CONNECTICUT CITIZENS, ETC. v. Town of Southington

• Citation: 508 F. Supp. 43
• Decision Date: 24 October 1980
• Docket Number: Civ. No. H-80-513.
• Parties: CONNECTICUT CITIZENS ACTION GROUP (CCAG) and William Bloss on behalf of themselves and all CCAG members v. TOWN OF SOUTHINGTON, Connecticut; Joseph Sollack, Chief of Police of said Town; and R. Patrick McGinley, Assistant State's Attorney for the Judicial District of Hartford at Bristol, Geographical Area No. 17.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut

508 F. Supp. 43

CONNECTICUT CITIZENS ACTION GROUP (CCAG) and William Bloss on behalf of themselves and all CCAG members v. TOWN OF SOUTHINGTON, Connecticut; Joseph Sollack, Chief of Police of said Town; and R. Patrick McGinley, Assistant State's Attorney for the Judicial District of Hartford at Bristol, Geographical Area No. 17.

Civ. No. H-80-513.

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

October 24, 1980.

Catherine G. Roraback, Roraback, Warner & Conklin, Canaan, Conn., for plaintiffs.

Richard M. Krezel, Plainville, Conn., for defendant.

RULING ON MOTION FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

CLARIE, Chief Judge.

Connecticut Citizens Action Group (CCAG) and William Bloss, the director of the organization's canvassing activities, have brought this action for declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging that the Town of Southington's ordinance regulating the licensing of solicitors and canvassers violates their constitutional right to freedom of speech, press, assembly, as well as the right of petition guaranteed to them by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The Court finds that the ordinance in question, both on its face and as applied to CCAG and Bloss, is unconstitutional because it is unduly intrusive on the plaintiffs' right of free speech. Accordingly the plaintiffs' motion for declaratory relief and for a permanent injunction enjoining enforcement of the contested provisions of the ordinance is granted.

Facts

CCAG is a non-profit organization of Connecticut citizens dedicated to the advocacy of consumer, energy, environmental, and neighborhood issues in the legislative and administrative branches of state government. It has chapters in several local communities around the state. Its canvassing staff travels door-to-door, gathering signatures on petitions, providing information to householders, and seeking operating funds for CCAG. It serves as a liaison between the people and state legislators and officials at various administrative agencies. It presents the petitions for which its canvassers have gathered signatures at legislative committee hearings, ratemaking hearings, and similar administration proceedings. The co-plaintiff is the director of CCAG's canvassing activities.

In the fall of 1979, the Town of Southington amended its ordinance concerning the licensing of peddlers and solicitors in order to "regulate the hours and methods of charitable solicitors.¹" Section 10(b) of said amended ordinance exempts "civic organizations" such as CCAG from all of the provisions of that ordinance, except § 3(b), 7(a), and 7(b), provided the organization and/or its solicitors and canvassers register with the police prior to soliciting and pay the nominal registration fee, which for good cause may be waived. It is only the time restraints imposed by § 3(b) that are at issue in this case. This Section provides:

"Such licensees, with or without vehicles, shall be licensed to do business only between the hours of eight o'clock A.M. and six o'clock P.M., provided that, ice cream vendors may operate between 8:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M. from June 1 to September 15th of each year and must refrain from using bells, horns, or any other device to attract attention after 8:00 P.M. (Amended July 22, 1968)."

Prior to the adoption of these amendments to the ordinance, CCAG regularly conducted door-to-door solicitation in Southington after 6:00 p. m. However, shortly after the ordinance was amended, CCAG applied for an exemption from the time limits set by § 3(b) and was refused. Both parties agreed and stipulated that § 3(b) does apply to CCAG and to the co-plaintiff so that they are directly affected and prohibited from soliciting by personal contact in the Town of Southington after 6:00 p. m.

Jurisdiction

The plaintiffs have alleged that their constitutional rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly, and petition have been abridged in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by reason of the hourly restrictions upon solicitation, which, they allege, unduly intrudes upon their right of free speech. This Court has jurisdiction over the action pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. §§ 1343(3) and (4).

