Ringe v. Romero
| Decision Date | 23 December 1985 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 84-2135 "L". |
| Citation | 624 F. Supp. 417 |
| Parties | Fred RINGE and Brenda Ringe v. James ROMERO, et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Louisiana |
William P. Quigley, and Jane Johnson, New Orleans, La., for plaintiffs, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of La.
Gregory K. Morous, Lafayette, La., for defendants, James Romero and Dudley Lastrapes.
Thomas R. Duplantier, Lafayette, La., for defendant Don Breaux.
MEMORANDUM RULING
Plaintiffs seek by summary judgment a declaration that LSA-R.S. 14:95.4(A) and Lafayette Ordinance 0-2271, codified as §§ 10-74 through 10-74.6, are unconstitutional both facially and as applied to plaintiffs in the instant case.
On February 10, 1984, plaintiffs were customers at Rod's Wammer-Jammer Motorcycle Shop, Bar and Lounge ("Uncle Rod's"). At that time more than ten police officers from the City of Lafayette and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Department entered Uncle Rod's to conduct a search of all Uncle Rod's patrons. Some were in uniform, others were in suits. Guard dogs were stationed with officers at the entrance to prevent customers from leaving.
The officers unplugged the jukebox and ordered the men to stand on one side of the room and the women on the other. Some of the officers then took the men to the hallway, one by one, and conducted personal searches. Fred Ringe was taken into the hallway and ordered to stand against the wall in preparation for a search. When Mr. Ringe asked an officer for a warrant, the officer said that one was not necessary. Mr. Ringe then placed himself against the wall. An officer, using his feet, forced Mr. Ringe's legs apart, and Mr. Ringe was "patted-down" for weapons. The officers confiscated his pocket knife. His wallet was also searched. Mr. Ringe was then photographed and told to step to an area where the others who had been searched earlier were standing. A police computer check was done on Mr. Ringe's driver's license.
Sometime after her husband was searched, Brenda Ringe was taken into the hallway. She was told to stand against the wall. When Mrs. Ringe questioned the propriety of this order, she was pushed against the wall by a female officer. This officer, using her feet, forced Mrs. Ringe's legs apart and proceeded to "pat-down" Mrs. Ringe, which included unfastening Mrs. Ringe's bra and shaking it, apparently until the officer was satisfied that the garment contained no weapons. Mrs. Ringe was also told to remove her boots and they were searched. The officer then searched Mrs. Ringe's wallet and jacket and threw them to the ground. No weapons were found on her. Mrs. Ringe was photographed and allowed to rejoin her husband.
The plaintiffs and the other patrons of Uncle Rod's were detained for a total of approximately three hours during which the searches of approximately forty-four individuals were conducted. No one was allowed to leave until all the searches were completed. There was apparently no sign in or outside of Uncle Rod's informing individuals that their entrance into Uncle Rod's constituted consent to be searched by officials from the sheriff and police departments.
Fred Ringe was searched by C.J. Dartez, Jim Kraft and Roger Punac of the Lafayette City Police Department and Linda Spencer of the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office. Brenda Ringe was searched by Kim LeBlanc and Linda Spencer of the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Department. All of the defendants, except James Romero, Don Breaux and Dudley Lastrapes, actually participated in the search of Uncle Rod's.
The defendants contend that the officers' authority for the search is 14 La.Rev.Stat. Ann. 95.4(A) (West Supp.1985) and Lafayette, La., Code of Ordinances §§ 10-74 through 10-74.6 (Supp.1982). The search revealed nine knives and one handgun, which were confiscated. No arrests resulted from the search. Uncle Rod's had been the setting for several incidents of violence involving weapons prior to the evening of February 10, 1984.
DISCUSSION
Louisiana Revised Statute 14:95.4(A) provides:
Any person entering an alcoholic beverage outlet as defined herein, by the fact of such entering, shall be deemed to have consented to a reasonable search of his person for any firearm by a law enforcement officer or other person vested with police power, without the necessity of a warrant.
