Becker v. Thompson, Civ. A. No. 14260.

Decision Date19 March 1971
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 14260.
Citation334 F. Supp. 1386
PartiesSandra Lee BECKER, a minor, et al. v. John R. THOMPSON, Solicitor of the Civil and Criminal Court of DeKalb County, et al.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia

Howard Moore Jr., Atlanta, Ga., for plaintiffs.

Robert E. Mozley, Decatur, Ga., Dock H. Davis, Atlanta, Ga., for defendants.

ORDER

ALBERT J. HENDERSON, District Judge.

By order dated January 8, 1971, this court stayed further proceedings in the above styled case until the United States Supreme Court had opportunity to consider several cases thought to pertain to issues herein relevant. Two of the awaited decisions, Samuels v. Mackell, 401 U.S. 66, 91 S.Ct. 764, 27 L.Ed.2d 688 (1971) and Dyson v. Stein, 401 U.S. 200, 91 S.Ct. 769, 27 L.Ed.2d 781 (1971), were recently announced in conjunction with several others, the totality of which makes further staying of this action clearly inappropriate. Accordingly, the issues in this case will be considered in light of the most recent pronouncements of the Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs, in this class action suit, seek to have the court declare unconstitutional, as applied, Ga.Code Ann. § 26-1503 (Acts 1968, p. 1249 et seq.); to enjoin the criminal prosecution presently pending against the plaintiff, Sandra Lee Becker; further, to enjoin future enforcement of said statute as to these plaintiffs; and for a declaration of the plaintiffs' rights in the distribution of handbills in a shopping center. Jurisdiction is based on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 2201 and 2202, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 et seq.

This court denied the plaintiffs' motion for a temporary restraining order, pursuant to a hearing on October 20, 1970. Plaintiffs' motion for preliminary and permanent injunction and declaratory relief came on for hearing on October 28, 1970, at which time all parties to the dispute stipulated their willingness to consider it the final hearing in the present action. This order is based on the evidence then presented and the stipulation of the parties submitted to the court.

The basic issue presented is the plaintiffs' desire to distribute handbills at the North DeKalb Shopping Center, located in a partially residential, partially commercial area in the unincorporated portion of DeKalb County, Georgia, approximately four miles from the City of Decatur, Georgia.

On Thursday, October 8, 1970, the plaintiffs and others, individually and as representatives of the Atlanta Mobilization Committee, stood on the exterior sidewalk of the North DeKalb Shopping Center and distributed handbills inviting people to "March Against the War" and to abstain from purchasing lettuce at the Colonial Supermarket ("because this inflationary war continues to starve Mexican lettuce pickers"). Pursuant to the shopping center's regulations, adopted shortly after the center's opening in 1965, the center's maintenance man and security guard told the plaintiffs that they would have to cease their distribution and leave. The plaintiffs refused and, in accordance with the guard's standing instructions, the on-site manager was notified. He, in turn, called the DeKalb County Police. The police advised the plaintiffs that they would be arrested should they persist in their actions. In response to this admonition by the police officers, the plaintiffs departed.

The plaintiffs, however, returned on Saturday, October 10, 1970, accompanied by Messrs. William Ginilliat and John R. Meyer, staff attorneys for the Emory Legal Services Center. Mr. Meyer brought a camera for the avowed "probability of later use in some litigation". See Transcript pp. 30-31. The defendant, Reynolds, explained to Mr. Ginilliat, pursuant to a request for permission, that the center's regulations prohibited the distribution of leaflets on its property. Further, Mr. Ginilliat was informed that if the plaintiffs persisted in their efforts to pass out the leaflets he would have no alternative but to summon the DeKalb County Police.

