Erlenbaugh v. United States
1972 U.S. LEXIS 2, 409 U.S. 239, 34 L. Ed. 2d 446 (1972)
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Rule of Law:
The specific statutory exception for newspapers found in 18 U.S.C. § 1953, which prohibits the interstate transportation of gambling paraphernalia, cannot be implicitly read into the Travel Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1952, which broadly prohibits the use of interstate commerce facilities with the intent to promote unlawful activities.
Facts:
- Erlenbaugh and other petitioners operated illegal bookmaking businesses in Hammond, Indiana.
- These gambling operations depended on the 'Illinois Sports News,' a daily publication containing detailed horse racing information, commonly known as a 'scratch sheet.'
- The Illinois Sports News was published in Chicago, Illinois.
- To facilitate their businesses, the petitioners arranged for daily, prompt delivery of the publication from Illinois to Indiana.
- This was accomplished by having copies of the newspaper placed on an early morning train of the Chicago, South Shore, & South Bend Railroad for shipment from Chicago to Hammond.
- Upon the train's arrival in Hammond, the petitioners or their associates would pick up the newspapers for use in their bookmaking operations.
Procedural Posture:
- The United States prosecuted Erlenbaugh and the other petitioners in federal district court for violating the Travel Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1952.
- The petitioners were convicted in five separate trials.
- The petitioners appealed their convictions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which consolidated the cases for appeal.
- The Court of Appeals affirmed all the convictions, finding that § 1952 contains no exception for the transmittal of publications.
- The petitioners then sought and were granted a writ of certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split on the issue.
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Issue:
Does the 'newspaper or similar publication' exception in 18 U.S.C. § 1953, which exempts such publications from the ban on transporting gambling paraphernalia, also apply to prosecutions under the Travel Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1952, for using an interstate facility to transport a newspaper in furtherance of an illegal gambling enterprise?
Opinions:
Majority - Mr. Justice Marshall
No, the newspaper exception from 18 U.S.C. § 1953 does not apply to prosecutions under the Travel Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1952. Although the statutes were enacted together to combat organized crime and are 'in pari materia,' they serve different functions. Section 1953 is a narrow statute that targets the interstate shipment of specific materials (gambling paraphernalia), and its newspaper exception was created to protect innocent persons who might unknowingly transport a paper containing racing information. In contrast, § 1952 is a broad statute that targets the conduct of using interstate facilities with the specific intent to promote a wide range of 'unlawful activity.' Because § 1952 requires criminal intent, the rationale for the newspaper exception is absent, and importing it would improperly carve a substantial slice from the Travel Act's intended coverage.
Analysis:
This decision solidifies the distinct and independent functions of two key federal anti-racketeering statutes. By refusing to import an exception from the narrower § 1953 into the broader § 1952, the Court preserved the Travel Act as a powerful prosecutorial tool against organized crime. The ruling reinforces the principle of statutory interpretation that courts should not create exceptions where Congress has not, especially when the statutes in question have different structures, purposes, and requisite mental states. The case clarifies that the focus of the Travel Act is on the criminal intent behind using interstate commerce, not on the intrinsic nature of the items being transported.