La.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 14:95.4 (West Supp. 1985).
Lafayette City Ordinance Section 10-74.2 provides:
Lafayette, La., Code of Ordinances § 10-74.2 (Supp.1982).
Plaintiffs claim that the above statute and ordinance violate their right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures as protected by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The fundamental purpose of the fourth amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures "`is to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against arbitrary invasions by government officials.'" New Jersey v. T.L.O., ___ U.S. ___, 105 S.Ct. 733, 736, 740, 83 L.Ed.2d 720 (1985) (quoting Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523, 528, 87 S.Ct. 1727, 1730, 18 L.Ed.2d 930 (1967)). The protections of the fourth amendment apply to all forms of "governmental action," ___ U.S. at ___, 105 S.Ct. at 740, as long as "`the person invoking fourth amendment protection can claim a "justifiable," a "reasonable" or a "legitimate expectation of privacy" that has been invaded by that government action.'" Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, ___, 104 S.Ct. 3194, 3199, 82 L.Ed.2d 393 (1984) (quoting Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 740, 99 S.Ct. 2577, 2580, 61 L.Ed.2d 220 (1979)).
The Supreme Court has consistently held that police must, whenever practicable, obtain advance judicial approval of a proposed search by obtaining a warrant based on probable cause. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967); Chapman v. United States, 365 U.S. 610, 81 S.Ct. 776, 5 L.Ed.2d 828 (1961). A search conducted without a warrant is unreasonable per se "subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions." Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973). The exceptions to the warrant requirement remain limited in scope, and the Supreme Court has been openly reluctant to expand upon them. See United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 97 S.Ct. 2476, 53 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977); United States v. Ramsey, 431 U.S. 606, 97 S.Ct. 1972, 52 L.Ed.2d 617 (1977). The exceptions include: (i) border searches for contraband and illegal aliens, United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 96 S.Ct. 3074, 49 L.Ed.2d 1116 (1976); (ii) hot pursuit of an armed criminal suspect, Warden v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 87 S.Ct. 1642, 18 L.Ed.2d 782 (1967); (iii) search incident to a lawful arrest, Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 85 S.Ct. 223, 13 L.Ed.2d 142 (1964); (iv) stop based on articulable suspicions and frisk for weapons, Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); (v) airport searches for weapons and explosives, United States v. Davis, 482 F.2d 893, 910 (9th Cir.1973); United States v. Moreno, 475 F.2d 44 (5th Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 840, 94 S.Ct. 94, 38 L.Ed.2d 76 (1973); (vi) searches upon entering courthouse, Downing v. Kunzig, 454 F.2d 1230 (6th Cir.1972); (vii) search based upon consent, Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973); (viii) regulatory inspections pursuant to a statutory scheme, Colonnade Catering Corp. v. United States, 397 U.S. 72, 90 S.Ct. 774, 25 L.Ed.2d 60 (1970).
Pursuant to the fourteenth amendment, the fourth amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches is applicable to state action. Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081 (1961). This court must therefore determine whether the warrantless searches authorized by the laws in the instant case fit within one of the few exceptions established by the Supreme Court to the warrant-based-on-probable cause requirement of the fourth amendment, or whether they violate the fourth amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches. The burden is on the defendants to show that the searches authorized by the challenged laws fall into one of these exceptions. United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 97 S.Ct. 2476, 53 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977). The only exceptions that the defendants suggest are applicable in the instant case are (a) the airport and courthouse exceptions (iv and vi); (b) the "stop-and-frisk" exception (iv); and, (c) the consent exception (vii).
In extending the exceptions to the fourth amendment's warrant requirement to searches conducted in airports and courthouses, the courts have carefully balanced "the need to search against the invasion which the search entails" to determine whether the search is reasonable within the meaning of the fourth amendment. Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523,...
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