Discussion of Law

Unquestionably, the type of political speech in which CCAG engages is at the core of the freedom of speech interests protected by the First Amendment. See New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 269-275, 84 S.Ct. 710, 720-723, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964); Mills v. Alabama, 384 U.S. 214, 218, 86 S.Ct. 1434, 1436, 16 L.Ed.2d 484 (1966); First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765, 776-77, 98 S.Ct. 1407, 1415-16, 55 L.Ed.2d 707 (1978). Nor can there be any question, but that door-to-door canvassing and solicitation is an acceptable manner of communicating a political message. See Village of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment, 444 U.S. 620, 628-32, 100 S.Ct. 826, 831-34, 63 L.Ed.2d 73 (1980). It is equally well established that door-to-door solicitation for the purpose of communicating a political message is not exempt from at least some forms of regulation. See Hynes v. Mayor of Oradell, 425 U.S. 610, 616-620, 96 S.Ct. 1755, 1758-1760, 48 L.Ed.2d 243 (1976).

Both parties agree to the propositions just articulated. They also agree on the standard by which the constitutionality of regulations of the kind at issue here are to be tested; i. e., both agree that the regulations must be narrowly drawn to protect a legitimate community interest, and that the regulating must be done in such a manner as not to intrude unduly upon First Amendment rights. The parties disagree over the application of that standard to the regulation at issue in this case.

The Town of Southington argues that the ordinance protects two legitimate community interests, namely, crime prevention and the peaceful enjoyment of one's home, free of undue annoyance. The Town also contends that § 3(b) as presently drawn is neither vague nor overbroad; nor does it vest discretion in any local official to determine which messages town residents may hear and which they may not. Therefore, the Town concludes, the ordinance meets the "narrow specificity" requirement of Hynes v. Mayor of Oradell, supra, at 620, 96 S.Ct. at 1760.

The plaintiffs acknowledge that the prevention of crime and annoyance are legitimate community interests, but claim that these interests may be fully protected by less intrusive regulations. The fundamental claim is, however, that the prohibition on canvassing and soliciting after 6:00 p. m. impermissibly circumscribes the plaintiffs' exercise of their First Amendment rights. They rely on the exemption of ice cream vendors from the 6:00 p. m. time limit (they can ply their route until 10:00 p. m. on summer nights) as evidence of the unreasonableness of that restriction when applied to CCAG's activities.

Southington's defense of its ordinance is fatally defective in that it would, if accepted, justify almost any arbitrary time limitation on door-to-door solicitation short of a total ban. Furthermore, Southington fails adequately to explain away CCAG's claim that the ban on soliciting after 6:00 p. m. deprives it of the hours most advantageous for its purposes. It is common knowledge that most working people are employed outside the home during the working day until about 6:00 p. m. The hours after six o'clock would encompass the normal evening hours during which prospective household occupants would normally be available to be solicited or canvassed.² The precedents governing this matter require a much more careful regard for First Amendment rights, than that shown by Southington's overly restrictive ordinance.

Earlier this year the United States Supreme Court said of an ordinance that trenched upon First Amendment rights, "The Village may serve its legitimate interests, but it must do so by narrowly drawn regulations designed to serve those interests without unnecessarily interfering with First Amendment freedoms." Village of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment, supra, 444 U.S. at 637, 100 S.Ct. at 836. And in Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S. 330, 92 S.Ct. 995, 31 L.Ed.2d 274 (1972), the Supreme Court said:

"Statutes affecting constitutional rights must be drawn with `precision,' NAACP v. Button, 371 U.S. 415, 438 83 S.Ct. 328, 340, 9 L.Ed.2d 405 (1963); United States v. Robel, 389 U.S. 258, 265 88 S.Ct. 419, 424, 19 L.Ed.2d 508 (1967), and must be `tailored' to serve their legitimate objectives. Shapiro v. Thompson, supra, 394 U.S. 618 at 631 89 S.Ct. 1322 at 1329, 22 L.Ed.2d 600. And if there are other, reasonable ways to achieve those goals with a lesser burden on constitutionally protected activity, a State may not choose the way of greater

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