyre struck down an Ohio statute that was used to convict and fine a mother, Margaret McIntyre, who was standing outside a public meeting at a middle school with her son handing out leaflets — which she had composed on her home computer — opposing a school tax levy. The leaflets were signed "CONCERNED PARENTS AND TAX PAYERS," rather than with McIntyre's name as required by the statute, which provided in part:
No person shall write, print, post, or distribute, or cause to be written, printed, posted, or distributed, a notice, placard, dodger, advertisement, sample ballot, or any other form of general publication which is designed to promote the nomination or election or defeat of a candidate, or to promote the adoption or defeat of any issue, or to influence the voters in any election . unless there appears on such form of publication in a conspicuous place or is contained within said statement the name and residence or business address of the chairman, treasurer, or secretary of the organization issuing the same, or the person who issues, makes, or is responsible therefor. The disclaimer "paid political advertisement" is not sufficient to meet the requirements of this division.
McIntyre, 514 U.S. at 338 n. 3, 115 S.Ct. at 1514 n.3. The United States Supreme Court, after pointing out that McIntyre had acted independently and had paid for the handbills with her "own modest resources," ruled that such "independent communications by an individual" embodied the essence of the First Amendment and could not be so inhibited: "No form of speech is entitled to greater constitutional protection than Mrs. McIntyre's." Id. at 347, 115 S.Ct. at 1519.
The federal Court in McIntyre was constrained to strike the offending Ohio statute in its entirety — rather than giving the statute a narrowing construction — for two reasons. First, under our federal system of government, the United States Supreme Court is reluctant to redraft a state statute once the state's highest court has given that statute a definitive construction. And second, under the express wording of the Ohio statute noted above, McIntyre's conduct went to the very heart of the statute. The federal Court could not rewrite the statute without directly contravening the plain wording of the statute. Neither of these concerns are present in the instant case.
First, unlike the United States Supreme Court, this Court is eminently qualified to give Florida statutes a narrowing construction to comply with our state and federal constitutions. In fact, it is our duty to save Florida statutes from the constitutional dustbin whenever possible. We have done so regularly and with statutes that required far more rewriting than the present sections. Our reading of the Florida statutes, today is entirely consonant with McIntyre, wherein the federal Court noted: "We recognize that a State's enforcement interest might justify a more limited identification requirement [than that of the Ohio statute]." 514 U.S. at 353, 115 S.Ct. at 1522.
Second, unlike the Ohio statute in McIntyre, the identification requirement in Florida section 106.143(l)(b) can reasonably be read as not applying to the type of personal expression engaged in by McIntyre, and we so read it. We hold that section 106.143(l)(b) is inapplicable to the personal pamphleteering of "individuals acting independently and using only their own modest resources." 514 U.S. at 351, 115 S.Ct. at 1521. As for section 106.071(1), only to the extent that the last sentence in this section requires identification of independent advertisements made by individuals does it run afoul of the First Amendment. This offending language is minor and easily severa- ble, and we order it stricken. The generic requirement in both sections 106.071 and 106.148 that all communications be marked with the phrase "paid political advertisement" in no way violates the anonymity concerns underlying McIntyre.
IV. CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, the Does over-breadth challenge to sections 106.071, 106.148, and 106.144 must fail. We see no reason to discard these statutes in toto because the rights of some Florida citizens at some point in time might arguably be chilled in some way. Hobbling the will of the people — as the Does ask us to do — based on rank conjecture and speculation flies in the face of the constitutional underpinnings of the overbreadth doctrine. The statutes are not substantially overbroad and, therefore, are not facially unconstitutional. Any infirmity that might be alleged in the future can be addressed by the courts of this state on an "as applied" basis.
We affirm the trial court's order upholding the facial constitutionality of sections 106.071, 106.143, and 106.144, Florida Statutes (1995), as explained herein.
It is so ordered.
KOGAN, C.J., and OVERTON, WELLS and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.
HARDING, J., dissents with an opinion in which GRIMES, Senior Justice, concurs.
. The district court's order is unpublished. Doe v. Mortham, No. 96-2583 (Fla. 1st DCA Aug. 7, 1996).
. Section 106.071(1), Florida Statutes (1995), provides as follows:
Each person who makes an independent expenditure with respect to any candidate or issue, which expenditure, in the aggregate, is in the amount of $100 or more, shall file periodic reports of such expenditures in the same manner, at the same time, and with the same officer as a political committee supporting or opposing such candidate or issue. The report shall contain the full name and address of each person to whom arid for whom each such expenditure has been made; the amount, date, and purpose of each such expenditure; a description of the services or goods obtained by each such expenditure; and the name and address of, and the office sought by, each candidate on whose behalf such expenditure was made. Any political advertisement paid for by an independent expenditure shall prominently state "Paid political advertisement paid for by (Name of person or committee paying for advertisement) independently of any (candidate or committee)," and shall contain the name and address of the person paying for the political advertisement.
. Section 106.143(1), Florida Statutes (1995), provides in relevant part:
(1) Any political advertisement and any campaign literature published, displayed, or circulated prior to, or on the day of, any election shall:
(a) Be marked "paid political advertisement" or with the abbreviation "pd. pol. adv."
(b) Identify the persons or organizations sponsoring the advertisement.
. Section 106.144(1), Florida Statutes (1995), provides in relevant part:
(1) Any group, club, association, or other organization, except organizations affiliated with political parties regulated by chapter 103, which intends to endorse or oppose the candidacy of one or more candidates for public office, or which endorses or opposes any referendum, by means of political advertisements shall, prior to publishing, issuing, broadcasting, or otherwise distributing such advertisement, file a statement as provided by this section with the officer or officers provided in this section.
