EDDIE BROWNING, PETITIONER,
v.
CITY OF TAMPA, RESPONDENT

Fla. | 1958-03-19
TERRELL, C. J., and ROBERTS, DREW and O’CONNELL, JJ., concur.
101 So. 2d 365 Florida Supreme Court (1958) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Eddie Browning was convicted under a Tampa city ordinance for making indecent advances to females and minors. Browning challenged the ordinance as unconstitutional because its maximum penalty exceeded that prescribed by the analogous state statute, arguing this violated equal protection. The Florida Supreme Court upheld the conviction, finding the city ordinance criminalized a broader offense than the state statute and cities had authority to prescribe their own penalties.


Holding

The ordinance is constitutional. Although Tampa Code § 26-46 and state statute § 800.03 both prohibit indecent exposure in identical language, Browning was convicted under Tampa Code § 26-47, which prohibits indecent, repulsive, or improper advances or proposals to minors or females—a broader offense designed to protect minors and women. Cities have authority to prescribe penalties for offenses they define, and the fact that a state statute prescribes a lesser penalty for a lesser offense does not restrict the city's authority.


Key Quotes

“Both F.S. § 800.03, F.S.A., and § 26-46 of the Tampa Code prohibit indecent exposure, in identical language. Petitioner was not convicted under § 26-46 of the Code, however, but under § 26-47, which makes it unlawful for any person, in the city, to 'make any indecent, repulsive or improper advances or proposal' to 'any child under the age of eighteen or to any female of any age * * *'”

Establishes the critical distinction that Browning was convicted under a broader ordinance than the analogous state statute, defeating his equal protection argument.

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Facts & Procedural History

Browning was convicted in municipal court of violating Tampa City Code § 26-47 by unlawfully exhibiting or exposing his sexual organs in a public plac…

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Opinion of the Court
HOBSON, Justice.

HOBSON, Justice.

Petitioner has applied for a writ of cer-tiorari to review a judgment of the circuit court, in part affirming and in part reversing a judgment of the municipal court of the City of Tampa. These proceedings were commenced before the effective date of revised Article V of the Florida Constitution, F.S.A.

Petitioner was convicted of unlawfully exhibiting or exposing his sexual organs in a public place to three female persons, two of whom were minors, “in violation of City of Tampa Code 26-47.” Petitioner contends that the offense of which he was convicted under this section of the code is substantially the same as that condemned by § 800.03, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., yet the maximum punishment allowable under the code is greater than that prescribed for violation of the statute. He urges that this disparity between penalties renders the ordinance unconstitutional as denying him the equal protection of the laws.

If petitioner’s contention could be accepted it would mean that the sentence was invalid, and it would be necessary to remand the cause for imposition of a new sentence not greater than that prescribed by the state statute. But there is a preliminary flaw in petitioner’s argument which we conceive to be fatal to his position.

Both F.S. § 800.03, F.S.A., and § 26-46 of the Tampa Code prohibit indecent exposure, in identical language. Petitioner was not convicted under § 26-46 of the Code, however, but under § 26-47, which makes it unlawful for any person, in the city, to “make any indecent, repulsive or improper advances or proposal” to “any child under the age of eighteen or to any female of any age * * * ” The ordinance from which this language comes was particularly designed to protect minors of either sex, and women of any age, from any and all indecent advances. The crime might comprehend, but it is not limited to, indecent exposure.

Petitioner relies upon Faulkner v. State, 146 Fla. 769, 1 So.2d 857. In that case appellant had been convicted of being a “lewd, wanton and lascivious person” under § 7655 C.G.L., 1927 [F.S. § 856.02, F.S.A.] and contended that at most he should have been informed against only for indecent exposure under § 7588 C.G.L., 1927 [F.S. § 800.03, F.S.A.] for which the penalty was lighter. We affirmed the conviction under § 7655 but held that the evidence would also have supported a charge of indecent exposure under § 7588. . We also observed, as petitioner points out, that “the two offenses prohibited by Sections 7588 and 7655 are closely related to such an extent that when a conviction is had under Section 7588 he cannot be subsequently convicted on the same set of facts made unlawful by Section 7655 * * *” This close relationship does not mean, however, that the offenses are so 'nearly identical that different penalties cannot lawfully be prescribed for them. The subject we are pursuing has nothing to do with double jeopardy.

We are shown no reason why the City of Tampa did not have authority to prescribe the penalty it did for the offense of which petitioner stands convicted. The fact that the state prescribed a lesser penalty for a lesser offense is of no help to petitioner.

Certiorari is denied.

TERRELL, C. J., and ROBERTS, DREW and O’CONNELL, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Renetha C. Wyche v. State, 619 So. 2d 231 (Fla. 1993)
    …rule, where the ordinance prohibits conduct not precisely identical to the conduct covered by the state statute, even though it might constitute a violation of state law, the ordinance penalty may be greater. Id.; see also Browning v. City of Tampa, 101 So. 2d 365 (Fla.1958). Unlike the Tampa ordinance, the loitering statute does not require the specific intent to engage in unlawful activities. Thus, because the ordinance prohibits a greater offense, it is not in conflict with the statute. See Browning. In co…

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