Defendants John Stansell and others (collectively, defendants) appeal their convictions based on violations of 40 U.S.C. §§ 318a, 318c and 41 C.F.R. § 101-20.304 (1986). We affirm.
FACTS
On August 15, 1986, defendants participated in a protest demonstration at the Jackson Federal Building in Seattle. As part of the demonstration, some of the demonstrators attempted to chain shut the doors at the Second Avenue entrance. After Federal Protective Service (FPS) officials cut and removed the chains, the demonstrators sat in front of the doorway, preventing federal employees from entering.
FPS officials announced that the protesters had to move clear of the doorways, and that if they failed to move, they would be arrested. Defendants refused to move. After FPS officials advised defendants individually to move and were again refused, the officials arrested defendants. The remaining protesters moved away from the doors and continued the demonstration.
Defendants were charged with violating 40 U.S.C. §§ 318a, 318c, and 41 C.F.R. § 101-20.304 (1986). Before trial, the Magistrate denied defendants' motions for a jury trial and to dismiss on grounds of overbreadth and vagueness. At a bench trial, the Magistrate convicted six of the seven defendants, acquitting defendant Sip-troth, sentencing defendants Stansell and Donahue to serve ten-day jail terms, and sentencing the remaining defendants to pay fines of fifty dollars each.
The district court affirmed the convictions, reasoning that (1) the motion for jury trial was properly denied and (2) 41 C.F.R. § 101-20.304 (1986) was not unconstitution
ANALYSIS
A. Motion for Jury Trial
The denial of defendants’ motion for jury trial is a question of law reviewed de novo. Rife v. Godbehere,
The sixth amendment right to jury trial does not extend to all criminal cases. District of Columbia v. Clawans,
The Supreme Court has generally used the severity of the maximum authorized penalty as the most relevant criteria in determining whether an offense is petty or serious. See Baldwin v. New York,
The maximum authorized penalty at the time of the defendants’ conviction for a violation of 41 C.F.R. subpart 101-20.3 was “a fine of not more than $50 or imprisonment of not more than 30 days, or both.” 41 C.F.R. § 101-20.315 (1986); see also 40 U.S.C. § 318c.
B. Overbreadth and Vagueness
We review de novo defendants’ constitutional challenge that 41 C.F.R. § 101-20.304 (1986) is both overbroad and vague on its face. United States v. Westbrook,
§ 101-20.304 — Conformity with signs and directions. Persons in and on property shall at all times comply with official signs of a prohibitory, regulatory, or directory nature and with the direction of Federal protective officers and other authorized individuals.
41 C.F.R. § 101-20.304 (1986).
1. Overbreadth
Defendants contend that section 101-20.-304 is unconstitutionally overbroad on its face because there are no easily identifiable acts of any kind that it prohibits. They also maintain that there are no reasonable limiting constructions that would make the regulation constitutional.
Under the overbreadth doctrine in first amendment cases, a litigant is “permitted to challenge a statute not because their own rights of free expression are violated, but because of a judicial prediction or assumption that the statute’s very existence may cause others not before the court to refrain from constitutionally protected speech or expression.” Broadrick v. Oklahoma,
The Supreme Court has defined “substantial overbreadth” as the
criterion the Court has invoked to avoid striking down a statute on its face simply because of the possibility that it might be applied in an unconstitutional manner. It is appropriate in cases where, despite some possibly impermissible application, the “ ‘remainder of the statute ... covers a whole range of easily identifiable and constitutionally proscribable ... conduct....”’ In such a case, the Court has required a litigant to demonstrate that the statute “as applied” to him is unconstitutional.
Secretary of State of Md. v. J.H. Munson Co.,
Two district courts have held that section 101-20.304 is unconstitutionally overbroad because it is not conducive to any limiting construction. See United States v. Parisi,
Two courts of appeal, however, have held that section 101-20.304 is not unconstitutionally overbroad because it could be properly circumscribed with a limiting construction that would confine the statute to permissible applications. See United States v. Bader,
In Shiel, defendant and others laid down in a passageway at the Pentagon, thereby obstructing pedestrian traffic. Defendant
Although we follow the conclusions of Bader and Shiel, we do not adopt their rationales. Those cases limited construction of the regulation to those orders that are “necessary,” Bader,
Such a method of construction is not without precedent. In fashioning a reasonable limiting construction of a different regulation of conduct on federal property under what is now the same subpart, the Fourth Circuit reasoned: “The regulation here attacked could be applied only to situations involving government property under the charge and control of GSA and only in conjunction with other rules and regulations pertaining to government property.” Cassiagnol,
Viewed in relation to the subpart’s plainly legitimate sweep, the alleged over-breadth of the challenged regulation is not sufficiently “real” or “substantial” so as to render it unconstitutional. See Broadrick,
Because a reasonable limiting construction can be placed on the challenged regulation, we hold that section 101-20.304 is not substantially overbroad.