. See generally Richard H. Fallon, Jr., Making Sense of Overbreadth, 100 Yale L.J. 853 (1991).
. The statutes protect the integrity of the election process by promoting truthfulness in campaign advertising; by fostering fairness and civility in election campaigns; and by increasing the fund of information available to the electorate. See generally McIntyre, 514 U.S. at 371-385, 115 S.Ct. at 1530-1537 (Scalia, J., dissenting).
. The Revenue Act of 1971, Title VIII, 85 Stat. 562, as amended, 87 Stat. 138, and further amended by the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974, § 403 et seq., 88 Stat. 1291.
. McIntyre, 514 U.S. at 337, 115 S.Ct. at 1514 ("Except for the help provided by her son and a friend, who placed some of the leaflets on car windshields in the school parking lot, Mrs. McIntyre acted independently.").
. Id. ("She had composed and printed it on her home computer and had paid a professional printer to make additional copies."). The federal Court emphasized the difference between organized support and independent expenditures. Id. at 353 n. 14, 115 S.Ct. at 1522 n. 14 ("We stress[] the importance of this distinction_").
. See Gooding v. Wilson, 405 U.S. 518, 520, 92 S.Ct. 1103, 1105, 31 L.Ed.2d 408 (1972) ("Only [state] courts can supply the requisite construction, since of course we lack jurisdiction authoritatively to construe state legislation.") (internal quotation marks omitted); United States v. Thirty-Seven Photographs, 402 U.S. 363, 369, 91 S.Ct. 1400, 1405, 28 L.Ed.2d 822 (1971) ("[W]e lack jurisdiction authoritatively to construe state legislation."). See also Lawrence H. Tribe, American Constitutional Law § 12-30 (2d ed. 1988) ("In dealing with state laws, the Court cannot simply substitute a saving reinterpretation of a statute for that authoritatively given the statute by the state's highest court...."). See also Ernest H. Schopler, Annotation, Supreme Court's Views as to Overbreadth of Legislation in Connec tion with First Amendment Rights, 45 L.Ed.2d 725, 741 (1976):
In determining whether legislation which violates the First amendment on the ground of overhreadth may he saved from invalidity by a narrowing construction, the Supreme Court has made a distinction, based on a general rule, not limited to the overbreadth doctrine, between the scope of its review of federal and state statutes.
This general rule is to the effect that the Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction to authoritatively construe state legislation so as to avoid constitutional issues', but has power to give a federal statute such authoritative construction.
. See Traylor v. State, 596 So.2d 957, 962 (Fla.1992) ("[N]o court is more sensitive or responsive to the needs of the diverse localities within a state, or the state as a whole, than that state's own high court.").
. See, e.g., State v. Stalder, 630 So.2d 1072 (Fla.1994):
We note that in assessing a statute's constitutionality, this court is bound "to resolve all doubts as to the validity of [the] statute in favor of its constitutionality, provided the statute may be given a fair construction that is consistent with the federal and state constitutions as well as with the legislative intent." Further, "[w]henever possible, a statute should be construed so as not to conflict with the constitution. Just as federal courts are authorized to place narrowing constructions on acts of Congress, this Court may, under the proper circumstances, do the same with a state statute when to do so does not effectively rewrite the enactment."
Id. at 1076 (quoting State v. Elder, 382 So.2d 687, 690 (Fla.1980), and Firestone v. News-Press Publ. Co., 538 So.2d 457, 459-60 (Fla.1989)). See also State v. Globe Communications Corp., 648 So.2d 110 (Fla.1994); Firestone v. News-Press Pub. Co., 538 So.2d 457 (Fla.1989); State v. Elder, 382 So.2d 687 (Fla.1980).
. See, e.g., Stalder (giving Florida's hate crimes statute a narrowing construction); Firestone (giving Florida's polling place statute a narrowing construction); Elder (giving Florida's anonymous phone call statute a narrowing construction).
. As noted above, section 106.143(1) applies to "[a]ny political advertisement and campaign literature published, displayed or circulated prior to, or on the day of, any election." The phrase "political advertisement" is defined in section 106.011:
(17) "Political advertisement" means a paid expression in any communications media prescribed in subsection (13), whether radio, television, newspaper, magazine, periodical, campaign literature, direct mail, or display or by means other than' the spoken word in direct conversation, which shall support or oppose any candidate, elected public official or issue.
. As noted above, section 106.071(1) provides in relevant part:
Any political advertisement paid for by an independent expenditure shall prominently state "Paid political advertisement paid for by (Name of person or committee paying for advertisement) independently of any (candidate or committee)," and shall contain the name and address of the person paying for the political advertisement.
. See ch. 77-175, § 65, at 1074, Laws of Fla. ("If any provision of this act . is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are declared severable.").
. To comport with the First Amendment, the last sentence in section 106.071(1) must be truncated to read: "Any political advertisement paid for by an independent expenditure shall prominently state 'Paid political advertisement.' "
. By way of comparison, the Ohio statute that was in issue in McIntyre allowed no such anonymous disclaimer:. "The disclaimer 'paid political advertisement' is not sufficient to meet the requirements of this division." McIntyre, 514 U.S. at 338 n. 3, 115 S.Ct. at 1514 n.3.
. We find the other arguments raised by the Does to be without merit.