People v. Palkes, 44010

• Decision Date: 02 October 1972
• Docket Number: No. 44010,44010
• Citation: 52 Ill.2d 472,288 N.E.2d 469
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Melvin B. PALKES, d/b/a Madison Iron & Metal Company, Appellee.

Page 469

288 N.E.2d 469

52 Ill.2d 472

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Melvin B. PALKES, d/b/a Madison Iron & Metal Company, Appellee.

No. 44010.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Oct. 2, 1972.

William J. Scott, Atty. Gen., Springfield (Fred G. Leach, Asst. Atty. Gen., of counsel), for the People.

Marvin E. Aspen and Lawrence G. Fretzin, Chicago, for appellee.

RYAN, Justice:

A criminal complaint was filed in the circuit court of Madison County charging the defendant with having purchased in excess of 50 pounds of copper and failing to report the same in violation of the Copper Purchase Registration Law. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1969, ch. 121 1/2, par. 321 et seq.) Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, challenging the constitutionality of the Act. The court allowed the motion and dismissed the complaint.

The motion alleges five constitutional grounds for dismissing the complaint. The first charges that by making the Act inapplicable to counties of over one million population the legislature created an unreasonable and arbitrary classification in violation of the due-process and equal-protection clauses of the fourteenth amendment of the Federal constitution and the due-process clause of the State constitution.

The second allegation is that the Act is so vague as to violate the due-process clauses of the State and Federal constitutions.

The third allegation charges that the provisions of the Act violate section 22 of article IV of the Illinois constitution which prohibits special legislation.

The fourth allegation asserts that the provisions of the Act constitute an unauthorized delegation of police power.

The fifth allegation charges that the provisions of the Act violate the constitutional rights against self-incrimination guaranteed by the Illinois and Federal constitutions.

The third and fifth allegations are but general assertions of violations of certain constitutional provisions without in any manner specifying how these provisions were infringed. This court has held that constitutional issues cannot be raised by such general allegations. In re Simaner, 15 Ill.2d 568, 155 N.E.2d 555; Biggs v. Cummins, 5 Ill.2d 512, 126 N.E.2d 208; Jewel Tea Co. v. Rowe, 414 Ill. 495, 111 N.E.2d 568.

The second and fourth allegations are likewise general in nature and lacking in the degree of specificity which could reasonably be expected to be of assistance to a court in considering constitutional questions. However, in addition to charging a constitutional violation, each allegation in a general way directs the court's attention to the nature of the violation sufficient to warrant the consideration of the issues.

The second allegation charges a violation of due process of law by reason of the vagueness of the statute. No specific word or phrase of the statute is singled out as being vague or uncertain. The Supreme Court in Connally v. General Construction Co., 269 U.S. 385, 46 S.Ct. 126, 70 L.Ed. 322, stated that a statute which either forbids or requires the doing of an act in terms so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application violates the first essential of due process of law. See also Hershey Manufacturing Co. v. Adamowski, 22 Ill.2d 36, 174 N.E.2d 200.

The defendant is charged with having purchased in excess of 50 lbs. of copper which he failed to report within 72 hours after the date of the purchase. By referring to the statute (Ill.Rev.Stat.1969, ch. 121 1/2, par 323) it is readily ascertainable that except as provided in section 5 of the Act (par. 325) every copper dealer shall enter in triplicate on forms provided by the Department of Public Safety or such department as may succeed to its functions, for each purchase of copper of 50 lbs. or more certain specified information. This section further requires that one copy of the completed form shall be kept in a separate book or register by the dealer and that within three days from the day of purchase one copy of the completed form shall be filed in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the copper was purchased and one copy shall be filed with or mailed to the Department of Public Safety or such department as may succeed to its functions. The term 'copper dealer' is defined in section 2 (par. 322) of the Act.

In reading the statute it is readily ascertainable that the specific acts that the defendant is charged with having failed to perform are required by the statute, and section 8 of the Act (par. 328) provides that any copper dealer who knowingly fails to comply with the Act is guilty of a misdemeanor. As applied to this defendant and the charges made against him in the complaint, the statute is not vague or uncertain.

