Opinion ID: 738528
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the standard of proof for facial challenges to abortion statutes

Text: 29 The plaintiffs in this case have brought a facial challenge, claiming that Act 1254 on its face violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court has articulated two approaches to proving a statute is facially unconstitutional. In United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 107 S.Ct. 2095, 95 L.Ed.2d 697 (1987), the Court held that in a facial challenge, the challenger must establish that no set of circumstances exists under which the Act would be valid. Id. at 745, 107 S.Ct. at 2100 (emphasis added). However, in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 112 S.Ct. 2791, 120 L.Ed.2d 674 (1992), the Court appeared to temper the Salerno standard by suggesting that an abortion law is facially invalid if in a large fraction of the cases in which [the law] is relevant, it will operate as a substantial obstacle to a woman's choice to undergo an abortion. Id. at 895, 112 S.Ct. at 2830 (emphasis added). Plainly, more statutes will survive a facial attack under Salerno than under Casey. 30 Shortly after Casey was decided, we held in Barnes v. Moore, 970 F.2d 12, 14 n. 2 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1021, 113 S.Ct. 656, 121 L.Ed.2d 582 (1992), that Casey did not overrule Salerno. Since our decision in Barnes, however, no clear consensus among federal courts has emerged regarding the standard for facial challenges in a post-Casey world. Six Justices from the Supreme Court have expressed their views on this issue, but not in cases receiving a full hearing by the Court. Justices O'Connor, Souter, and Stevens have made it clear that the Casey standard controls in the abortion context. See Janklow v. Planned Parenthood, Sioux Falls Clinic, --- U.S. ----, ----, 116 S.Ct. 1582, 1583, 134 L.Ed.2d 679 (1996) (Stevens, J., mem. respecting denial of certiorari) (While a facial challenge may be more difficult to mount than an as-applied challenge, the dicta in Salerno 'does not accurately characterize the standard for deciding facial challenges,' and 'neither accurately reflects the Court's practice with respect to facial challenges, nor is it consistent with a wide array of legal principles.' ) (quoting Michael C. Dorf, Facial Challenges to State and Federal Statutes, 46 STAN. L. REV . 235, 236, 238 (1994)); Fargo Women's Health Organization v. Schafer, 507 U.S. 1013, 1014, 113 S.Ct. 1668, 1669, 123 L.Ed.2d 285 (1993) (O'Connor, J., joined by Souter, J., conc. in denial of stay pending appeal) (stating that lower courts' application of Salerno standard is inconsistent with Casey ). On the other hand, Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Scalia and Thomas have stated that the Salerno standard applies in the abortion context. See Janklow, --- U.S. at ---- - ----, 116 S.Ct. at 1584-87 (Scalia, J., joined by Rehnquist, C.J. & Thomas, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari). There is also considerable disagreement among the lower federal courts on this issue. 4 See generally Ruth Burdick, Note, The Casey Undue Burden Standard: Problems Predicted and Encountered, and the Split Over the Salerno Test, 23 HASTINGS CONST. L.Q . 825 (1996) (arguing that lower federal courts are likely to remain split over the Salerno-Casey choice). 31 The district court avoided this thicket of disagreement, reasoning that under either approach, Act 1254 was unconstitutional. 905 F.Supp. at 363 n. 2. As such, the district court applied the more rigorous Salerno standard. Id. at 363. In this appeal, both parties urge us to confront head-on the question of the standard of proof that should govern facial challenges in abortion cases. Specifically, the plaintiffs claim that the statements made by Justices O'Connor and Souter in Fargo Women's Health Organization v. Schafer, 507 U.S. at 1014, 113 S.Ct. at 1669, and by Justice Stevens in Janklow call into doubt our prior holding in Barnes. On the other hand, the State asks us to follow our previous decision in Barnes because the Supreme Court has not conclusively resolved the confusion in this area. 32 We are free to reconsider the correctness of a panel opinion, short of the full court sitting en banc, if the Supreme Court has handed down an intervening decision that implicitly or explicitly overrules one of our prior decisions. See Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Dawson, 4 F.3d 1303, 1307 (5th Cir.1993), cert. denied, 512 U.S. 1205, 114 S.Ct. 2673, 129 L.Ed.2d 809 (1994); Campbell v. Sonat Offshore Drilling, Inc., 979 F.2d 1115, 1121 n. 8 (5th Cir.1992). However, we have not held that intermittent statements accompanying denials of certiorari or denials of stays pending appeal amount to an intervening change in the law. The Supreme Court itself has said that all opinions dissenting from the denial of certiorari are totally unnecessary and examples of the purest form of dicta. Singleton v. Commissioner, 439 U.S. 940, 944-45, 99 S.Ct. 335, 338, 58 L.Ed.2d 335 (1978) (Stevens, J., respecting the denial of certiorari). Accordingly, for a panel of this court to overrule a prior decision, we have required a Supreme Court decision that has been fully heard by the Court and establishes a rule of law inconsistent with our own. See United States v. Kirk, 528 F.2d 1057, 1063-64 (5th Cir.1976) (holding that two-member concurrence was insufficient as an indicator that the Court expressly or implicitly overruled one of our prior decisions). The wisdom of this policy is illustrated here. As far as we can tell, the Court appears to be divided 3-3 on the Salerno-Casey debate, and it would be ill-advised for us to assume that the Court will abandon Salerno because three members of the Court now desire that result. 5 33 More to the point, even assuming the statements in Fargo and Janklow amount to an intervening change in the law such that we may decline to follow Barnes, we nevertheless stay our hand on this contentious issue because its resolution is not necessary to the disposition of this case, for whether viewed under Casey or Salerno, Act 1254 is unconstitutional on its face. 6 Thus, like the district court, we apply the more rigorous Salerno standard to Act 1254.