''Kolender v. Lawson'', 461 U.S. 352 (1983), is a
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case concerning the
constitutionality of vague laws that allow police to demand that "
loiterers" and "wanderers" provide "credible and reliable" identification.
Background
Edward Lawson was a law-abiding black man with suitable knowledge of the U.S. Constitution. Lawson was frequently subjected to police questioning and harassment in
San Diego County, California
San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...
, where he lived when as a pedestrian he walked in so-called "white neighborhoods". He was detained or arrested approximately 15 times by the
San Diego Police within 18 months, was prosecuted twice, and was convicted once (the second charge was dismissed).
Lawson challenged California Penal Code § 647(e),
which required persons who loiter or wander on the streets to identify themselves and account for their presence when requested by a peace officer to do so.
A California appellate court, in ''People v. Solomon'' (1973), 33 Cal. App.3d 429, had construed the law to require "credible and reliable" identification that carries a "reasonable assurance" of its authenticity.
William Kolender was an appellant who was acting in his capacity as
Chief of Police
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
of
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, as was John Duffy who was acting in his capacity as
Sheriff of San Diego County.
Prior history
The Ninth Circuit, in ''Lawson v. Kolender'', 658 F.2d 1362 (1981), had additionally held that Penal Code §647(e) violated the
Fourth Amendment’s
prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...
of
unreasonable searches and seizures because it "subverts the probable cause requirement" by authorizing arrest for conduct that is no more than suspicious. "Vagrancy statutes cannot turn otherwise innocent conduct into a crime". Id. at 1367.
The Ninth Circuit also noted that "police knowledge of the identity of an individual they have deemed 'suspicious' grants the police unfettered discretion to initiate or continue the investigation of the person long after the detention has ended. Information concerning the stop, the arrest and the individual's identity may become part of a
large scale data bank." Id. at 1368.
Lawson
represented himself up through the conclusion of the
Federal Ninth Circuit Court appeal. He was told he could not represent himself before the Supreme Court without a law degree, so he had an
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". ...
lawyer represent him before the Court.
Conclusion
Using the construction of the California appellate court in ''Solomon'', the Court held that the law was
unconstitutionally vague
In American constitutional law, a statute is void for vagueness and unenforceable if it is too vague for the average citizen to understand, and a constitutionally-protected interest cannot tolerate permissible activity to be chilled within the ra ...
because it gave excessive discretion to the police (in the absence of probable cause to arrest) whether to stop and interrogate a suspect or leave him alone.
The Court hinted that the California statute compromised the constitutional right to freedom of movement.
Because the U.S. Supreme Court was able to resolve ''Kolender'' on the issue of
vagueness
In linguistics and philosophy, a vague predicate is one which gives rise to borderline cases. For example, the English adjective "tall" is vague since it is not clearly true or false for someone of middling height. By contrast, the word "prime" is ...
, they
did not decide the Fourth Amendment issue.
Subsequent history
''Kolender'' was cited in ''
Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada'', , as an example of a
"stop and identify" statute the Court had voided on vagueness grounds. In ''Hiibel'', the Court held that a Nevada law
requiring persons detained upon reasonable suspicion of involvement in a crime to state their name to a peace officer did not violate the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures. Unlike California Penal Code §647(e) as construed in ''Solomon'', the Nevada statute was apparently interpreted by the Nevada Supreme Court as requiring only that persons detained upon involvement in a crime to state their name.
''Hiibel'' does not provide a means of ''arresting'' someone for failing or refusing to identify himself.
[Se
People v. Fernandez, 2011 IL App (2d) 100473
California Penal Code §647(e) was repealed in 2008 at the request of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
[
California Penal Code §647(e) was repealed by Ch. 302, Stats. 2007 (SB 425, Margett)]
at the request
of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Th
on 11 June 2007 by the California Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
The Ass ...
Committee on Public Safety noted that "The provision has served no purpose other than to cause confusion since 1983".
See also
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 461
This is a list of all the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court cases from volume 461 of the ''United States Reports'':
External links
{{SCOTUSCases, 461
1983 in United States case law ...
*
''Papachristou v. Jacksonville,'' 405 U.S. 156 (1972)
*
Vagueness doctrine
In American constitutional law, a statute is void for vagueness and unenforceable if it is too vague for the average citizen to understand, and a constitutionally-protected interest cannot tolerate permissible activity to be chilled within the ran ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Edward C. Lawson
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, findlaw=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/461/352.html
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, loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep461/usrep461352/usrep461352.pdf
, oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/1982/81-1320
United States Supreme Court cases
Void for vagueness case law
1983 in United States case law
Legal history of California
History of San Diego
United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court
Vagrancy laws