Opinion ID: 499806
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Facial Challenges under the First Amendment

Text: 13 In analyzing the constitutional issues raised by this appeal, it is important to recognize the nature of the challenge to the county's regulations. IDK and the other escort services who brought this action were granted licenses by the county. No party has appealed from the denial of a license nor are we confronted with an appeal from a revocation of the licenses. The case was brought as a facial challenge only, and it is in that context that we undertake our review. 14 Courts permit facial challenges to statutes under the first amendment because its 15 freedoms are delicate and vulnerable, as well as supremely precious in our society. The threat of sanctions may deter their exercise almost as potently as the actual application of sanctions. Because First Amendment freedoms need breathing space to survive, government may regulate in the area only with narrow specificity. 16 NAACP v. Button, 371 U.S. 415, 433, 83 S.Ct. 328, 338, 9 L.Ed.2d 405 (1963) (citations omitted). Because of the chilling effect a statute might have on the freedoms of expression and association, an expedited determination of its constitutionality is preferable. If the rule were otherwise, the contours of regulation would have to be hammered out case by case--and tested only by those hardy enough to risk criminal prosecution to determine the proper scope of regulation. Dombrowski v. Pfister, 380 U.S. 479, 487, 85 S.Ct. 1116, 1121, 14 L.Ed.2d 22 (1965). The very existence of the regulation threatens the less hardy, inhibiting their discussions and associations. Thornhill v. Alabama, 310 U.S. 88, 97, 60 S.Ct. 736, 741, 84 L.Ed. 1093 (1940). Justice Marshall likened the threat to a sword of Damocles and noted that the value of such a sword is that it hangs--not that it drops. Arnett v. Kennedy, 416 U.S. 134, 231, 94 S.Ct. 1633, 1682, 40 L.Ed.2d 15 (1974) (Marshall, J., dissenting). 17 Courts should not, however, countenance facial challenges in the ordinary course: it can seldom be appropriate ... to exercise any such power of prior approval or veto over the legislative process. Younger, 401 U.S. at 53, 91 S.Ct. at 755. Facial invalidation is often used, however, to protect political expression and association. See, e.g., Federal Election Comm'n v. National Conservative Political Action Comm., 470 U.S. 480, 490-96, 105 S.Ct. 1459, 1465-68, 84 L.Ed.2d 455 (1985); Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780, 103 S.Ct. 1564, 75 L.Ed.2d 547 (1983); Consolidated Edison Co. v. Public Service Comm'n, 447 U.S. 530, 100 S.Ct. 2326, 65 L.Ed.2d 319 (1980); Village of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment, 444 U.S. 620, 100 S.Ct. 826, 63 L.Ed.2d 73 (1980); Kusper v. Pontikes, 414 U.S. 51, 94 S.Ct. 303, 38 L.Ed.2d 260 (1973); Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham, 394 U.S. 147, 89 S.Ct. 935, 22 L.Ed.2d 162 (1969); Dombroski, 380 U.S. 479, 85 S.Ct. 1116; Shelton v. Tucker, 364 U.S. 479, 81 S.Ct. 247, 5 L.Ed.2d 231 (1960); Thornhill, 310 U.S. 88, 60 S.Ct. 736. 18 Courts also use facial challenges to protect religious expression and association or to strike down laws that violate the first amendment's establishment clause. See, e.g., Edwards v. Aguillard, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 2573, 96 L.Ed.2d 510 (1987); Board of Airport Comm'rs v. Jews for Jesus, Inc., --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 2568, 96 L.Ed.2d 500 (1987); Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc., 459 U.S. 116, 103 S.Ct. 505, 74 L.Ed.2d 297 (1982); McDaniel v. Paty, 435 U.S. 618, 98 S.Ct. 1322, 55 L.Ed.2d 593 (1978); Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488, 81 S.Ct. 1680, 6 L.Ed.2d 982 (1961); Kunz v. New York, 340 U.S. 290, 71 S.Ct. 312, 95 L.Ed. 280 (1951); Saia v. New York, 334 U.S. 558, 68 S.Ct. 1148, 92 L.Ed. 1574 (1948); West Virginia State Bd. of Educ. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 63 S.Ct. 1178, 87 L.Ed. 1628 (1943). If the courts of a state could adopt a construction of its statute that eliminates the constitutional defects, federal courts should defer. Time, Inc. v. Hill, 385 U.S. 374, 397, 87 S.Ct. 534, 546, 17 L.Ed.2d 456 (1967); Harrison v. NAACP, 360 U.S. 167, 176-77, 79 S.Ct. 1025, 1030, 3 L.Ed.2d 1152 (1959). Partial invalidation of a statute is preferred to its wholesale invalidation. Brockett v. Spokane Arcades, Inc., 472 U.S. 491, 502, 504, 105 S.Ct. 2794, 2801, 2802, 86 L.Ed.2d 394 (1985); Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 108, 96 S.Ct. 612, 677, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976). 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. Broadrick v. Oklahoma, 413 U.S. 601, 615, 93 S.Ct. 2908, 2917, 37 L.Ed.2d 830 (1973) (quoting Coates v. City of Cincinnati, 402 U.S. 611, 617, 91 S.Ct. 1686, 1690, 29 L.Ed.2d 214 (1971) (Black, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part)). 19 A facial attack against a law's constitutionality may proceed along four axes: (1) the law may impermissibly burden the plaintiff's rights, (2) it may impermissibly burden the rights of third parties, (3) it may fail to provide adequate notice of what conduct is prohibited, or (4) it may lack sufficient guidelines to prevent arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. See Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455 U.S. 489, 495-98, 102 S.Ct. 1186, 1191-93, 71 L.Ed.2d 362 (1982). The first two assail the law as a prior restraint or an invalid time, place, or manner restriction. See Shuttlesworth, 394 U.S. 147, 151-55, 89 S.Ct. 935, 938-41, 22 L.Ed.2d 162; City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc., 475 U.S. 41, 46-53, 106 S.Ct. 925, 928-32, 89 L.Ed.2d 29 (1986). The second additionally is an attack for overbreadth, in which the plaintiff asserts the rights of third parties. See Broadrick v. Oklahoma, 413 U.S. at 611-14, 93 S.Ct. at 2915-17. The third and fourth are challenges for vagueness. Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 108-09, 92 S.Ct. 2294, 2298-99, 33 L.Ed.2d 222 (1972). The escort services assert all four as grounds for invalidating the county's regulation. Our first task is to determine whether the regulation impermissibly burdens the plaintiffs' or third parties' rights. Stated another way, does the regulation reach a substantial amount of constitutionally protected conduct? Flipside, 455 U.S. at 494, 102 S.Ct. at 1191.