BAYOU BARBER COLLEGE, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
W. E. MINCEY, JR., A. W. GREEN, EUGENE WILKINS, S. R. ROBERTSON, RALPH ROOKS, JEFF D. RAGAN, AND THOMAS R. JONES, AS AND CONSTITUTING THE FLORIDA BARBERS' SANITARY COMMISSION, APPELLEES

Fla. | 1967-01-06
No. 35204
THOMAS, ROBERTS, DREW, O’CONNELL and CALDWELL, JJ., concur., ERVIN, J., dissents in part and concurs in part with opinion., THORNAL, C. J., dissents in part and concurs in part and agrees with ERVIN, J.
193 So. 2d 610 Florida Supreme Court (1967) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

Bayou Barber College applied for a license to operate a barber school in Florida but was denied because it failed to provide required bond evidence. The school sought declaratory judgment challenging various statutory licensing provisions as unconstitutional. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision in part, striking down provisions relating to population caps and minimum qualifications as violating equal protection, but found the performance bond requirement void for vagueness rather than upholding its validity.


Holding

The Court affirmed the trial court's findings that: (1) the population restriction law is unconstitutional as an arbitrary denial of equal protection; (2) the admission prerequisites amendment is constitutional; (3) the financial responsibility bond requirement is void for vagueness; (4) the performance bond requirement is void for vagueness (reversing the lower court's holding of validity); and (5) the experience and qualification requirements deny equal protection when exemptions apply to older schools.


Key Quotes

“Florida Statutes § 476.071(1) (h), F.S.A., requiring that "[e]vidence that a performance bond of ten thousand dollars guaranteeing the operation of such school or college for one year has been secured" is indefinite and vague. The conditions of the bond are not clear, the obligee and the number and type of sureties are not specified.”

Establishes the Court's rationale for striking down the performance bond requirement as void for vagueness—essential terms were unspecified.

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Facts & Procedural History

Bayou Barber College applied to the Florida Barbers' Sanitary Commission for approval to operate a barber school in Pinellas County. The application w…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff, appellant herein, applied to defendants, members of the Florida Public Sanitary Commission, appellees herein, for license and approval to operate a barber school proposed for Pinellas County. The application was denied because it did not contain evidence that certain bonds, described as financial responsibility and performance bonds, had been secured as required by Florida Statutes, § 476.071(1) (g) and (h), F.S.A. Plaintiff thereupon sought declaratory judgment that the foregoing and other statutory provisions are unconstitutional and violative of rights conferred by §§ 1 and 12 of the Declaration of Rights, Florida Constitution, F.S.A. and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Chancellor found there were no issues of fact and entered its final decree on the pleadings, holding:

1. Chapter 65-298, Acts of 1965, which requires that “no school or college of barbering shall be approved or licensed to operate in any county having a popula*612tion of less than seven hundred fifty thousand (750,000) * * * ” is arbitrary and constitutes a denial of equal protection. The Court found this provision applicable to new applications for licenses and its effect was to free existing schools in the counties specified of competition.
2. Chapter 65-318, Laws of Florida, amending Florida Statutes § 476.07, F.S.A., by changing admission prerequisites, does not deprive the plaintiff of any of its constitutional rights.
3. Florida Statutes § 476.071(1) (g), F.S.A., which requires that there be submitted with the application for a barber school license “evidence that a financial responsibility bond for faithful performance of duty has been secured,” is void for uncertainty and vagueness.
4. Florida Statutes § 476.071(1) (h), F.S.A., which requires that there be submitted with the application for a barber school license "evidence that a performance bond of ten thousand dollars guaranteeing the operation of such college or school for one year has been secured” is valid and does not deprive the plaintiff of any constitutional rights.
5. Subsections (d), (e) and (f) of § 476.071(2), construed with subsection (h) of said section, each denies to the plaintiff equal protection of the law and therefore may not be invoked to preclude plaintiff from being registered as a barber school under F.S. Chapter 476, F.S.A. Subsections (d), (e) and (f) prescribe the years of experience required of a manager, person or teacher in charge of the school and the scholastic requirements of a teacher. Subsection (h) provides that the foregoing shall not apply to any barber school in operation on or before June 15, 1959, and accords the established school the right to operate indefinitely with substandard personnel and to replace such substandard personnel with other substandard personnel.

Plaintiff-appellant’s only contention here is the Chancellor erred in upholding the validity of subsection (h) of § 476.071(1), (see paragraph numbered 4 above). Defendant-appellees have cross assigned as error the trial court’s decree invalidating Chapter 65-298 and § 476.071(1) (g) and (2) (d), (e), (f) and (h) of the Florida Statutes.

Florida Statutes § 476.071(1) (h), F.S.A., requiring that “[e]vidence that a performance bond of ten thousand dollars guaranteeing the operation of such school or college for one year has been secured” is indefinite and vague. The conditions of the bond are not clear, the ob-ligee and the number and type of sureties are not specified. A court cannot speculate as to what was intended by the Legislature.1 We must hold this section void for vagueness. In all other respects the order of the Chancellor stands affirmed.

It is so ordered.

THOMAS, ROBERTS, DREW, O’CONNELL and CALDWELL, JJ., concur.

ERVIN, J., dissents in part and concurs in part with opinion.

THORNAL, C. J., dissents in part and concurs in part and agrees with ERVIN, J.

