Opinion ID: 2622963
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Primary Arguments on Appeal

Text: On appeal Godfrey's main argument is that his due process rights were violated because AS 43.70.075 requires suspension of his tobacco endorsement upon his employees' convictions of negligently selling cigarettes to minors, and gave Godfrey no opportunity to be heard on his contention the convictions were not factually or legally supportable. Contending that suspension would result in more than $14,000 in lost profits, in addition to the $800 civil fine, he argues that subjecting him to sanctions of this magnitude solely because an employee was found guilty of a violation in a summary proceeding is offensive to the due process of law. The license holder is given no opportunity whatsoever to dispute whether any law was actually violated. The license holder's interests are not represented at the summary criminal proceeding, let alone by someone with the same interests who is a party. Godfrey concludes that [i]t is a violation of due process for a judgment to be binding on a litigant who was not a party or a privy and therefore has never had an opportunity to be heard. [8] The state argues in response that the $300 criminal fine potentially assessable against employees for the offense of negligently selling tobacco to minors gives employees sufficient incentive to contest citations under AS 11.76.100. The state relies on Godfrey's testimony that 1300 is a lot of money to these people sometimes. Considering that the average hourly wage is $8.00-8.50, the state contends that $300 is almost one week's gross pay for a clerk working thirty-five to forty hours a week. It therefore asserts that clerks have a significant incentive to contest the criminal charge if they have a basis for doing so. The state concludes that if clerks do not contest the charges it is more likely because they do not have a viable defense, not because they do not have the funds to hire counsel, as Godfrey asserts. Furthermore, the state notes that the statute requires a conviction to trigger a suspension. According to the state, [r]equiring a conviction means that the employee who [is convicted] . . . has had a right to trial, a right to confront and question witnesses, a right to subpoena witnesses on his or her behalf, and [that] the state has had to prove the elements of AS 11.76.100 beyond a reasonable doubt. This means, according to the state, it is not unfair to use employee convictions against licensees because any risk that employee convictions would be factually or legally improper is purely hypothetical. The state also argues that AS 43.70.075 is constitutional because the government's significant interest in protecting the health of its citizens by regulating tobacco products outweighs an individual's private economic interest and the risk of erroneous deprivation of the private interest. Finally, the state asserts that Godfrey presented no evidence at the administrative hearings concerning the defenses he contended he should be able to raise, namely entrapment and absence of negligence. It follows, the state argues, that even if these defenses are legally available, this case can be affirmed for lack of evidence supporting the would-be defenses. In essence, then, the main dispute is whether the statute and the procedure the department followed deprived Godfrey of due process of law because the statute will cause him a large financial loss without giving him a fair opportunity to dispute facts that he thinks are inherently relevant.