Analyzing the Void-for-Vagueness Doctrine as Applied to Statutory Defenses: Lessons from Iowa's Stand-Your-Ground Law

• Author: Jessica A. Lowe
• Position: J.D. Candidate, The University of Iowa College of Law, 2020; M.S.A., Bradley University, 2017; B.S., Bradley University, 2017
• Pages: 2359-2391

2359

Analyzing the Void-for-Vagueness

Doctrine as Applied to Statutory

Defenses: Lessons from Iowa’s

Stand-Your-Ground Law

Jessica A. Lowe*

ABSTRACT: In State v. Wilson, an Iowa district court found that a

provision in Iowa’s recently enacted stand-your-ground law, Iowa Code

section 704.13, was unconstitutionally vague. This decision constituted an

unusual application of the void-for-vagueness doctrine because courts seldom

consider vagueness challenges to statutory defenses and rarely, if ever, strike

them down under such challenges. On appeal, the Iowa Supreme Court did

not explicitly address the district court’s unusual holding that Iowa Code

section 704.13 was void for vagueness. As a result, Wilson raises the

following question: Is the void-for-vagueness doctrine an appropriate remedy

for ambiguous statutory defenses? To answer this question, this Note

examines traditional rationales underlying the void-for-vagueness doctrine.

It also explores the potential expansion of the void-for-vagueness doctrine in

the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions. Ultimately, this Note concludes

that the void-for-vagueness doctrine is not an appropriate remedy for

ambiguous statutory defenses.

I.INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 2360

II. BACKGROUND ON THE VOID-FOR-VAGUENESS DOCTRINE .......... 2364

A.CONSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATION ............................................. 2364

B.REASONS WHY LAWS CAN BE UNCONSTITUTIONALLY

VAGUE .................................................................................. 2365

1.Failure to Provide Notice ............................................ 2366

2.Arbitrary and Discriminatory Enforcement .............. 2368

C.POTENTIAL EXPANSION OF THE VOID-FOR-VAGUENESS

DOCTRINE ............................................................................. 2370

*

J.D. Candidate, The University of Iowa College of Law, 2020; M.S.A., Bradley University,

2017; B.S., Bradley University, 2017.

2360 IOWA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 105:2359

III.THE VOID-FOR-VAGUENESS DOCTRINE IS NOT AN

APPROPRIATE REMEDY FOR AMBIGUOUS STATUTORY

DEFENSES .................................................................................... 2376

A.THE VOID-FOR-VAGUENESS DOCTRINE VIOLATES DUE

PROCESS WHEN APPLIED TO STATUTORY DEFENSES ................. 2378

B.THE VOID-FOR-VAGUENESS DOCTRINE VIOLATES NOTICE

WHEN APPLIED TO STATUTORY DEFENSES .............................. 2381

1.Ambiguities in Procedural Requirements ................. 2381

2.Ambiguities in Conduct Requirements ..................... 2384

C.STATUTORY DEFENSES DO NOT ENCOURAGE ARBITRARY

AND DISCRIMINATORY ENFORCEMENT .................................... 2386

IV.RESOLVING UNCERTAINTIES IN IOWA’S VOID-FOR-VAGUENESS

DOCTRINE AFTER STATE V. WILSON ............................................. 2389

V.CONCLUSION .............................................................................. 2390

I. INTRODUCTION

In April of 2017, the Iowa General Assembly passed1 and then-Governor

Terry Branstad signed into law2 an expansive statutory scheme to enhance

individuals’ gun rights.3 Prior to this legislation, individuals could use

reasonable force in defense of oneself,4 a third party,5 or property;6 however,

they had a duty to retreat before using such force, except in limited

circumstances.7 “[T]he legislation narrowed the ‘duty to retreat’” by enacting

a stand-your-ground law.8 This law included a statutory defense,9 codified in

1. Kristine Phillips, Iowa’s Most Expansive Gun Rights Bill Ever Is No w Law, WASH. POST (Apr.

18, 2017, 8:07 AM), https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/04/12/

iowa-lawmakers-passed-the-states-most-expansive-gun-rights-bill-ever/?noredirect=on &utm_term

=.615fc8928d53 [https://perma.cc/YZZ9-HPRA] (reporting that House File 517, the Iowa bill

containing the gun-rights legislation, “passed the state Senate 33 to 17 and the House, 57 to 36”).

2. Iowa: Governor Branstad Expands the Second Amendment Rights of Gun Owners Across Iow a,

NRA INST. FOR LEGIS. ACTION (Apr. 13, 2017), https://www.nraila.org/articles/20170413/iowa-

governor-branstad-expands-the-second-amendment-rights-of-gun-owners-across-iowa [https://

perma.cc/3PCN-4P3A] (reporting that Governor Branstad signed House File 517 into law on

April 13, 2017).

