CopyCited 21 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida
...Ann Garrison, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellants. David B. McEwen, Tampa, for appellee. ADKINS, Justice. This case is before us on direct appeal from a decision of the Second District Court of Appeal which affirmed the trial court's determination that section
877.16, Florida Statutes (1979), is unconstitutional. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. The district court's decision is reported at
429 So.2d 1341 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). Section
877.16 states in its entirety:
877.16, Exhibition of deformed animals prohibited; penalty Whoever shall exhibit for pay or compensation any crippled or physically distorted, malformed, or disfigured beast, bird, or animal in *478 any circus, show, or similar place, or any other...
...In January of 1978 the animal show was closed in response to complaints received by Manatee County law enforcement authorities. In April of 1980 appellee filed a complaint for declaratory relief in the circuit court challenging the constitutionality of section 877.16 and its predecessor, section 867.02, Florida Statutes (1977). The trial court, after a nonjury trial, declared section 877.16 unconstitutional and prohibited appellants from attempting to enforce the provisions of that statute against the appellee....
...This theory was accepted by the trial court and by the district court with each court relying heavily on the opinion of this Court in World Fair Freaks and Attractions, Inc. v. Hodges,
267 So.2d 817 (Fla. 1972). In World Fair Freaks, this Court declared unconstitutional the former companion statute to section
877.16, section 867.01, Florida Statutes (1971), which prohibited the exhibition for pay of deformed humans....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1983 Fla. App. LEXIS 19162
RYDER, Judge. This is an appeal from the holding by the trial court that section 877.16, Florida Statutes (1979), is unconstitutionally vague and, therefore, void. 1 We agree and affirm. Section 877.16, Florida Statutes (1979), states: Exhibition of deformed animals prohibited; penalty — Whoever shall exhibit for pay or compensation any crippled or physically distorted, malformed, or disfigured beast, bird, or animal in any circus,...
...Richard Johnson owns and operates an animal show with which he travels about the state exhibiting the animals at various county fairs and other events. Sometime in January 1978, Major Gill of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office received complaints that Johnson might be violating section 877.16....
...Since the show was closed down in 1978, Johnson has not been able to have his show booked in Florida by Murphy. On April 29, 1980, Johnson filed a complaint for declaratory relief. The complaint, and its amendments, challenged the constitutionality of section 877.16, Florida Statutes (1979), and its predecessor, section 867.02, Florida Statutes (1977). Subsequent to trial, the lower court declared section 877.16 unconstitutional and prohibited appellant from attempting to enforce the provisions of that statute against Johnson....
...Hodges,
267 So.2d 817 (Fla.1972). It was in that decision that the Florida Supreme Court held unconstitutional the then companion statute, section 867.01, Florida Statutes. Com *1344 paring section 867.01 with the statute involved in the case sub judice, section
877.16, the only substantial and relevant difference in the statutory language was that the former prohibited the exhibition of deformed humans rather than deformed animals. We find the trial court’s reliance upon World Fair Freaks, supra, was justified. The decision in World Fair Freaks can properly be read as precluding the validity of a statute such as section
877.16....
