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10/29/2020 State v. Castellano :: 1993 :: Minnesota Court of Appeals Decisions :: Minnesota Case Law :: Minnesota Law :: US Law :: Justia requires that a penal statute define the criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 357, 103 S. Ct. 1855, 1858, 75 L. Ed. 2d 903 (1983). In the First Amendment context, the Court has "taken special care to insist on fair warning when a statute regulates expression." Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188, 196, 97 S. Ct. 990, 995, 51 L. Ed. 2d 260 (1977). Here, the ordinance prohibits all targeted residential picketing unless the occupant of a single residential dwelling has consented. Although appellant attempts to argue the ordinance is vague because a picketer will never know if an occupant will object to the content of the message, the language of the ordinance is clear and unambiguous. Because of the particular intrusiveness that results from targeted residential picketing, such picketing is presumed to be without the consent of the occupant and the ordinance sufficiently gives notice to picketers that focused picketing on a residence is prohibited under the law. See Kolender, 461 U.S. at 357, 103 S. Ct. at 1858. Should an occupant consent to the picketers' presence before his or her residence, the municipality will be unable to make a prima facie showing of a violation of the ordinance. The ordinance, therefore, does not give the government unbridled discretion to arbitrarily or discriminatorily enforce the ordinance. See id. Ordinance No. 63 provides fair notice that all targeted residential picketing is prohibited. The ordinance is not void for vagueness. DECISION Town of White Bear, Minn., Ordinance No. 63 is facially constitutional. Affirmed. NOTES [1] In 1990, the Town of White Bear enacted an ordinance regulating targeted residential picketing. The ordinance, in full, provided as follows: SECTION 1. DEFINITION. For the purpose of this Ordinance, "targeted residential picketing" means an activity focused on a single residential dwelling without the consent of the dwelling's occupant. SECTION 2. TARGETED RESIDENTIAL PICKETING. The Town of White Bear has an interest in the protection of residential privacy within the Town of White Bear and https://law.justia.com/cases/minnesota/court-of-appeals/1993/c4-93-356.html 10/12