Opinion ID: 1406050
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: The Flipside Test

Text: The level of scrutiny that a court must use in reviewing a vagueness challenge depends on the nature of the enactment. Flipside, 455 U.S. at 498, 102 S.Ct. at 1193. The nature of the enactment, in turn, depends on four factors. Those factors are: (1) whether the statute is an economic regulation; (2) whether the statute imposes civil or criminal penalties; (3) whether the statute contains a scienter requirement; and (4) whether the statute threatens to inhibit the exercise of constitutionally protected rights. Id. at 498-99, 102 S.Ct. at 1193-94; High Gear & Toke Shop, 689 P.2d at 631. A less strict vagueness test applies when the statute is an economic regulation, when the statute imposes civil penalties, or when the statute contains a scienter requirement. By contrast, a more strict vagueness test applies when the statute imposes criminal penalties. Perhaps the most important factor is whether the statute threatens to inhibit the exercise of constitutionally protected rights. If it does, then a more strict test applies; if it does not, then a less strict test applies. Flipside, 455 U.S. at 498-99, 102 S.Ct. at 1193-94. The district court found that the statute was an economic regulation, that it imposed criminal penalties, that it contained a scienter requirement, and that it did not threaten to inhibit the exercise of constitutionally protected rights because the prohibition against advertising extended solely to commercial speech that the General Assembly had declared to be illegal. It then analyzed the challenged phrases of subsection (6)(a) under the less strict Flipside vagueness test and concluded that the phrases were sufficiently clear that persons of ordinary intelligence could readily understand their meaning and application. The appellants argue that the more strict Flipside vagueness test applies. They insist that the more strict test applies when any of the four Flipside factors favors the more strict test. They also claim that the fourth and most important Flipside factor favors application of the more strict vagueness test. The standards for evaluating a vagueness challenge should not be applied mechanically. Flipside, 455 U.S. at 498, 102 S.Ct. at 1193. Therefore, a mere tally of the four Flipside factors will not suffice. At the same time, the mere indication that one of the first three factors favors the more strict vagueness test does not compel the conclusion that the more strict vagueness test applies. Because the fourth Flipside factor is the most important to consider, we turn to it first. If section 18-13-119 interferes with the right of free speech or association, for example, then the more stringent vagueness test applies. Id. Yet, as we stated in Part III.A.1, section 18-13-119 does not interfere with the right of free speech because the speech in question is commercial speech directed at activity the legislature declared to be illegal. In addition, subsection (2) states that nothing contained in this section shall be construed to otherwise prohibit advertising by health care providers. This restriction on the scope of the prohibition against advertising shows that the statute is narrowly tailored, and reinforces the notion that section 18-13-119 does not inhibit the exercise of constitutionally protected rights. As a result, the fourth Flipside factor militates in favor of the less strict vagueness test. Two of the first three Flipside factors also favor the less strict vagueness test. Section 18-13-119 is an economic regulation. It requires a health care provider to act knowingly, thereby showing that the statute contains a scienter requirement. The statute provides for criminal penalties, however, so the second Flipside factor favors the more strict vagueness test. [9] Because the most important factor as well as two of the remaining three factors weigh in favor of the less strict vagueness test, we conclude that the phrases in subsection (6)(a) will be measured under the less strict vagueness test. 2.