Court Opinion

ID: 9712727
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:58:53.220384+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:13.957488
License: Public Domain

Braucher, J.
(dissenting, with whom Kaplan, J., joins). I agree with much of what the court says, but not with its conclusion. In particular, I agree that the statement of agreed facts does not establish that G. L. c. 136, §§ 1-11, the Common Day of Rest Law, violates the Constitution of the United States. I also agree that the plaintiff’s attack on the entire statute as a “hodge-podge” fails, and that § 6 (27) has not been shown to be invalid as it affects “super drugstores” and those competing with them. But I think it is established that § 6 (29) arbitrarily discriminates against members of the plaintiff class who sell goods in competition with the exempted “gift and craft stores,” and that such discrimination violates our State Constitution.
1. Federal law. Sunday laws undoubtedly had a “strongly religious origin,” but as presently written and administered most are “of a secular rather than of a religious character” and hence do not violate constitutional provisions relating to the establishment of religion. McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 433, 444 (1961). Commonwealth v. Has, 122 Mass. 40, 42 (1877). The Massachusetts statutes were upheld against attack under the First and Fourteenth Amendments in Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Mkt. of Mass., Inc., 366 U.S. 617 (1961). Cf. Commonwealth v. Chamberlain, 343 Mass. 49 (1961) (Fourteenth Amendment). The litigation led to a comprehensive study and revision of what is now the “Common Day of Rest Law.” 1962 Senate Doc. No. 404. G. L. c. 136, §§ 1-11, enacted by St. 1962, c. 616, § 2, and subsequently amended. Neither the Gallagher case nor the *445Chamberlain case involved the precise questions now before us, but I agree with the court that New Orleans v. Dukes, 427 U.S. 297 (1976), makes it clear that a stronger showing than that now made would be needed to establish a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
2. The State Constitution. On issues with respect to “Part II, c. 1, § 1, art. 4, of our State Constitution, as limited by arts. 1, 7,10 and 12 of its Declaration of Rights ... of course, we are not bound by Federal decisions, which in some respects are less restrictive than our Declaration of Rights.” Corning Glass Works v. Ann & Hope, Inc., 363 Mass. 409, 416 (1973), and cases cited. Under the State Constitution, we may properly examine with care a statute “utterly lacking in cohesive scheme,” even though individual clauses of the statute could with ingenuity be found to have a variety of possible rational bases. People v. Abrahams, 40 N.Y.2d 277, 284-285 (1976). See Hall-Omar Baking Co. v. Commissioner of Labor & Indus., 344 Mass. 695, 708-709 (1962), where we found it unnecessary to reach a similar question. Here a cohesive scheme can be found in the statute, but distinctions drawn along lines irrelevant to the purposes which the statute seeks to accomplish may be arbitrary and invalid. Id. at 707.
Even if the statute is not utterly lacking in cohesive scheme, our Constitution requires that “statutes in regard to the transaction of business must operate equally upon all citizens who desire to engage in the business, and that there shall be no arbitrary discrimination between different classes of citizens.” Commonwealth v. Hana, 195 Mass. 262, 266 (1907) (hawkers’ and pedlers’ law), quoted in Hall-Omar Baking Co. v. Commissioner of Labor & Indus., 344 Mass. 695, 701 (1962).
3. “Hodge-podge.” The plaintiff class consists of retailers who wish to open for business on Sundays. As to such retailers, most of G. L. c. 136, § 6, follows a rational and cohesive pattern. Most of the exemptions can be justified as “necessary either for the health of the populace or for the enhancement of the recreational atmosphere of *446the day.” McGowan v. Maryland, supra at 426. At the same time there is recognition, in § 6 (2), on foodstuffs, that Sunday sales by a small store make less of an inroad on that atmosphere than sales from a larger store. Thus I agree with the court, though for different reasons, that the attack on the statute as a whole has insufficient support in the record. The question remains, however, whether § 6 (27) and (29), the two exemptions particularly assailed by the plaintiff, fit the statutory scheme.
