Forbes v. Napolitano, 99-17372

• Decision Date: 09 August 2001
• Docket Number: No. 99-17372,99-17372
• Citation: 236 F.3d 1009
• Parties: (9th Cir. 2000) FRED FORBES; MARGARET BOHN; JOHN L. SUMMERS; ANN S. ANDERSON, STUART R. SNIDER; GEORGE MELCHER, JR.; CHRISTOPHER TISCH; PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF CENTRALAND NORTHERN ARIZONA,INC.; ROBERT TAMIS, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. JANET NAPOLITANO, in her capacity as Attorney General, State of Arizona; STEPHEN NEELY, in his capacity as County Attorney, Pima County, Arizona, Defendants-Appellants
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 1009

236 F.3d 1009 (9th Cir. 2000)

FRED FORBES; MARGARET BOHN; JOHN L. SUMMERS; ANN S. ANDERSON, STUART R. SNIDER; GEORGE MELCHER, JR.; CHRISTOPHER TISCH; PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF CENTRALAND NORTHERN ARIZONA,INC.; ROBERT TAMIS, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. JANET NAPOLITANO, in her capacity as Attorney General, State of Arizona; STEPHEN NEELY, in his capacity as County Attorney, Pima County, Arizona, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 99-17372

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

Argued and Submitted October 3, 2000

Filed December 29, 2000

Order Amending Opinion Filed April 11, 2001.

Second Amendment Filed August 9, 2001.

NOTE: SEE 247 F.3d 903, AND 260 F.3d 1159.

Bebe J. Anderson, The Center for Reproductive Law & Policy, New York, N.Y. and Michael Owen Miller, Miller SmithLLP, Tucson, Arizona for the plaintiffs-appellees.

Charles R. Pyle, Assistant Attorney General, Tucson, Arizona, for the defendants-appellants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona William D. Browning, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No.CV-96-00288-WDB

Before: Joseph T. Sneed, Mary M. Schroeder, and Richard A. Paez, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Schroeder; Concurrence by Judge Sneed

SCHROEDER, Circuit Judge

Plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of an Arizona statute that criminalizes any medical "experimentation" or "investigation" involving fetal tissue from induced abortions unless necessary to perform a "routine pathological examination" or to diagnose a maternal or fetal condition that prompted the abortion. The plaintiffs include individuals suffering from Parkinson's disease who because of the statute are unable in Arizona to receive transplants of fetal brain tissue that many medical experts believe hold out promise for eventual amelioration or treatment of the disease. Plaintiffs also include doctors in Arizona who fear possible criminal prosecution if they provide services to their patients that the doctors would like to provide.

The district court held on summary judgment that the statutes are unconstitutionally vague, and permanently enjoined their enforcement. It did not reach various other theories presented in plaintiffs' complaint for invalidation of the statute. In so ruling the district court followed the holdings of three other circuits that considered similar statutes and held them all unconstitutionally vague. See Jane L. v. Bangerter, 61 F.3d 1493, 1499-1502 (10th Cir. 1995), Rev'd and remanded on other grounds sub. nom., Leavitt v. Jane L., 518 U.S. 137 (1996); Margaret S. v. Edwards, 794 F.2d 994, 998-99 (5th Cir. 1986); Lifchez v. Hartigan, 735 F.Supp. 1361, 1363-76 (N.D.Ill.), aff'd mem., 914 F.3d 260 (7th Cir. 1990). In this appeal by the state, we affirm the district court holding. Its decision is published at 71 F.Supp. 2d 1015 (D. Ariz. 1999). We do not repeat the procedural background.

The principal statute with which we are concerned is A.R.S. 36-2302, subpart (A). It provides:

A person shall not knowingly use any human fetus or embryo, living or dead, or any parts, organs, or fluids of any such fetus or embryo resulting from an induced abortion in any manner for any medical experimentation or scientific or medical investigation purposes except as is strictly necessary to diag nose a disease or condition in the mother of the fetus or embryo and only if the abortion was performed because of such disease or condition.

Section 36-2302, subpart (C) provides an exception:

This section shall not prohibit any routine pathological examinations conducted by a medical examiner or hospital laboratory provided such pathological examination is not a part of or in any way related to any medical or scientific experimentation.

Thus the statute does not outlaw all use of fetal tissue derived from induced abortions. Instead it generally outlaws the use of such tissue for experimentation, subject to certain exceptions.

Persons violating Section 36-2302 commit a class 5 felony, a crime punishable by one-and-a-half years in prison, and face fines up to $150,000, see A.R.S. 36-2303. Doctors found to have violated the statute also face censure, probation, suspension of license, revocation of license, or any combination of these. See A.R.S. 13-701, 13-801, 32-1451, 32-1844.