As to defendant's fourth allegation that the provisions of the Act constitute an unauthorized delegation of police power, here again defendant has not indicated what part of the Act he is criticizing. Defendant is charged with violating the requirements of section 3 of the Act (par. 323) referred to above. Although this section of the Act represents an exercise by the legislature of the police power, the question of delegation is not involved in this particular section of the Act. We will not consider this question in this case for the same reasons that we declined to consider the search and seizure question which is discussed later in this opinion.

We have thus disposed of the second, third, fourth and fifth allegations of defendant's motion to dismiss. The remaining allegation, being the first, requires a more detailed consideration.

Section 7 of the Act provides that the Act shall not apply in any municipality which provides for registration of copper purchased where the municipal resolution, ordinance or regulation substantially complies with the substantive provisions of the Act. This section also provides that the Act does not apply in municipalities with populations of 1 million or over. The sole remaining constitutional question raised by defendant's motion to dismiss is whether the exclusion of municipalities with populations of 1 million or more from the operation of the Act constitutes an unreasonable and arbitrary classification.

In Du Bois v. Gibbons, 2 Ill.2d 392, 118 N.E.2d 295, this court summarized established principles of legislative classification at pages 398 and 399, 118 N.E.2d at page 300 as follows: 'Beginning with the premise that classification is primarily a legislative function with which there should be no judicial interference except to determine whether the legislative action is clearly unreasonable, the rule is finally deduced that a legislative classification based upon population will be sustained where founded on a rational difference of situation or condition existing in the persons or objects upon which it rests and there is a reasonable basis for the classification in view of the objects and purposes to be accomplished. (Citations.)' See also Supervisors of Boone County v. Village of Rainbow Gardens, 14 Ill.2d 504, 153 N.E.2d 16; People ex rel. Adamowski v. Wilson, 20 Ill.2d 568, 170 N.E.2d 605; People ex rel. Vermillion County Conservation Dist. v. Lenover, 43 Ill.2d 209, 251 N.E.2d 175; 16 Am.Jur.2d, Constitutional Law, sec. 511.

Furthermore, we will presume that the legislature surveyed the conditions existing in the population centers of this State and pursued the various means available to the General Assembly not available to this court in informing itself of these conditions before enacting a classification based on population. This court will nullify such a classification only when it can be said that the same is 'clearly unreasonable or palpably arbitrary.' Du Bois v. Gibbons, 2 Ill.2d 392, 399, 118 N.E.2d 295; People ex rel. Vermillion County Conservation Dist. v. Lenover, 43 Ill.2d 209, 218, 251 N.E.2d 175; People ex rel. Stamos v. Public Building Com. of Chicago, 40 Ill.2d 164, 180, 238 N.E.2d 390.

Another established principle applicable to this case holds that those who attack the validity of the classification have the burden of proving that the same is unreasonable or arbitrary. Supervisors of Boone County v. Village of Rainbow Gardens, 14 Ill.2d 504, 512, 153 N.E.2d 16; People ex rel. Stamos v. Public Building Com. of Chicago, 40 Ill.2d 164, 180, 238 N.E.2d 390; People ex rel. Vermillion County Conservation Dist. v. Lenover, 43 Ill.2d 209, 219, 251 N.E.2d 175.

It is apparent from an examination of section 7 of the Act (par. 327) that the legislature intended to leave to the municipalities, where practicable, the policing of the evils accompanying certain sales and purchases of copper, and that the Act is to apply only in such municipalities where adequate regulations governing the purchase of copper do not exist. To accomplish this end, section 7 exempts from the operation of the Act municipalities in which regulations are in effect covering the purchases of copper which substantially comply with the substantive provisions of the Act. In addition to exempting these municipalities, section 7 also provides that the Act does not apply in cities with populations in excess of 1 million. Chicago being the only city in the State with a population in excess of 1 million, this classification exempts only the city of Chicago from the operation of the Act.

By this exemption the legislature was not discriminating in favor of copper purchasers in the city of Chicago. Rather, it appears to be a further expression of legislative intent to leave to the cities, so far as possible, the policing of certain sales and purchases of copper. The city of Chicago has long had an ordinance covering junk dealers and peddlers, the same being chapter 143 of the Municipal Code of Chicago. In this ordinance the word 'junk' is defined to include old copper and the ordinance regulates substantially the same transactions covered by the Copper Purchase Registration Law. The ordinance provides for...