Court Opinion

ID: 9739435
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:14:47.27163+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:12.188713
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE HEIPLE, dissenting: The plaintiffs in this case consist of several businesses within the municipal limits of the Village of South Holland. Opyt’s Amoco is a gas/service station. Opyt’s regularly engages in the sale of gasoline, automobile products and repairs, snack food items, newspapers, cigarettes, lottery tickets, and the rental of video cassettes. Kar Kleen is a coin operated, fully automated car wash. Amoco Food Shop is a gas station/mini-mart which regularly sells prepackaged hamburgers and sandwiches, chips, various beverages and a variety of other food items. Calumet Plaza is a truck stop which is located adjacent to Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 6. In addition to the selling of gasoline, diesel fuel, and automotive products, the truck stop consists of a retail store, a restaurant, and an automotive garage. The truck stop is on the east side Interstate 94. The nearest residentially zoned property is between one-fourth to one-half of a mile away and is on the west side of Interstate 94. Truck-o-mat, similarly to Calumet Plaza, is also located on the east side of Interstate 94, at the confluence of U.S. Route 6 and Interstate 94. The primary business of Truck-o-mat is the sale of gasoline, diesel fuel, and truck washes. The above plaintiffs seek to have the Village of South Holland’s Sunday Closing Ordinance declared unconstitutional. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Village, and both the appellate court (209 Ill. App. 3d 473) and the majority of this court affirm. The plaintiffs’ activities which constituted a violation of the ordinance included the following: renting video cassettes; washing vehicles; and selling pretzels, cigarettes, crackers, cinnamon rolls, and charcoal. The ordinance, inter alia, prohibits the selling of goods of any kind on Sunday. However, there are numerous exceptions. Vending machines may be operated on Sunday and while restaurants may be open, their drive-through facility must be closed. Items which have been specifically declared exempt, and may therefore be sold on Sunday, include newspapers, magazines, milk, ice, ice cream, gasoline, lubricating oil, and goods necessary due to an emergency. The ordinance also prohibits, except on an emergency basis, the engaging in the business of repairing, maintaining or washing of any property on Sunday. Code of the Village of South Holland, art. I, §§9 — 3(a), (c). As the majority correctly pointed out, in order for this type of ordinance to be found constitutional it must have a legitimate governmental purpose and the means adopted to achieve this purpose must be rational. (149 Ill. 2d 270-71.) It is unclear from the majority opinion whether they view the ordinance as furthering the notion that Sunday should be a general day of rest or whether the ordinance’s goal is to allow individuals to worship free from disturbance. (See Courtesy Motor Sales v. Ward (1962), 24 Ill. 2d 82, 85; Pacesetter Homes, Inc. v. Village of South Holland (1959), 18 Ill. 2d 247, 255.) Regardless, the ordinance, in my opinion, fails to rationally achieve either of these potential goals. The majority feels that the ordinance with its specified exceptions “strikes a balance between the public benefits of peace and quiet on the one hand and the ability to purchase food, drink and other necessities on the other hand.” (149 Ill. 2d at 273.) Contrary to this view, I believe that the plethora of exceptions are essentially devoid of reason and foster disrespect for the law. Even more telling of the unsteady foundation upon which the ordinance rests is an examination of its numerous incongruities. Cigarettes may be sold from vending machines but may not be sold over the counter. Milk may be sold, but orange juice, tea and even bottled water, may not. Ice cream may be sold but cookies may not. A motorist is allowed a fill-up of gasoline but it is unclear at best whether a motorist requiring diesel fuel may also obtain a fill-up. Newspapers and magazines, presumably including sexually explicit magazines, may be sold, but books, which would necessarily include the Bible, may not. Prepackaged food, such as a ready-to-eat hamburger, may be sold from restaurants, but other businesses, which are not exclusively restaurants, may not sell prepackaged food over the counter. Finally, restaurants are allowed to sell “take-out,” but are not allowed to accept the order through drive-through windows. The ordinance as drafted serves no legitimate governmental purpose. It bears no relationship to the protection of the public health, morals, safety or welfare. No reasonable public interest is protected. Rather, it represents an arbitrary and unreasonable exercise of the police power. Its distinctions between what can be sold and what cannot be sold are, in fact, ridiculous. Only a judge or lawyer could read it without laughing. This ordinance should be found unconstitutional under the due process clause of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, §2). Sad to say, this case offered the unfortunately ignored opportunity for this court to reconsider its earlier decisions which defined and allowed Sunday closing laws to survive constitutional challenge. The observance of a specific day of rest or worship is a personal and individual matter. There is no basis for imposing governmental sanctions to enforce such customs. A closer examination of Sunday closing laws beneath their surface would reveal that they are principally a device to protect merchants who do not want to stay open on Sunday from competition from those that do. As such, they are simultaneously hypocritical and violative of due process. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent from the decision of the court.