Court Opinion

ID: 9744569
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:06:59.351053+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:50.088327
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE SMITH dissenting: I dissent because my view of the evidence is that there was interference as a matter of law, that is, a trier of the facts could so find. The majority opinion simply says that there was no evidence that his conduct interfered with the use or enjoyment of the premises by any other person. As I have said, I do not read the evidence to be this way at all. Accordingly a recital is in order. Defendant was a student at the University of Illinois, Urbana, and for reasons of his own — certainly not in evidence — he was opposed to the serving and presumably the eating of non-union picked lettuce — he characterized such as “scab lettuce”. His jeremiad took the form of soliciting signatures in the Illinois Union Building, a recreational center for students, to a petition — “Petition to End University Financial Support of Scab Lettuce Growers”. Following this heading, the petition read that the “undersigned demand” the University to end its “unwarranted obstruction of self-determination for farm workers”, that the University was using “its enormous purchasing power to support a small, self-interested clique of growers by buying their lettuce”, and spoke to the theme that in so doing the University was helping to break the strike of lettuce pickers “who are trying to climb out of poverty”, it demanded cessation of “meddling” in this labor dispute by the University using “its purchasing orders to support the growers”, and demanded a stop to purchase “iceberg lettuce altogether”, and explained, somewhat disingenuously the converse of the above, that by not buying lettuce the University “would not be cooperating with either” side, this was followed by a culinary observation that the University “should find other types of lettuce for use in salads” (not specified), and demanded “immediate initiation” of this policy — no scab iceberg lettuce — and that by doing so the University will then “conform to both the spirit and the letter of its own policies and of state law.” — how this state of affairs would come about was not gone into, but left to imagination. In search of signatures, defendant first went to the basement area of the Union where the food services were located and stationed himself at the head of the cafeteria line speaking to those who passed to support the lettuce boycott and how this could be done — by signing his petition. He was asked to stop— and did, at least there. Since his petition related to food — and reasoning, we assume that the hungry would be the most apt to sign — he retreated to the snack bar — again to solicit signatures. This was during the noon hour. He was not in the food serving area as such, as he had been in the cafeteria, but instead he chose to make his stand near the pickle, ketchup and mustard stations. A police officer instructed him to discontinue what he was doing and handed him a form which read in part that, “Students who picket on University premises must do so in a peaceful and orderly fashion. Picketing should not involve invasion of the rights of others, interference with the operations of the University, or jeopardy to public order and safety. Specifically * * * Picketing inside University buildings is prohibited.” He declined to desist and continued his efforts. His modus operandi was simply to stop persons and ask them to sign his petition. Next, the Assistant Director of the building told him that he could not engage in his petitioning activity in the area which he had chosen, but nothing daunted, he continued his quest. Enter: The Chief of the University Police. He, likewise, advised defendant that he should discontinue what he was doing or leave the building. Defendant again declined and this time he was arrested for Criminal Trespass To State Supported Land. Though he merely spoke to prospective petitioners— urging them to support the boycott by signing his petition, the evidence certainly supports the conclusion that he stopped everyone within reach and not only urged them to sign his petition but urged them also to eat elsewhere. He had positioned himself in an area and at a time when there was a heavy flow of traffic. Ingress and egress to the snack bar was not easy, the entryways being sufficient to accommodate only two people. His conduct, or so it was testified to, did cause people to congregate about him, blocking such entryways and making it difficult for patrons of the snack bar to get in and out — they had to walk around him. There was some conflict in the evidence on some of these aspects — suffice it to say, there was evidence enough to support this recital. The central issue, as I see it, as to the question of proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, is whether by remaining in the building after receiving notice to depart, he did, as a matter of law, interfere “with another persons lawful use or enjoyment” of the Ulini Union Building —in other words was there interference within the meaning of this section. Well, there was certainly not interference in the football sense, but indubitably there was a “butting in” though without actually obstructing anyone, certainly a meddling, though physical intervention was absent. The verb “interfere” equates with insinuate, impose, to butt, horn, cut, push, or press in — to worm in, to thrust oneself upon or impose upon —kibitzing, even, can be interference, not unlike interference on the television. To situate oneself as defendant did between the condiment trays, adjacent to a snack bar, during the noon hour when the traffic was heavy — the evidence supported this — to stop persons as they were coming or going through the snack bar line, and asking them to sign his petition, creating the congestion and inconvenience described above, is, in my opinion, to interfere with such persons’ lawful use or enjoyment of the Union Building, particularly, their enjoyment 'of the snack bar. Indeed, as an aside, who could savor prepandial or post their lunch knowing that there was “scab” lettuce about. In short, I consider defendant’s activities to be interference in law, and thus, since the evidence was certainly ample, a trier of the facts was justified in finding him guilty of the offense with which he was charged. I would therefore affirm.