441

Opinion of BLACK, J.

dresses of his places of business in such district." (Emphasis supplied.) Thereafter dealers must make detailed monthly reports of inventories, sales and deliveries for the "places of business" in the district. But the use of the phrase "such district" is bound to leave a dealer bewildered. Does the phrase refer to the place where a dealer is compelled to file his papers? Or does it simply force him to tell in what "district" he maintains "places"? If a dealer is able to solve this puzzle, how is he to find "such district"? The Act gives no hint as to where the "district" is or how a person can locate it. It never describes any "district." Yet failure to comply with these unascertainable requirements is punishable by fine up to $5,000, imprisonment up to two years, or both. This punishment, at least, is certain. I would apply the established rule that "a statute which either forbids or requires the doing of an act in terms so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application, violates the first essential of due process of law." Connally v. General Construction Co., 269 U. S. 385, 391.

Nor can a criminal statute too vague to be constitutionally valid be saved by additions made to it by the Attorney General. Of course, Congress could have prescribed that reports should be made at reasonably accessible places designated by the Attorney General. Cf. United States v. Eaton, 144 U. S. 677. But the Act under consideration did not do this. The Attorney General did promulgate an attempted clarifying regulation under the purported authority of R. S. § 161, 5 U. S. C. § 22. That statute provides no more than a general authorization to the heads of all departments to prescribe regulations governing their departments, officers, clerks, records, papers, etc. There is certainly not sufficient specificity in this grant concerning routine departmental business to support the Attorney General's attempt to

CLARK, J., dissenting.

346 U. S.

infuse life into an Act of Congress unenforceable for vagueness. The vital omission in this criminal statute can be supplied by the legislative branch of government, not by the Attorney General. I would affirm these judgments.

MR. JUSTICE CLARK, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE, MR. JUSTICE REED and MR. JUSTICE BURTON concur, dissenting.

I.

I agree with MR. JUSTICE BLACK on the question of statutory construction, that § 3 of the Act means just what it says: "every manufacturer of and dealer in gambling devices" is required to register with the Attorney General and file with him certain records, without reference to interstate commerce. MR. JUSTICE JACKSON'S opinion states that "this Court will construe a statute in a manner that requires decision of serious constitutional questions only if the statutory language leaves no reasonable alternative." I agree; but I think that the statutory language involved here leaves no reasonable alternative. It would be difficult for Congress to be more explicit than to direct the statute's mandate, as it has here, to "every" manufacturer and dealer without qualification. In United States v. Sullivan, 332 U. S. 689 (1948), the Court dealt with a highly analogous situation; the opinion of the Court there was that "A restrictive interpretation should not be given a statute merely because giving effect to the express language employed by Congress might require a court to face a constitutional question." 332 U. S., at 693.

If by legislative history or otherwise it could persuasively be shown that Congress intended that the word "every" be given other than its plain meaning, we should likely consider such evidence in interpreting the statute.

441

CLARK, J., dissenting.

See Boston Sand Co. v. United States, 278 U. S. 41, 48 (1928). But I think the legislative history on this issue is almost totally unenlightening. Of the meager evidence available perhaps strongest support is furnished the construction resulting from a literal reading of the section. The bill, including the part of § 3 here in issue as passed without discussion, was drafted pursuant to the resolution of a "crime conference" consisting of leading national and local officials and others interested in law enforcement, in cooperation with the Department of Justice. The conference's unanimous resolution was "Resolved, That this conference endorse the idea of Federal legislation to prohibit the shipment of gambling devices into or out of any State where the possession or use of such devices is illegal. Further, requiring Federal registration of all such machines sold within States." 2 The bill was drafted shortly thereafter by the Justice Department, with § 3 requiring registration and filing by "every" dealer and manufacturer. That part of the section was never changed and apparently was never discussed by Congress.

CLARK, J., dissenting.

346 U.S.

Concededly, to give the provision its literal meaning affords far more effective enforcement with respect to other sections of the Act than would be the case if any of the other suggested interpretations were applied.

For these reasons I am unable to agree with the solution of these cases offered by MR. JUSTICE JACKSON.

II.

I am also unable to agree that the statute is unconstitutionally vague.

Section 3 requires that at specified times "every manufacturer of and dealer in gambling devices shall register with the Attorney General his name or trade name, the address of his principal place of business, and the addresses of his places of business in such district," and that there be filed monthly with the Attorney General "an inventory and record of all sales and deliveries of gambling devices as of the close of the preceding calendar month for the place or places of business in the district."

I do not mean to suggest that these provisions are models of clarity; when words are left in a statute by oversight, exemplary draftsmanship hardly results. But our function is not to discipline Congress for its failure to dot the i's and cross the t's. It is rather to make certain that the conduct required has been made sufficiently clear that to impose sanctions for ignoring the statute's requirements will not violate due process of law.

3 The construction urged by the appellees differs from that of MR. JUSTICE JACKSON. They state: "... the proper construction of this Act, we feel, is this: that all shipments of gambling devices in interstate commerce are prohibited except to those States where the same are legal. Manufacturers or dealers shipping into those States where it is legal should be required to register with the Attorney General and file an inventory." Brief of Appellees in Nos. 40 and 41, p. 8. (Emphasis supplied.) This construction would seem to circumvent the possible self-incrimination aspects suggested by MR. JUSTICE BLACK; it would also unduly strain statutory construction.

441

CLARK, J., dissenting.

The appellees ask us to hold that this is a case "where patently ambiguous language is so unclear and equivocal as to render its enforcement a denial of due process"; they argue that conviction here violates the rule that "no one may be required at peril of life, liberty or property to speculate as to the meaning of penal statutes," and that all are entitled to be informed as to what the statute commands or forbids, citing Lanzetta v. New Jersey, 306 U. S. 451, 453 (1939). In my view speculation is not here required, unless one seeks to avoid compliance with the law; I think that all who would comply with the law are sufficiently informed of what is required of them to assure that any bona fide attempt at compliance would be successful.

Appellees' complaint, according to their brief, appears to be not that the statute does not tell them what to file, but that it does not tell them where to file it. As I read the Act, several things are at once apparent: (1) the registrant must register with someone his name and the addresses of all his places of business, designating the principal one if he has more than one; (2) he must file monthly an inventory and record of all sales and deliveries of gambling devices; (3) this registration and filing must be done with the Attorney General-for the Act provides in clearest terms that he "shall register with the Attorney General his name" etc., and that he "shall file with the Attorney General an inventory" etc. I take it that, aside from 5 U. S. C. § 291 which provides that the Attorney General shall be at the seat of government, it is common knowledge that the Attorney General is located in Washington, D. C. There can be no doubt that the required information sent to him there would amount to compliance. If one desired to give meaning to "district," the Attorney General has United States Attorneys representing him throughout the country. There can be no doubt that the required information sent to the At