Opinion ID: 442046
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to apply for an exemption

Text: 13 The City of Golden argues that ACORN has sought to challenge the solicitation ordinance without filing for an exemption thereto. The exemption process required by the City of Golden is reasonable and valid, and ACORN has created an unnecessary controversy by refusing to file for the same. Brief of Defendants-Appellees 6. Furthermore, the City Attorney for the Golden believes that a basis for exempting ACORN exists although the final decision rests with the city council. Id. at 7. As we understand Golden's argument, it takes the position that ACORN should be required to apply for and be denied an exemption before bringing a facial challenge to the ordinance. We cannot agree. 14 Applying for and being denied a license or an exemption is not a condition precedent to bringing a facial challenge to an unconstitutional law. One faced with an unconstitutional law requiring him to obtain a license or exemption before engaging in First Amendment activity may ignore it and engage with impunity in the exercise of the right of free expression for which the law purports to require a license. See Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham, 394 U.S. 147, 151, 89 S.Ct. 935, 939, 22 L.Ed.2d 162 (1969) (footnote omitted).  'The Constitution can hardly be thought to deny to one subjected to the restraints of such an ordinance the right to attack its constitutionality, because he has not yielded to its demands.'  Id. (quoting Jones v. Opelika, 316 U.S. 584, 602, 62 S.Ct. 1231, 1242, 86 L.Ed. 1691 (1942) (Stone C.J., dissenting) (adopted per curiam on rehearing 319 U.S. 103, 104, 63 S.Ct. 890, 890, 87 L.Ed. 1290 (1943))). Thus,  '[o]ne who might have had a license for the asking may therefore call into question the whole scheme of licensing when he is prosecuted for failure to procure it.'  City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent, --- U.S. ----, ---- n. 16, 104 S.Ct. 2118, 2125 n. 16, 80 L.Ed.2d 772 (1984) (emphasis added). (quoting Thornhill v. Alabama, 310 U.S. 88, 97-98, 60 S.Ct. 736, 741-742, 84 L.Ed. 1093 (1940)); see also Lovell v. City of Griffin, 303 U.S. 444, 452, 58 S.Ct. 666, 669, 82 L.Ed. 949 (1938) (As the ordinance is void on its face, it was not necessary for appellant to seek a permit under it.); Schneider v. State, 308 U.S. 147, 165, 60 S.Ct. 146, 152, 84 L.Ed. 155 (1939) ([T]he ordinance in question, as applied to the petitioner's conduct, is void, and she cannot be punished for acting without a permit.). 15 This principle is not limited to cases in which an individual or organization is defending against criminal charges. It also permits such facial challenges by suits for injunctive or declaratory relief against laws requiring an exemption or permit, so long as the plaintiff has standing. See, e.g., Strasser v. Doorley, 432 F.2d 567, 568 (1st Cir.1970); Natco Theatres, Inc. v. Ratner, 463 F.Supp. 1124, 1126 (S.D.N.Y.1979); see also Fernandes v. Limmer, 663 F.2d 619, 625 (5th Cir.1981), cert. dismissed, 458 U.S. 1124, 103 S.Ct. 5, 73 L.Ed.2d 1395 (1982). 3 16 Here the trial judge reasoned that the narrow question presented by the attack on the facial validity of this ordinance is whether the requirement of an application for an exemption is unreasonable. Trial Court op. at 5-6. Holding the ordinance valid, the court upheld the requirement to obtain a permit. For reasons that follow, we are persuaded that the ordinance infringes First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and therefore ACORN is entitled to challenge the ordinance without first applying for an exemption. 4