3. Phillips, supra note 1 (reporting “that many say [House File 517] is the most

comprehensive and broadest piece of legislation on gun rights [Iowa] has ever seen”).

4. IOWA CODE § 704.3 (2016).

5. Id. § 704.5.

6. Id. § 704.4.

7. Id. § 704.1.

8. State v. Wilson, No. 18-0564, slip op. at 10 (Iowa Apr. 10, 2020) (providing an overview

of the 2017 gun-rights legislation).

9. See id. at 5 (noting that the defendant in Wilson raised Iowa Code section 704.13 as a

defense); Jessica Travis & Jeffrey James, Know the Ground You’re Standing on: Analyzing Stand Your

2020] ANALYZING THE VOID-FOR-VAGUENESS DOCTRINE 2361

Iowa Code section 704.13, that granted individuals immunity from criminal

or civil liability when they used reasonable and justifiable force to protect

“oneself, another person, or property.”10 This legislation became effective on

July 1, 2017.11

In State v. Wilson, the Iowa courts interpreted section 704.13 for one of

the first times.12 On August 27, 2017, an altercation between two gangs in

Iowa City’s pedestrian mall culminated in Lamar Wilson shooting three

individuals, with one victim dying and two suffering injuries.13 Iowa charged

Wilson with murder, attempted murder, intimidation with a deadly weapon,

and criminal gang participation.14 Prior to trial, Wilson filed a motion to

dismiss, arguing that he was entitled to a pretrial determination of immunity

under section 704.13.15 However, the district court deferred its decision on

the motion until after trial.16 At trial, a jury found Wilson guilty of voluntary

manslaughter, assault with intent to cause serious injury, and intimidation

with a dangerous weapon.17 Following trial, the district court reviewed

summaries of evidence and depositions submitted by the parties and held that

Wilson was not entitled to immunity under section 704.13.18

The district court denied Wilson immunity under Iowa Code section

704.13 on two bases. First, the district court found that Wilson’s actions did

not fall within the scope of section 704.13 because, based on the evidence, he

Ground and Self-Defense in Florida’s Legal System, 20 BARRY L. REV. 89, 98 (2014) (noting that stand-

your-ground laws are “used as a defense in criminal proceedings”); see also Defense, BLACK’S LAW

DICTIONARY (11th ed. 2019) (defining “defense” generally to mean “[a] defendant’s stated

reason why the plaintiff or prosecutor has no valid case”).

10. IOWA CODE § 704.13 (2018) (“A person who is justified in using reasonable force against

an aggressor in defense of oneself, another person, or property pursuant to section 704.4 is

immune from criminal or civil liability for all damages incurred by the aggressor pursuant to the

application of reasonable force.”).

11. Appellant’s Brief & Argument & Request for Oral Argument at 35, State v. Wilson,

No. 18-0564, slip op. (Iowa Apr. 10, 2020) [hereinafter Appellant’s Brief], available at https://

www.iowacourts.gov/courtcases/7655 /briefs/1898/emb edBrief [https://perma.cc/7QAU-

AHDX].

12. When the Iowa district court decided Wilson, only one defendant, Kevin Staley, had been

granted immunity under Iowa Code section 704.13. Will Greenberg, Johnson County Judge Seeks

Clarity on ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law After Ped Mall Shooting, IOWA CITY PRESS-CITIZEN (Apr. 2, 2018,

1:01 PM), https://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/2018/04/02/iowa-stand-your-ground-

law-ped-mall-shooting-lamar-wilson-judge-seeks-clarity/467637002 [https://perma.cc/U2QJ-

C3B9].

13. Wilson, slip op. at 2 (Iowa Apr. 10, 2020); Stephen Gruber-Miller & Andy Davis, Trial of

Iowa City Ped Mall Shooting Suspect Lamar Wilson Begins This Week, DES MOINES REG., https://

www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2018/01/21/trial-iowa-city-ped-

mall-shooting-suspect-lamar-wilson-begins-week/1040270001 [https://perma.cc/TC28-CUP3] (last

updated Jan. 22, 2018, 6:30 AM).

14. Wilson, slip op. at 5 (Iowa Apr. 10, 2020).

15. Id.; Appellant’s Brief, supra note 11, at 18–19.

16. Wilson, slip op. at 6 (Iowa Apr. 10, 2020); Appellant’s Brief, supra note 11, at 19.

17. Wilson, slip op. at 7 (Iowa Apr. 10, 2020).

18. Id.; State v. Wilson, No. FECR116476, slip op. at 6–8 (Iowa Dist. Ct. Mar. 27, 2018).