ERVIN, Justice

(dissenting in part):

F.S. Section 476.071(1) (h), F.S.A. requiring “a performance bond of ten thousand dollars guaranteeing the operation of such [barber] school or college for one year,” does not appear to me to be void for uncertainty. In simple business parlance it calls for a bond issued either by a licensed surety company or a surety bond with individual sureties having sufficient assets over personal exemptions to support the obligation. The obligee of such a bond is *613the Barbers’ Sanitary Commission, the licensing authority. The obligation of the bond would protect any person, primarily enrolled students, sustaining financial loss because of the failure of the school or college to operate for one year after its license is issued.

F.S. Section 476.071 (2) (d), (e), (f) and (h), F.S.A., does not appear unconstitutional because of discrimination between sub- ' sections (d), (e) and (f) on the one hand and subsection (h) on the other. All that subsection (h) intends is that in barber schools or colleges operating on or before' June 15, 1959 the managers and teachers already employed in said schools or college on said date were grandfathered and such personnel would not be required to have or obtain the qualifications prescribed by subsections (d), (e) and (f). After 'June 15, 1959 newly employed managers or teachers in such existing barber colleges or ‘'schools would be required, as in all newly ’ licensed schools and colleges, to have the qualifications or comply with the requirements of subsections (d), (e) and (f). The exemption in subsection (h) from the requirements of subsections (d), (e) and (f) has reference to barber school or college personnel “engaged in the operation or conduct of any such school or college of barbering on or before June 15, 1959.” ,-

When the four subsections (d), (e), (f), and (h) are read together it is apparent that the purpose of (h) is to avoid retroactive application to personnel already employed in existing barber schools or colleges. Since in such context the words “engaged in the operation or conduct, etc.,” were used rather than “in existence on or before June 15, 1959,” it becomes apparent the then existing management and teaching faculty were intended to be exempted rather than the college or school itself from subsections (d), (e) and (f).

To further illustrate, it is illogical to say a shop is engaged in the operation or conduct of a shop, a bank is engaged in operating a bank, or a school is engaged in the conduct of a school; but it is logical to say a shopkeeper is engaged in operating and conducting a shop, a banker is engaged in operating a bank, and a teacher is engaged in the conduct of a school.

In all other respects I agree with the foregoing opinion.

THORN AL, C. J., concurs.

Dissent
ERVIN, Justice

ERVIN, Justice

(dissenting in part):

F.S. Section 476.071(1) (h), F.S.A. requiring “a performance bond of ten thousand dollars guaranteeing the operation of such [barber] school or college for one year,” does not appear to me to be void for uncertainty. In simple business parlance it calls for a bond issued either by a licensed surety company or a surety bond with individual sureties having sufficient assets over personal exemptions to support the obligation. The obligee of such a bond is the Barbers’ Sanitary Commission, the licensing authority. The obligation of the bond would protect any person, primarily enrolled students, sustaining financial loss because of the failure of the school or college to operate for one year after its license is issued.

F.S. Section 476.071 (2) (d), (e), (f) and (h), F.S.A., does not appear unconstitutional because of discrimination between sub- ' sections (d), (e) and (f) on the one hand and subsection (h) on the other. All that subsection (h) intends is that in barber schools or colleges operating on or before' June 15, 1959 the managers and teachers already employed in said schools or college on said date were grandfathered and such personnel would not be required to have or obtain the qualifications prescribed by subsections (d), (e) and (f). After 'June 15, 1959 newly employed managers or teachers in such existing barber colleges or ‘'schools would be required, as in all newly ’ licensed schools and colleges, to have the qualifications or comply with the requirements of subsections (d), (e) and (f). The exemption in subsection (h) from the requirements of subsections (d), (e) and (f) has reference to barber school or college personnel “engaged in the operation or conduct of any such school or college of barbering on or before June 15, 1959.” ,-

When the four subsections (d), (e), (f), and (h) are read together it is apparent that the purpose of (h) is to avoid retroactive application to personnel already employed in existing barber schools or colleges. Since in such context the words “engaged in the operation or conduct, etc.,” were used rather than “in existence on or before June 15, 1959,” it becomes apparent the then existing management and teaching faculty were intended to be exempted rather than the college or school itself from subsections (d), (e) and (f).

To further illustrate, it is illogical to say a shop is engaged in the operation or conduct of a shop, a bank is engaged in operating a bank, or a school is engaged in the conduct of a school; but it is logical to say a shopkeeper is engaged in operating and conducting a shop, a banker is engaged in operating a bank, and a teacher is engaged in the conduct of a school.

In all other respects I agree with the foregoing opinion.

THORN AL, C. J., concurs.


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  • McCOY v. Hollywood Quarries, Inc., 544 So. 2d 274 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)
    …Schultz v. State, 361 So. 2d 416 (Fla.1978). However, we are also cognizant of the role of the judiciary and recognize that the courts are not at liberty to speculate as to what was intended by the legislature. Bayou Barber College, Inc. v. Mincey, 193 So. 2d 610 (Fla.1967). In our view, without speculating as to whether this was intended by the drafters, we cannot find that the MTCSP imposes a legal duty upon contractors to provide temporary striping. Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s ruling that as a…
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    …ule against vagueness to non-criminal statutes which state agencies are called upon to administer: Sarasota County v. Barg, Fla., 302 So. 2d 737 (1974); Schneider v. Sweetland, Fla., 214 So. 2d 338 (1968); Bayou Barber College, Inc. v. Mincey, Fla., 193 So. 2d 610 (1967). Also, the Supreme Court in Conner v. Joe Hatton, Inc., Fla., 216 So. 2d 209 (1968), a civil case, succinctly set forth the proposition of law with which we are concerned. “When the statute is couched in vague and uncertain terms or is so br…

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