Gormley v. Director, Connecticut State Department of Adult Probation, 80-5134
Citation | 449 U.S. 1023,66 L.Ed.2d 485,101 S.Ct. 591 |
Decision Date | 01 December 1980 |
Docket Number | No. 80-5134,80-5134 |
Parties | Mary GORMLEY v. DIRECTOR, CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF ADULT PROBATION, et al |
Court | United States Supreme Court |
On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.
Under Connecticut law, a person is guilty of a misdemeanor when "with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person, he makes a telephone call, whether or not a conversation ensues, in a manner likely to cause annoyance or alarm." Conn.Gen.Stat. § 53a-183(a)(3) (1975 rev.). Petitioner was convicted of violating this statute after she made a telephone call to a woman with whom she had some personal quarrel. Following an unsuccessful direct appeal in the state courts,1 petitioner brought a federal habeas corpus action arguing that under the First and Fourteenth Amendments the statute was unconstitutionally overbroad. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found no constitutional infirmity. The petition for certiorari challenges that judgment.
To be sure, a State has a valid interest in protecting its citizens against unwarranted invasions of privacy. Rowan v. Post Office Department, 397 U.S. 728, 90 S.Ct. 1484, 25 L.Ed.2d 736 (1970). See generally, Note, Give Me a Home Where No Salesmen Phone: Telephone Solicitation and the First Amendment, 7 Hastings Const.L.Q. 129 (1979). This is especially true when unprotected speech, such as obscenity or threats of physical violence, is involved. But it is equally clear that a State may not pursue these interests by unduly infringing on what would otherwise be protected speech. It is therefore critical to recall that speech may be "annoying" without losing its First Amendment protection 2 and that the Connecticut statute on its face criminalizes any telephone call that annoys and was intended to do so. It is not difficult to imagine various clearly protected telephone communications that would fall within the ban of the Connecticut statute.3 As such it is fairly arguable that the statute is substantially overbroad and hence unconstitutional. Lewis v. New Orleans, 415 U.S. 130, 94 S.Ct. 970, 39 L.Ed.2d 214 (1974); Gooding v. Wilson, 405 U.S. 518, 92 S.Ct. 1103, 31 L.Ed.2d 408 (1972).4
Beyond the obvious tension between our prior cases and the judgment below is the difference in opinion among those courts that have considered constitutional challenges to similar state statutes. Contrary to the decision reached by the Court of Appeals in this case, state appellate courts have invalidated substantially equivalent provisions as being unconstitutionally overbroad. People v. Klick, 66 Ill.2d 269, 5 Ill.Dec. 858, 362 N.E.2d 329 (1977) ( ); State v. Dronso, 90 Wis.2d 149, 279 N.W.2d 710 (Ct.App.1979) (same). Another court has invalidated a like statute on the grounds that it was unconstitutionally vague. State v. Blair, 287 Or. 519, 601 P.2d 766 (1979) ( ). On the other hand, various state courts, like the Connecticut court in this case, have rejected overbreadth challenges to telephone harassment statutes. See, e. g., State v. Elder, 382 So.2d 687 (Fla.1980) ( ); Constantino v. State, 243 Ga. 595, 255 S.E.2d 710 (1979) ( ). See generally United States v. Lampley, 573 F.2d 783 (CA3 1978); People v. Smith, 89 Misc.2d 789, 392 N.Y.S.2d 968 (1977). The above cases demonstrate that the state courts are not in agreement concerning application of First Amendment principles in this area of the law.
The foregoing suggests that even if the Court is of the view that the judgment below is correct, there is sufficient reason to grant certiorari and issue a judgment to this effect. Accordingly, I dissent.
1 On direct appeal in the state courts, the First Amendment argument presented here was raised in and rejected by the Appellate Session of the Superior Court, State v. Anonymous, 34 Conn.Supp. 689, 389 A.2d 1270, appeal denied, 174 Conn. 803, 382 A.2d 1332 (1...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
State v. Reed
...of Probation , 632 F.2d 938, 940–41 (2d Cir.) (defendant called complainant's workplace to harass her), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1023, 101 S.Ct. 591, 66 L.Ed.2d 485 (1980). Those examples notwithstanding, the plain language of the statute specifies that even one telephone call made in a manne......
-
Hill v. City of Houston, Tex., 84-2181
...Accord Gormley v. Director, Connecticut State Department of Probation, 632 F.2d 938, 942 n. 5 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1023, 101 S.Ct. 591, 66 L.Ed.2d 485 (1980); Walker v. Dillard, 523 F.2d 3, 6 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 906, 96 S.Ct. 208, 46 L.Ed.2d 136 (1975). See gener......
-
State v. Thorne
...habeas corpus aff'd, Gormley v. Director, Connecticut State Dept. of Probation, 632 F.2d 938 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1023, 101 S.Ct. 591, 66 L.Ed.2d 485 (1980); Von Lusch v. State, 39 Md.App. 517, 387 A.2d 306 (1978); People v. Taravella, 133 Mich.App. 515, 350 N.W.2d 780 (1984); ......
-
Tompkins v. Cyr
...activity. See Gormley v. Director, Connecticut State Dep't of Probation, 632 F.2d 938, 941 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1023, 101 S.Ct. 591, 66 L.Ed.2d 485 (1980); United States v. Lampley, 573 F.2d 783, 787 (3d Cir.1978). Thus, any defendant who repeatedly called plaintiffs solely to ......