Opinion ID: 2051038
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Picketing Exemption

Text: In Bailey's case, cause No. 76151, the trial judge also found that the stalking statute was unconstitutional because it exempted the act of picketing during bona fide labor disputes without any compelling State reason and was also vague in that the phrase bona fide labor disputes was not defined. The State challenges the trial judge's ruling. Illinois courts use two standards to review equal protection claims. Courts apply strict scrutiny to suspect classifications, such as those based on race, and to classifications that impinge on fundamental constitutional rights. ( Shephard, 152 Ill.2d at 499, 178 Ill.Dec. 724, 605 N.E.2d 518.) A law that does not implicate either a suspect classification or a fundamental right is subject to rational basis review. Under the rational basis test, a statutory classification need only be rationally related to a legitimate State goal. Shephard, 152 Ill.2d at 500, 178 Ill. Dec. 724, 605 N.E.2d 518; People v. Reed (1992), 148 Ill.2d 1, 7-8, 169 Ill.Dec. 282, 591 N.E.2d 455. Citing Carey v. Brown (1980), 447 U.S. 455, 100 S.Ct. 2286, 65 L.Ed.2d 263, Bailey argued in the trial court that the picketing exemption was unconstitutional. At issue in Carey was the constitutionality of an Illinois statute that prohibited picketing of residences or dwellings, but exempted from its prohibition peaceful picketing of places of employment involved in a labor dispute. In determining whether the statute was unconstitutional, the Supreme Court noted that [w]hen government regulation discriminates among speech-related activities in a public forum, the Equal Protection Clause mandates that the legislation be finely tailored to serve substantial state interests, and the justifications offered for any distinctions it draws must be carefully scrutinized. Carey, 447 U.S. at 461-62, 100 S.Ct. at 2290-91, 65 L.Ed.2d at 270. The statute in Carey was ultimately found to violate the equal protection clause because it discriminated among picketers on the basis of the subject matter of their speech. To the extent that Coyne argues that the picketing exemption unconstitutionally discriminates against picketing at a workplace during a bona fide labor dispute and picketing occurring elsewhere, we find that Coyne lacks standing to make such an argument. 'A party has standing to challenge the constitutionality of a statute only insofar as it has an adverse impact on his own rights.' ( People v. Capitol News, Inc. (1990), 137 Ill.2d 162, 168, 148 Ill.Dec. 1, 560 N.E.2d 303, quoting County Court of Ulster County, New York v. Allen (1979), 442 U.S. 140, 154-55, 99 S.Ct. 2213, 2223, 60 L.Ed.2d 777, 790; see also People v. Blackorby (1992), 146 Ill.2d 307, 320-21, 166 Ill.Dec. 902, 586 N.E.2d 1231.) Because Coyne is not a member of a picketing class affected by the exemption, he cannot argue that the exemption unconstitutionally discriminates between different classes of picketers based on the content of their speech. Coyne's argument is therefore reduced to whether the stalking statute unconstitutionally discriminates between picketing at a workplace during a bona fide labor dispute and nonpicketers. Because such a classification does not impinge on a fundamental right or discriminate against a suspect class, the standard for judgment of the exemption is therefore the relatively relaxed rational basis standard. People v. P.H. (1991), 145 Ill.2d 209, 229, 164 Ill.Dec. 137, 582 N.E.2d 700. To determine whether a statutory classification is justified by a rational basis, we must examine its purpose. ( Reed, 148 Ill.2d at 9, 169 Ill.Dec. 282, 591 N.E.2d 455.) The legislative intent in enacting the stalking statute was to prevent violent attacks by prohibiting conduct that may precede them. Legislators in both houses maintained that the statute was necessary because existing laws did not allow police to act until the victim was actually injured. (See 87th Ill. Gen.Assem., Senate Proceedings, May 21, 1992, at 61 (statements of Senator Adeline Geo-Karis); 87th Ill.Gen.Assem., Senate Proceedings, June 22, 1992 at 66 (statements of Senator Carl Hawkinson); 87th Ill.Gen.Assem., House Proceedings, May 20, 1992, at 69, 71-72 (statements of Representative Thomas Homer); 87th Ill.Gen.Assem., House Proceedings, June 26, 1992, at 156 (statements of Representative Homer); 87th Ill.Gen.Assem., House Proceedings, May 20, 1992, at 73 (statements by Representative Homer); 87th Ill.Gen.Assem., Senate Proceedings, June 22,1992, at 66 (statements by Senator Hawkinson).) The statute was also intended to avert the terror, intimidation, and justifiable apprehension caused by the stalker's conduct. Holt, 271 Ill.App.3d at 1021, 208 Ill.Dec. 515, 649 N.E.2d 571; Krawiec, 262 Ill.App.3d at 160, 199 Ill.Dec. 819, 634 N.E.2d 1173; O'Reilly, Illinois' Stalking Statute: Taking Unsteady Aim at Preventing Attacks, 26 J. Marshall L.Rev. at 821, 835 (1993). We find that a rational basis exists for exempting picketing during a bona fide labor dispute from the purview of the statute. The State has a legitimate interest in protecting people from physical injury, and it is reasonable to conclude that the conduct the legislature was trying to combat was not the type of conduct that occurs during picketing. It is also rational to conclude that the legislature exempted picketing during bona fide labor disputes in an effort to ensure that constitutionally protected activity would not be punished. It therefore was rational for the legislature to exempt this conduct. Because a rational basis exists for the exemption, the stalking statute does not violate equal protection. The State also challenges the trial judge's ruling that the stalking statute was unconstitutional because the phrase bona fide labor disputes was not defined. Because Bailey did not claim that his asserted conduct fell within the scope of the picketing exemption, nor is there any conduct which would give rise to application of the exemption, Bailey lacks standing to challenge whether the exemption's language was vague. The trial court therefore erred in considering this constitutional issue. Blackorby, 146 Ill.2d at 320-21, 166 Ill.Dec. 902, 586 N.E.2d 1231; Capitol News, 137 Ill.2d at 169-70, 148 Ill. Dec. 1, 560 N.E.2d 303.