4. “Super drugstores.” Section 6 (27), inserted in 1962, added to the traditional exemption for drugs and medicines a further exemption for “the retail sale of personal health and sanitary supplies.” The plaintiff complains of the vagueness and ambiguity of “personal... sanitary supplies,” and argues that the door is opened to Sunday sales by “super drugstores” of items not within the exemption. But it is not irrational to associate sanitation with health. Moreover, so far as the statute is concerned, the members of the plaintiff class are as free as any drugstore to sell the exempted items on Sunday and to test the limits of the exemption. If they find such sales uneconomic because of the way they choose to conduct their businesses, that fact does not establish arbitrary discrimination by the Legislature. Nor do they make out a case of arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement; it is agreed that some “super drugstores” are now defendants in criminal cases for violation of the Sunday law. I therefore agree with the court that § 6 (27) has not been shown to be unconstitutional.
5. “Gift and craft stores.” Section 6 (29), inserted in 1962, exempts: “The sale, at retail, of gifts, souvenirs, antiques, hand crafted goods and art goods, in an establishment primarily engaged in the sale of such merchandise, or on the premises of a licensed common victualler.” The stores which take advantage of this exemption include chains of stores located in shopping centers and business areas; these “gift and craft stores” sell many of the same categories and items of such merchandise as the members of the plaintiff class, but the latter are not “primarily *447engaged” in making such sales. Thus a store in the plaintiff class is subject to prosecution for selling on Sunday a “gift” which would be exempt if sold by a “gift and craft store.” None of the parties refers to the possibility that the plaintiff could avoid the difficulty by taking out a common victualler’s license, and we do not consider that possibility. See G. L. c. 140, §§ 1-21.
Since almost any article might be a “gift,” there is an inherent uncertainty in the scope of the exemption. The statute is a criminal statute, and the court cannot extend it to offenses not created by its language. Commonwealth v. Alexander, 185 Mass. 551, 553 (1904). A deed is not to be declared a crime upon ambiguous words or by a strained construction. Ralph’s Mkt., Inc. v. Beverly, 353 Mass. 588, 590 (1968).
One may speculate that the Legislature intended to exempt what the plaintiff calls “the quaint Cape Cod tourist shop or the cozy Berkshire County antique store,” together with the gift shop in the roadside restaurant or motel. Such an exemption might be thought to contribute to the recreational atmosphere of the day. But the exemption is not drawn in such terms; it does not refer to size, location or setting. In a shopping center or business area, an attempt to distinguish generally between recreational shopping and serious shopping lacks plausibility. The exemption must be evaluated in terms of its present discriminatory effect. Hall-Omar Baking Co. v. Commissioner of Labor & Indus., 344 Mass. 695, 703-704 (1962). Vigeant v. Postal Tel. Cable Co., 260 Mass. 335, 342 (1927). So evaluated, it fails the test. As it affects the plaintiffs, it relates neither to health nor to recreational atmosphere.
This conclusion is not contrary to our decisions in Mobil Oil Corp. v. Attorney Gen., 361 Mass. 401 (1972), and Jewel Cos. v. Burlington, 365 Mass. 274 (1974). In the Mobil Oil case we upheld a prohibition of the use of games of chance in connection with sales by a dealer or seller of motor vehicle fuel, even though it did not apply to competing sellers of other goods. There was no direct prohibition of sales by gasoline stations, and no showing of a loss *448of business to their competitors as a result of the statute (at 418). Even so, two Justices dissented. In the Jewel case we upheld a requirement that food stores close at 10 p.m. despite an exemption for common victuallers and despite the fact that the plaintiff food store sold nonfood items in competition with stores not subject to the requirement. There was testimony that the requirement produced no noticeable difference in gross weekly sales, and it had some basis in actual experience with disturbance of nearby residents (at 276, 279-280). Neither case upholds arbitrary discrimination between competitors where the impact is direct and clear.
