City Of Chicago v. Morales

527 U.S. 41 (1999)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The City of Chicago passed an ordinance that made it a criminal offense by a fine of up to $500 and imprisonment for not more than six months and a requirement to perform 120 hours of community service for gang members to loiter. The commission of the offense involved four predicates. A police officer must reasonably believe that at least one or more of the persons in the public place was a gang member, that those persons must be loitering (remaining in one place with no apparent purpose), the officer must then order the parties to disperse, and the person must disobey the officer's order. If any person who disobeys the order, is a gang member or not, that person will be guilty of violating the ordinance. The Illinois Supreme Court held that this ordinance violated the due process of the law in that it was vague on its face and arbitrarily restrictive on personal liberties. It held “that the gang loitering ordinance violates due process of law in that it is impermissibly vague on its face and an arbitrary restriction on personal liberties.” The court did not reach the contentions that the ordinance “creates a status offense, permits arrests without probable cause or is overbroad.” The court pointed out that the definition of “loitering” in the ordinance drew no distinction between innocent conduct and conduct calculated to cause harm. “Moreover, the definition of ‘loiter’ provided by the ordinance does not assist in clearly articulating the proscriptions of the ordinance.” Furthermore, it concluded that the ordinance was “not reasonably susceptible to a limiting construction which would affirm its validity.” The Supreme Court granted certiorari.