Federal appeals panel upholds Michigan's anti-stalking law

By The Associated Press

02.06.01

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LANSING, Mich. — A federal appeals court upheld Michigan's anti-stalking law yesterday, rejecting a convicted stalker's argument that the law was too vague and violated his free-speech rights.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati, ruled that Jerry Lee Staley should remain in prison, overturning a ruling in Staley's favor last year by U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen of Kalamazoo.

"A person of reasonable intelligence would know whether his conduct was violating the statute," 6th Circuit Judge Richard Suhrheinrich wrote in the unanimous opinion from the panel.

"The statute was certainly not vague as applied to Staley, as his conduct falls squarely within the heartland of conduct the statute is designed to prohibit."

Staley's attorney, David Dodge, said yesterday that he would appeal the ruling to all 21 members of the 6th Circuit. Dodge plans to file the appeal within the next seven days.

Staley is serving a 15-to-25-year state prison sentence for stalking his ex-girlfriend. During his 1994 trial, Staley was accused of breaking into the victim's home, calling her up to 15 times per day, chasing her with a baseball bat and threatening to "slice her gut" with a knife.

Under Michigan's law, which went into effect in 1993, people may be convicted of felony stalking if they make unwanted contact with a victim two or more times and make a "credible threat" at least once.

The law defines stalking as repeated harassment that "would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, intimidated, threatened, harassed or molested."

Staley was originally sentenced to life in prison. He sued, saying his punishment was excessive and that the stalking law was unconstitutional. The Michigan Court of Appeals agreed that his sentence was too heavy and reduced it. But the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court upheld the stalking law.

Staley then took his case to federal court, where Enslen ruled that the law was so broadly written it might be used to prosecute journalists or telemarketers who pursued someone as part of their jobs.

But the 6th Circuit panel said Michigan's law clearly defines what it means by stalking and, in doing so, protects legal behavior such as journalism.

"Granted, the district court posed several examples of speech or expressive conduct that could conceivably be restricted under the statute," Suhrheinrich wrote. "Simply because the district court could cite several examples does not make the statute overbroad, however, especially since none covered the core of conduct the statute is designed to deter."

Yesterday's ruling ensures that at least 126 inmates will remain behind bars for stalking, said Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm.

"It is a big victory for domestic violence victims in Michigan," Granholm said.

State Sen. Dianne Byrum, D-Onondaga, sponsored the bill that became the anti-stalking law. She said lawmakers spent a year drafting the measure.

"We believed right from the beginning that the statute was constitutional," she said.

The Michigan Sheriff's Association, Michigan Prosecuting Attorneys Association and several domestic violence and women's organizations have backed the law.

"We were extremely pleased to hear of the ruling," said Martha Truscott, head of the Michigan Women's Commission. "This says that the rights of the innocent victims are considerably more important than the rights of convicted criminals."