In their complaint and supporting affidavits and depositions, the plaintiff physicians explain the types of procedures involving the use of fetal tissue that they would use, were it not for the statute. They believe these procedures would fulfill their obligations to promote the health of their patients, and would also advance medical knowledge. Dr. Snider, one of the plaintiffs in this case, stated in his deposition that the statute prevented him from prescribing and managing a course of treatment for his Parkinson's disease patients that includes fetal tissue transplantation. Another plaintiff, Dr. Melcher, submitted an affidavit indicating that fetal tissue transplantation holds considerable promise for some of his Parkinson's disease patients.

Fetal tissue is also useful in diagnosing and testing for fertility problems. One of the plaintiff physicians who specializes in fertility treatments, Dr. Tamis, was the target of a potentially criminal investigation some years ago when he endeavored to study the effects on the fetus of a drug ingested by pregnant women before an induced abortion was performed. The study was to determine whether the drug passed through the placental wall. Although the state eventually dismissed the grand jury subpoenas issued to Dr. Tamis, he is still uncertain about the proper interpretation of the statute.

Other physicians and expert witnesses explain that many established treatments for illness have developed from fetal research and experimentation, including the polio vaccine. They point out the difficulties of knowing at what stage or point in time "experiments" become recognized as "treatment." They also point out that the terms "investigation" and "routine examination" are fundamentally ambiguous. In particular, the experts highlight doctors' lack of consensus about what procedures are purely experimental. In the view of one expert submitted to the district court, virtually every procedure with a therapeutic objective is experimental to some extent.

The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees individuals the right to fair notice of whether their conduct is prohibited by law. Colautti v. Franklin, 439 U.S. 379, 390-91, 99 S.Ct. 675, 58 L. Ed. 2d 596 (1979), citing United States v. Harriss, 347 U.S. 612, 617, 74 S.Ct. 808, 98 L. Ed. 989 (1954). Although only constructive rather than actual notice is required, individuals must be given a reasonable opportunity to discern whether their conduct is proscribed so they can choose whether or not to comply with the law. Giaccio v. Pennsylvania, 382 U.S. 399, 402-03, 86 S.Ct. 518, 15 L. Ed. 2d 447 (1966). Statutes need not be written with "mathematical" precision, nor can they be thus written. Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 108-09, 92 S.Ct. 2294, 33 L. Ed. 2d 222 (1972). But they must be intelligible, defining a "core" of proscribed conduct that allows people to understand whether their actions will result in adverse consequences. Planned Parenthood v. Arizona, 718 F.3d 938, 947 (9th Cir. 1983)(holding that a statute is void for vagueness if persons of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning).

If a statute subjects transgressors to criminal penalties, as this one does, vagueness review is even more exacting. See Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 357, 103 S.Ct. 1855, 75 L. Ed. 2d 903 (1983)(holding that penal statutes must define criminal offenses with "sufficient definiteness, " and "in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement"); Winters v. New York, 333 U.S. 507, 515, 68 S.Ct. 665, 92 L. Ed. 840 (1948)(holding that where a statute imposes criminal penalties, the standard of certainty involved in vagueness review is higher). In addition to defining a core of proscribed behavior to give people constructive notice of the law, a criminal statute must provide standards to prevent arbitrary enforcement. City of Chicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41, 52, 119 S.Ct. 1849, 144 L. Ed. 2d. 67 (1999)(plurality). Without such standards, a statute would be impermissibly vague even if it did not reach a substantial amount of constitutionally protected conduct, because it would subject people to the risk of arbitrary deprivation of their liberty. Id. Regardless of what type of conduct the criminal statute targets, the arbitrary deprivation of liberty is itself offensive to the Constitution's due process guarantee. Smith v. Goguen, 415 U.S. 566, 575, 94 S.Ct. 2294, 33 L. Ed. 2d 222 (1972).

The district court correctly applied these principles in this case. It recognized that a challenged statute enjoys a presumption of constitutionality. Baggett v. Bullitt, 377 U.S. 360, 372, 84 S.Ct. 1316, 12 L. Ed. 2d 377 (1964). But where a statute criminalizes conduct, the law may not be impermissibly vague in any of its applications. Kolender, 461 U.S. at 357, 103 S.Ct. 1855; Jane L., 61 F.3d at 1500.

The district court concluded that these criminal statutes fail to establish any "core" of unquestionably prohibited activities. It explained this conclusion with reference to three of the statute's key terms: "experimentation,""investigation" and "routine," none of which the statute defines. With respect to "experimentation," the district court pointed out two difficulties. First, the term is ambiguous, lacking a precise definition to focus application of the statute. Forbes , 71 F.Supp. 2d at 1019, citing Jane L., 61 F.3d at 1500. Second, the distinction between experimentation and treatment changes over time. Id., citing Margaret S., 794 F.3d at 999. The district court also found the term "investigation" to be ambiguous, since common definitions of the term can encompass...