# Wishnow v. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission

> Court of Appeals of Texas · June 23, 1988 · 757 S.W.2d 404

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9640799

## Case

- **Full name:** Bernard WISHNOW D/B/A Wish's Club and Restaurant, Appellant, v. TEXAS ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE COMMISSION, Appellee
- **Court:** Court of Appeals of Texas
- **Decided:** June 23, 1988
- **Citations:** 757 S.W.2d 404; 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 1475; 1988 WL 63235
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Ellis
- **Judges:** Pressler, Draughn, Ellis
- **Cited by:** 12 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9640799

## Opinion text

ELLIS, Justice,
dissenting.
Finding myself in disagreement with the other members of the Court, I record my respectful dissent. I would sustain appellant’s first three points of error and reverse the judgment of the district court.
While I express no opinion as to the culpability of Mr. Wishnow and I do not condone the violations alleged to have been committed by him, I believe the law should more specifically inform a permittee of the conduct which is proscribed by the Code and for which his permits may be cancelled or suspended. Accordingly, I would hold that §§ 11.61(b)(7) and 104.01(2) of the Alcoholic Beverage Code are unconstitutionally vague and overbroad because they fail to define key words or phrases so as to provide a sufficiently definite warning to the permittee as to the proscribed conduct. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission v. Wishnow, 704 S.W.2d 425 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1985, no writ). The broad interpretations given such words and phrases as “lewd”, “immoral”, “offensive to public decency”, “the exposure of person”, and “permitting a person to expose his person” make it virtually impossible for a permittee to follow with any certainty the mandates of the Code provisions. For this reason I would reverse the judgment of the district court and set aside TABC’s administrative order suspending appellant’s permits.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9640799. Public record. Not legal advice.