The exemption has been in existence for some fifteen years, and one may doubt that the growth of large chains of “gift and craft stores” fully explains the present challenge. The record suggests that two additional factors contributed. First, the Sunday laws in the States on our borders have recently become inoperative, and many members of the plaintiff class are located near a State border and are in competition with stores in other States. Second, the problem came to a head in the Christmas shopping season, during which many retailers make a substantial portion of their total annual sales. While these factors may explain the importance of their grievance to the members of the plaintiff class, I do not think they add to or detract from their constitutional argument.
I would order the entry of a judgment declaring that G. L. c. 136, § 6 (29), is unconstitutional so far as it fails to exempt members of the plaintiff class who compete with exempt stores in the sale of the same categories or items of goods.
Appendix
General Laws c. 136, §§ 1, 5, as appearing in St. 1962, c. 616, § 2, and § 6 (amended through St. 1975, c. 697), reads:
Section 1: “Sunday shall be a common day of rest. Sections one to eleven, inclusive, of this chapter may be cited as the Common Day of Rest Law.”
*449Section 5: “Whoever on Sunday keeps open his shop, warehouse, factory or other place of business, or sells foodstuffs, goods, wares, merchandise or real estate, or does any manner of labor, business or work, except works of necessity and charity, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for a first offense, and a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars for each subsequent offense, and each unlawful act or sale shall constitute a separate offense.”
Section 6: “Section five shall not prohibit the following:
“(1) Any manner of labor, business or work not performed for material compensation; provided, no public nuisance is created thereby.
“(2) The opening of a store or shop and the sale at retail of foodstuffs therein; provided, not more than a total of three persons, including the proprietor, are employed therein at any one time on Sunday and throughout the week.
“(3) The use or repair of any way or bridge, or the payment and collection of any toll incidental thereto.
“(4) The conduct of any public service the continuing operation of which is necessary for the maintenance of life, such as, but not limited to, the operation of municipal water and sewage disposal systems, the operation of hospitals and clinics, or the necessary services of physicians, surgeons, dentists and the like.
“(5) The making of emergency repairs for the purposes of immediate and necessary protection of persons, or property including realty, or the towing of any motor vehicle or boat for such purpose.
“ (6) The manufacture, sale or distribution of steam, electricity, fuel, gas, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, acetylene, carbon dioxide and the calcining of lime, manufacturing processes which for technical reasons require continuous operation, and the processing of checks, items, documents or data by a bank or trust company.
“(7) The operation of radio and television stations; the operation of telephone and telegraph systems; or the preparation, printing, publication, sale and delivery of newspapers, or the taking of pictures.
“(8) The opening and operation of any secular place of business not otherwise prohibited by law if the natural person in control of the business conscientiously believes that the seventh day of the week, or the period which begins at sundown on Friday night and ends at sundown on Saturday night, should be .observed as the Sabbath, and causes all places of business in the commonwealth over which he has control to remain closed for secular business during the entire period of twenty-four consecutive hours which he believes should be observed as the Sabbath, and actually refrains from engaging in secular business and from laboring during that period.
“(9) The showing for sale or for rental of non-commercial real property to be used for residential purposes.
“(10) The opening of art galleries or the display and sale therein of paintings, objects of art, catalogues and pictures.
“(11) The operation of libraries.
“(12) The operation of public bathhouses.
“(13) The operation of boats for purposes of non-commercial fishing and recreation, or the sale of bait for fishing.
“(14) The catching or gathering of seafood and fresh water fish not otherwise prohibited by law.
“(15) The letting of horses, vehicles, boats or aircraft for pleasure.
*450“(16) The sale and rental of sporting equipment and clothing on premises where the sport for which the equipment or clothing to be sold or rented is carried on.
“(17) The retail sale of fuel, gasoline and lubricating oil.
“(18) The retail sale of tires, batteries and automotive parts for emergency use.
“(19) The operation of a pleasure vehicle or the piloting of an aircraft.