Despite this warning, and while Mr. Meyer took pictures, the plaintiffs began distributing anti-war leaflets on the sidewalk in front of the Colonial Supermarket. When the manager and security guard discovered that leaflets were being distributed, the plaintiffs were again advised that their actions were in violation of the regulations of the shopping center, and that they would have to cease their activity or police assistance would be requested. Upon the plaintiffs' refusal, the defendant, Reynolds, called the DeKalb County Police. Although the plaintiffs were told that they would be arrested pursuant to the complaint of the shopping center, the plaintiff, Becker, refused to discontinue her handbilling, and was thereby arrested on a charge of criminal trespass. Ga. Code Ann. § 26-1503. The plaintiff, Steffel, ceased his activity in this regard, allegedly because he did not desire to be arrested under the criminal trespass statute.

The plaintiffs contend that they wish to continue their activities in the distribution of handbills at the shopping center, but will refrain from doing so solely because they fear warrants for their arrest will be sworn out against them, and that they may be arrested and prosecuted for violating the Georgia criminal trespass statute. Those defendants representing the shopping center indicate that they will continue to insist on the strict enforcement of their regulations, and, therefore, will repeatedly summon the police, swear out warrants for the plaintiffs' arrest, and pursue active prosecution under the trespass statute. The state defendants, however, assert that an incident by incident decision will be made based on whether the facts of a particular case show a violation of the law.

This court, in its order dated January 8, 1971, anticipated the subsequent decisions of the Supreme Court when it refused to enjoin the then pending prosecution of the plaintiff, Becker. This court cited Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, 398 U.S. 281, 90 S.Ct. 1739, 26 L.Ed.2d 234 (1970), which upheld, with ample clarity, the long standing policy of the federal courts to refrain from interfering with the orderly administration of state justice. The correctness of this holding has now been shown by the decisions of the Supreme Court in Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971); Boyle v. Landry, 401 U.S. 77, 91 S.Ct. 758, 27 L.Ed.2d 696 (1971); Samuels v. Mackell, supra; Perez v. Ledesma, 401 U.S. 82, 91 S.Ct. 674, 27 L.Ed.2d 701 (1971); Dyson v. Stein, supra; and Byrne v. Karalexis, 401 U.S. 216, 91 S.Ct. 777, 27 L.Ed.2d 792 (1971). In what will undoubtedly become, in years to come, one of the most frequently interpreted judicial phrases, the Court held that,

. . . A federal court must not, save in exceptional and extremely limited circumstances, intervene by way of either
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10 cases
  • State v. Maddox
    • United States
    • Ohio Supreme Court
    • March 16, 2022
    ...between the parties * * * lacking.’ " (Ellipsis added in Steffel .) Id. at 456, 94 S.Ct. 1209, quoting sub nom. Becker v. Thompson , 334 F.Supp. 1386, 1389-1390 (N.D.Ga.1971). The petitioner appealed the district court's denial of declaratory relief, and the court of appeals affirmed the di......
  • Steffel v. Thompson 8212 5581
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • March 19, 1974
    ...will in the future act in bad faith,' and therefore 'the rudiments of an active controversy between the parties . . . (are) lacking.' 334 F.Supp. 1386, 1389 1390 (1971). Petitioner appealed5 only from the denial of declaratory relief.6 The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, one judge c......
  • Wall v. American Optometric Association, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia
    • October 21, 1974
    ...a declaration that the trespass statute as applied to him was unconstitutional. The district court denied all relief, Becker v. Thompson, 334 F.Supp. 1386 (N.D.Ga.1971), and Steffel appealed only the denial of declaratory relief. The Fifth Circuit, 459 F.2d 919 (1972), held that Samuels v. ......
  • Independent Tape Merchant's Association v. Creamer
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania
    • July 24, 1972
    ...Fenner v. Boykin, 1926, 271 U.S. 240, 46 S.Ct. 492, 70 L.Ed. 927; Cooley v. Endictor, N.D. Ga.1971, 340 F.Supp. 15; Becker v. Thompson, N.D.Ga.1971, 334 F.Supp. 1386, aff'd, 5 Cir. 1972, 459 F.2d 919; cf. Younger v. Harris, supra; Hopson v. Asch, 3 Cir.1972, 457 F.2d 79. Plaintiff has alleg......
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