Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman, No. 13-4533 (2d Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CasePlaintiffs filed suit claiming that New York General Business Law Section 518 violates the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause and is void for vagueness under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. Section 518 provides that “[n]o seller in any sales transaction may impose a surcharge on a holder who elects to use a credit card in lieu of payment by cash, check, or similar means.” The district court entered a final judgment declaring Section 518 unconstitutional and permanently enjoined its enforcement. The court reversed, concluding that Section 518 does not violate the First Amendment as applied to single-sticker‐price sellers. And, because it is unclear whether the law applies outside that specific context, there is no basis for the court to conclude that the law violates the First Amendment in any of its applications, much less on its face. The district court also erred in holding that Section 518 is unconstitutionally vague under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Having concluded that Section 518 enjoys a core set of applications in which it is not unconstitutionally vague - namely, its application to sellers who post single sticker-prices - the court found abstention appropriate in this context also, and therefore did not reach the balance of plaintiffs’ vagueness challenge. The court remanded for dismissal of plaintiffs' claims.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on December 11, 2015.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on December 6, 2017.
Subsequent History
- Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman, No. 15-1391 (U.S. Mar. 29, 2017)
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