“(20) The sale at retail of growing plants, trees or bushes, and articles incidental to the cultivation of such plants, trees or bushes; and the retail sale and delivery of cut flowers.
“(21) The cultivation of land, and the raising and harvesting of agricultural products and fruit, and the making of butter and cheese.
“(22) The sale, for consumption off the premises, of food prepared by a common victualler licensed under other provisions of law to serve on Sunday.
“(23) The selling or delivering of kosher meat or fish by any natural person who observes Saturday as the Sabbath by closing his place of business from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
“(24) The making and baking of bakery products and the sale thereof in a shop or store.
“(25) The retail sale of tobacco products, soft drinks, confectioneries, baby foods, fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, dairy products and eggs, and the retail sale of poultry by the person who raises the same.
“ (26) The sale and delivery of ice.
“(27) The retail sale of drugs and medicines and the retail sale or rental of mechanical appliances prescribed by physicians or surgeons, and the retail sale of personal health and sanitary supplies.
“ (28) The retail sale of greeting cards and photographic films.
“ (29) ■ The sale, at retail, of gifts, souvenirs, antiques, hand crafted goods and art goods, in an establishment primarily engaged in the sale of such merchandise, or on the premises of a licensed common vict-ualler.
“(30) The opening of a store or shop primarily engaged in the retail sale of pets, and the sale therein of pets and articles necessary for the keeping, care and feeding of pets.
“(31) The transport of goods in commerce, or for a consideration, by motor truck or trailer, between the hours of midnight Saturday and eight o’clock in the morning Sunday and between the hours of eight o’clock in the evening and midnight Sunday.
“(32) The transport of goods by rail, water or air; or the loading or unloading of the same.
“(33) The transport of persons by licensed carriers and all matters incidental thereto, including the operation of all facilities incidental thereto.
“(34) The transport or processing of fresh meat, fresh poultry, fresh fish, fresh seafoods, fresh dairy products, fresh bakery products, fresh fruits or fresh vegetables, ice, bees, or Irish moss, when circumstances require that such work be done on Sunday; or all return trips necessitated thereby.
“(35) The transport of livestock, farm commodities and farming equipment for participation in and return from fairs, expositions or sporting events.
“(36) The operation of a lodging place, including the letting of *451rooms and all services necessary and incidental to the letting of rooms.
“(37) The carrying on of the business of bootblack before eleven o’clock in the morning, provided that such business may be carried on at any time at public airports.
“(38) The employment for a consideration of musicians in parades by any post or camp of an incorporated organization of veterans of any war in which the United States of America was engaged, or by any incorporated civic, religious or fraternal organization, or by any company or association of policemen or firemen.
“(39) The necessary preparation for, and the conduct of, events licensed under section four, or activities as to which, under the provisions of paragraph (7) of section four, sections two, three and four do not apply.
“(40) Any labor, business or work necessary to the performance of or incidental to any religious exercises, including funerals and burials, the execution of wills or codicils, the preparation of contracts, the execution of federal, state or municipal tax returns or reports, the preparations for trials by lawyers or any other activity not prohibited nor required to be licensed on Sunday.
“ (41) Work lawfully done by persons working under permits granted under section seven.
“(42) The conduct of the business of an innholder or common vict-ualler.
“ (43) The conduct of any business licensed under chapter one hundred and thirty-eight which may be conducted on Sunday in accordance with the provisions of said chapter.
“(44) The operation of a car-washing business between eight o’clock in the forenoon and one o’clock in the afternoon, provided that such business may be carried on at any time if not more than a total of two persons are employed therein at any one time on Sunday and throughout the week.
“(45) The operation of a coin-operated self-service laundry.
“ (46) The operation of a coin-operated car-washing business.
“ (47) The sale of tickets or shares for the state lottery.
“ (48) The operation of a self-service auto repair center.
“(49) The transport of amusement devices, such as carousels, ferris wheels, inclined railways and other similar devices, concessions stands and tents from one location to the next between eight o’clock in the forenoon and one o’clock in the afternoon.”