Witherspoon v. State
| Decision Date | 30 May 1973 |
| Docket Number | 42793,Nos. 42794,s. 42794 |
| Citation | 278 So.2d 611 |
| Parties | Amos WITHERSPOON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. Harold LITTLE, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Phillip A. Hubbart, Public Defender, and Robert Rosenblatt, Asst. Public Defender, for appellants.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., and Raymond L. Marky, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
This is a direct appeal from the Metropolitan Court for Dade County which passed on the validity of Fla.Stat. § 800.02, F.S.A. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Fla.Const., art. V, § 3(b)(1), F.S.A.
The statute provides:
'Whoever commits any unnatural and lascivious act with another person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree.'
Appellants, Witherspoon and Little, do not question the nature of the act for which they were arrested, but rather, the validity of the statute on its face. They contend that the words 'unnatural and lascivious' are so vague as to make an ordinary person guess at their meaning, and so broad as to invade the right of privacy and the constitutional rights of individuals guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Rights of the State of Florida.
A similar attack was raised against the use of the words 'lewd and lascivious' in Fla.Stat. § 800.04, F.S.A., but this Court held the words sufficient in Chesebrough v. State, 255 So.2d 675 (Fla.1971).
Under a factual situation almost identical to the case Sub judice, in Franklin v. State, 257 So.2d 21 (Fla.1971), the words 'abominable and detestable crime against nature' in Fla.Stat. § 800.01, F.S.A., were held to be fatally vague. However, in so ruling, we approved the language of the statute here under review, Fla.Stat. § 800.02, F.S.A., by ordering the defendants in Franklin v. State, Supra, sentenced under that statute. See also: Morris v. State, 261 So.2d 563 (Fla.App.2d, 1972).
Thus, we reaffirm our holding in Chesebrough v. State, Supra, and Franklin v. State, Supra, that the words 'unnatural and lascivious' or 'lewd and lascivious' are of such a character that an ordinary citizen can easily determine what character of act is intended, and are thus secure from constitutional attack.
Accordingly, the decision of the Municipal Court for Dade County appealed from is affirmed.
It is so ordered.
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Rhodes v. State
...380.16 Franklin v. State, 257 So.2d 21 (Fla.1971).17 Note 13, Supra.18 We had the subject before us more recently in Witherspoon v. State, 278 So.2d 611 (Fla.1973), wherein we directly upheld 6--1 the sufficiency of the statutory words 'unnatural and lascivious' acts with another person und......
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State v. Mayhew, 43575
... ... is sufficiently precise to describe an offense so as to give fair warning to the citizen that certain speech is prohibited.' ... Recently, in Witherspoon v. State of Florida; Little v. State of Florida, 278 So.2d 611 (Fla.1973), we reaffirmed our holding in Chesebrough v. State, 255 So.2d 675 (Fla.1971), and held that the words 'unnatural and lascivious' or 'lewd and lascivious' are of such a character that an ordinary citizen can easily determine ... ...
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Campbell v. State, 46530
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Seay v. State
...and we affirm. Chesebrough v. State, 255 So.2d 675 (Fla.1971), citing Peel v. State, 150 So.2d 281 (Fla.App.2d 1963); Witherspoon v. State, 278 So.2d 611 (Fla.1973). Thus, we need not reach Silva's asserted constitutional issue with regard to the grand jury. However, the justiciable issue o......
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Narrative and jurisprudence in state courts: the example of constitutional challenges to sex conduct regulation.
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