2. Vagueness
Under the void-for-vagueness doctrine, a penal statute must “define the criminal offense with sufficient definitiveness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.” Kolender v. Lawson,
Given the limited construction that may reasonably be imposed on the regula
CONCLUSION
Because defendants’ motion for jury trial was properly denied and because 41 C.F.R. § 101-20.304 (1986) is within constitutional bounds, we affirm.
AFFIRMED.
Notes
. We have recognized exceptions to the emphasis on the maximum authorized penalty as the major criterion of the seriousness of an offense. In particular, we have allowed consideration of serious collateral consequences that attach to a conviction, the actual nature of the offense, and other precedent and practices that indicate the seriousness of an offense. See United States v. Craner,
Relying on Craner, defendants contend that because their conviction may have the collateral consequence of infringing or chilling their first amendment rights, their case is sufficiently serious to require a jury trial. Defendants draw our attention to United States v. Thomas,
Thomas and Craner are distinguishable in that defendants in both cases faced a maximum authorized penalty right at the Baldwin line: six months’ imprisonment and/or a $500 fine — in stark contrast to what defendants faced here. The maximum authorized penalty in the case at bar remains the best objective indication of the seriousness of the offense. Although first amendment rights are implicated, the first amendment does not grant defendants the right to obstruct a doorway in a federal building during a protest demonstration or to disregard an FPS official’s reasonable order to cease blocking the doorway. See Cox v. Louisiana,
. Although irrelevant to the outcome of this case, we note that the maximum authorized penalty for violations of subpart 101-20.3 was later increased to "a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment of not more than 6 months, or both.” 41 C.F.R. § 101.20.315 (1987) (citing 18 U.S.C. § 1). It is unclear how this increased penalty comports with 40 U.S.C. § 318c, which continues to prescribe penalties of not more than $50 and/or thirty days imprisonment.
. It has been a common practice to have bench trials for cases under section 101-20.304, even when the first amendment is undoubtedly implicated. See Bader,
As a so-called "compromise" position, defendants draw our attention to Argersinger v. Hamlin,
. Although irrelevant to the outcome of this case, we note that the 1987 version of this regulation has been modified in an apparent attempt to clarify its meaning:
§ 101-20.304 Conformity with signs and directions.
Persons in and on property shall at all times comply with official signs of a prohibitory, regulatory, or directory nature and with the lawful direction of Federal Protective Officers and other authorized individuals.
41 C.F.R. § 101-20.304 (1987) (emphasis added).
. The Bader court also noted that the district court in Townsend, discussed supra, "followed a doctrine of overbreadth somewhat at odds with the view that the Supreme Court set forth in Broadrick." Bader,
. Chapter 101 of Title 41 C.F.R. deals with "Federal Property Management Regulations.” Part 101-20 addresses “Management of Buildings and Grounds.” Subpart 101-20.3 is entitled "Conduct on Federal Property.” The regulations promulgated in subpart 101-20.3 provide a comprehensive scheme of federal property management; in particular, the regulations govern inspection of packages and briefcases brought into federal property (§ 101-20.301); admission to federal property (§ 101-20.302); preservation of federal property against disposal of rubbish, willful destruction or damage, theft, and creation of hazards (§ 101-20.303); disturbances, loitering, disorderly conduct (§ 101-20.-305); gambling on federal property (§ 101-20.-306); use of alcoholic beverages and narcotics (§ 101-20.307); soliciting, vending, and debt collection (§ 101-20.308); distribution and posting of handbills (§ 101-20.309); photographs for news, advertising, or commercial purposes (§ 101-20.310); admittance of dogs and other animals (§ 101-20.311); vehicular and pedestrian traffic (§ 101-20.312); weapons and explosives (§ 101-20.313); and discrimination on federal property (§ 101-20.314). The authority for these regulations is derived from 40 U.S.C. § 318a, with the penalties of not more than $50 and/or imprisonment for not more than 30 days for violations set forth in 40 U.S.C. § 318c. For a discussion of cases upholding the constitutional validity of some of these regulations, see Annotation, Validity of 40 U.S.C.S. §§ 3J8-318d and Implementing Regulations, Governing Protection of Federal Buildings and Other Areas Under Jurisdiction of General Services Administration,
. Defendants repeatedly cite Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham,
"Literally read,” the Supreme Court observed, the second part of section 1142 ‘“does not provide for government by clearly defined laws, but rather for government by the moment-to-moment opinions of a policeman on his beat.’ ” Id. at 90,
The second ordinance, section 1231, made it an offense "to refuse or fail to comply with any lawful order, signsil or direction of a police officer.” Like section 1142, the Court noted that “the literal terms of this ordinance are so broad as to evoke constitutional doubts of the utmost gravity.” Id. at 93,
Similarly, a literal reading of section 101-20.-304 out of context would lead to the facile conclusion that it is overly broad. However, as discussed supra, it may be construed narrowly and properly limited by the context of the entire regulatory scheme of subpart 101-20.3.
. Relying on Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates,
[After facial overbreadth analysis, the] court should then examine the facial vagueness challenge and, assuming the enactment implicates no constitutionally protected conduct, should uphold the challenge only if the enactment is vague in all of its applications.
Id. at 494-95,
