Court Opinion

ID: 9458998
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 21:07:51.281748+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:35:58.765359
License: Public Domain

HAMLEY, Circuit Judge
(concurring) :
I concur in the majority opinion to the extent that it determines that the court should consider the question of vagueness in a non-First-Amendment context and that, in this context, the portion of the Massachusetts statute applied here is impermissibly vague. These determinations are dispositive of this appeal since they require that the district court order granting the writ be affirmed.
This being so, I express no view concerning the alternative and far broader constitutional ground for affirmance stated in the majority opinion, namely that, in view of First Amendment considerations, the Massachusetts statute is void for overbreadth. There is a settled principle of appellate adjudication that constitutional questions are not to be dealt with unless this is necessary to dispose of the appeal. Moreover, as the majority points out, since the over-breadth technique is a powerful weapon which, if improperly used, may contravene principles of federalism or separation of powers, “it should be applied gingerly by federal courts.” I prefer to reserve my own determinations in this delicate constitutional area for a case in which such determinations must be made.