Opinion

Hynes v. Mayor of Oradell

  • 66 N.J. 376
  • 331 A.2d 277
  • 1975 N.J. LEXIS 214
Court
Supreme Court of New Jersey
Filed
Jan 24, 1975
Status
Published
Author
Hall
On the bench
Clifford, Hall, Pashman
Cited by
4 cases

Reversed on other grounds by Hynes v. Mayor and Council of Oradell, 425 U.S. 610 (1976)

The opinion

Hall, J.

(dissenting). It is elementary that all police power legislation — this ordinance falls in that category — must be reasonable. The regulation must not be "arbitrary or capricious, the means selected must have a real and substantial relation to the object sought to be attained, and the regulation or proscription must be reasonably calculated to meet the evil and not exceed the public need or substantially affect uses which do not partake of the offensive character of those which cause the problem sought to be ameliorated. Kirsch Holding Co. v. Borough of Manasquan, 59 N. J. 241, 251 (1971). (emphasis supplied).

In my view, the ordinance before us clearly runs afoul of the emphasized portion of this quotation and I would nullify it on that ground alone without having to delve into difficult Eirst Amendment problems. It seems to me so plain silly to require written registration with the police department of a small town before one can engage in the publicly desirable activity of soliciting support from the local citizenry for a political candidate or cause (as distinct from commercial house-to-house selling by strangers), on the pretext that such a requirement would help keep burglars and sneak thieves out of town, that it must be said, as matter of law, that the requirement exceeds the *383 public need and substantially affects desirable conduct not sufficiently related to the claimed evil.

I would affirm the invalidation of the ordinance.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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