Court Opinion

ID: 9478424
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:48:47.107901+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:46:25.499144
License: Public Domain

*438MINER, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
Because I believe that we should, if possible, have the benefit of the Connecticut Supreme Court’s construction of the statute at issue before we pass on the merits of plaintiffs claim that the legislation does not measure up to federal constitutional requirements, I respectfully dissent.
The Hunter Harassment Act, duly enacted by the legislature and approved by the Governor of the State of Connecticut, prohibits interference with and harassment of those engaged in lawfully taking, or preparing to take, wildlife. The majority concludes that the words “interfere,” “harass,” and “acts in preparation” contained in the Act are not readily susceptible to the limiting construction necessary to preserve the constitutionality of the statute. I think that this determination is unwarranted.
The word “interfere” in a statute imposing a criminal penalty for interfering with a police officer easily yielded to an interpretation by the Connecticut Supreme Court that preserved the constitutionality of the statute. State v. Williams, 205 Conn. 456, 534 A.2d 230 (1987). The court in Williams confined the prohibited conduct “to meddling in or hampering the activities of the police in the performance of their duties.” 534 A.2d at 238. A similar interpretation of the Hunter Harassment Act, substituting hunting activities for police duties, could save the Act from over-breadth and vagueness concerns. I cannot agree with the district court that the Act sweeps as broadly as the ordinance struck down in Houston v. Hill, 107 S.Ct. 2502 (1987). The prohibition on interrupting a police officer in any manner in the Houston ordinance left no room for any construction that would have saved the ordinance without rewriting it.
Similarly, “harassment” has been afforded a restrictive definition under Connecticut law. A statute prohibiting harassment by written and telephonic communications requires evidence of an intention to annoy or alarm another person. Conn.Gen.Stat. § 53a-183 (1987). New York has a similar statute, which is entitled “Aggravated harassment.” N.Y.Penal Law § 240.30 (McKinney Supp.1988). Indeed, the offense of harassment is described by reference to specific conduct in various penal codes. See, e.g., N.Y.Penal Law § 240.25(l)-(5) (McKinney 1980); see also id. Practice Commentary following (referring to American Law Institute’s Model Penal Code). There is therefore no reason why the Connecticut Supreme Court could not define harassment in the context of the Hunter Harassment Act without impinging on first amendment rights.
As to the term “acts in preparation,” a narrowing construction might restrict the preparatory acts to those directly, unequivocally and immediately related to the act of taking wildlife. Here again, a construction considerate of first amendment rights could save the statute. Moreover, the Hunter Harassment Act is subject to pruning by the Connecticut Supreme Court of any parts found to be contrary to law. The Connecticut severability statute allows for the excision of invalid portions of the Act without effect on the valid remainder. Conn.Gen.Stat. § 1-3 (1987); State v. Golino, 201 Conn. 435, 518 A.2d 57 (1986).
In Bellotti v. Baird, 428 U.S. 132, 96 S.Ct. 2857, 49 L.Ed.2d 844 (1976), the United States Supreme Court directed certification to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts of “questions pertaining to construction of a state statute that was susceptible to multiple interpretations, one of which would avoid or substantially modify a federal constitutional challenge,” Virginia v. American Booksellers Ass’n., — U.S. -, 108 S.Ct. 636, 644, 98 L.Ed.2d 782 (1988). Similarly, a constitutional infirmity in the Act challenged here might be avoided by a decision of the Connecticut Supreme Court. If the term “harmful to juveniles,” as defined in a Virginia statute prohibiting the display of certain visual or written materials, is considered subject to a narrowing construction by the Virginia Supreme Court after certification, American Booksellers, supra, then the objectionable terms in the Connecticut Hunter Harassment Act certainly should be capable of the sort of limiting construction that would meet constitutional challenges.
*439I would certify to the Connecticut Supreme Court questions as to the state law definitions of “interfere,” “harass,” and “acts in preparation” as used in the Hunter Harassment Act, before proceeding to a consideration of the merits of plaintiff’s claim. I also would certify a question as to whether the Connecticut Supreme Court would excise any portion of the Act on state law grounds.