Opinion ID: 1155589
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Vagueness Under the United States Constitution

Text: Defendant argues that the statute is vague under the Constitution of the United States for the same reasons that he advances under the Oregon Constitution. The Supreme Court of the United States has interpreted the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States to prohibit the states from enforcing vague criminal laws. Lanzetta v. New Jersey, 306 U.S. 451, 59 S.Ct. 618, 83 L.Ed. 888 (1939). A void for vagueness analysis under the federal constitution is much like the Oregon analysis. State v. Robertson, 293 Or. 402, 409, 649 P.2d 569 (1982). In order to withstand a vagueness challenge, a statute that defines a criminal offense must give a person of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to know what conduct is prohibited. United States v. Murphy, 809 F.2d 1427, 1431 (9th Cir.1987) (citing Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 357, 103 S.Ct. 1855, 1858, 75 L.Ed.2d 903 (1983)). Moreover, the law must provide explicit standards so that those who enforce and apply the law do not do so in an arbitrary or discriminatory fashion. Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455 U.S. 489, 503, 102 S.Ct. 1186, 1195-96, 71 L.Ed.2d 362 (1982). As our discussion under the Oregon Constitution reveals, ORS 166.165(1)(a)(A) does both and, accordingly, does not offend the Due Process Clause. ORS 166.165(1)(a)(A) is not unconstitutionally vague under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.