# L.B. v. State

> Supreme Court of Florida · October 2, 1997 · 22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 609

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/7709262

## Case

- **Full name:** L.B. v. STATE of Florida
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Florida
- **Decided:** October 2, 1997
- **Citations:** 22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 609; 700 So. 2d 370; 1997 Fla. LEXIS 1512
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Grimes
- **Judges:** Anstead, Grimes, Harding, Kogan, Overton, Shaw, Wells
- **Cited by:** 81 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- **Red flag:** Superseded by statute, as recognized in State v. A.M..
- Negative treatments: 1
- Distinguished by: 0
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/7709262

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding term "common pocketknife" was not unconstitutionally vague because "in the vast majority of cases, it will be evident . . . whether one's pocketknife is a 'common' pocketknife under any intended definition of that term."
- concluding "that the term ‘common pocketknife,’ as contained in the statute, does provide persons of ordinary intelligence with fair notice as to what constitutes forbidden conduct”
- stating that "a court may refer to a dictionary to ascertain the plain and ordinary meaning which the legislature intended to ascribe to the term"
- stating that when the legislature has not defined a statutory term, a court may refer to a dictionary to ascertain its plain and ordinary meaning
- explaining that "court may refer to a dictionary to ascertain the plain and ordinary meaning"

## Opinion text

GRIMES, Justice,
concurring.
In view of the Attorney General’s opinion and the absence of a more definitive description of a common pocketknife, I concur with the majority opinion. It occurs to me, however, that the legislature may wish to address this issue, particularly as it relates to the possession of pocketknives on school grounds. Even a four-inch blade can do a lot of damage.
WELLS, J., concurs.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/7709262. Public record. Not legal advice.