1902                                      Vetoes

May 28, 1971.

Honorable Thomas Hunter Lowe                 

Speaker of the House of Delegates

State House

Annapolis, Maryland 21404

Dear Mr. Speaker:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17, of the Maryland Con-
stitution, I have today vetoed House Bill 149.

This bill would make it a criminal offense "for any adult willfully
to contribute to, encourage, or tend to cause by any act or omission
any condition which would bring a child within the provisions of"
Article 26 of the Annotated Code of Maryland "regardless of whether
the child is actually brought thereunder."

The Attorney General has advised me that House Bill 149 is of
doubtful constitutionality because of its vagueness and its failure to
appraise as to what conduct is being prohibited. For the reasons given
in the attached copy of the Attorney General's opinion, which is to
be considered a part of this message, I believe that House Bill 149
must be vetoed.

Sincerely,

/s/ Marvin Mandel,

Governor.

Letter from State Law Department on House Bill No. 149

May 12, 1971.

Honorable Marvin Mandel
Governor of Maryland
State House
Annapolis, Maryland 21404

Dear Governor Mandel:

We have reviewed House Bill No. 149 which would add new
Section 70-27 to Article 26 of the Annotated Code, subtitled "Juve-
nile Causes". The new section to be added at the end of the present
law would create a new criminal offense in the following terms:

"It should be unlawful for any adult willfully to contribute
to, encourage, or tend to cause by any act or omission any
condition which would bring a child within the provisions of
this subtitle regardless of whether the child is actually brought
thereunder. Upon conviction of a violation of the provisions of
this section, the adult shall be punished by a fine not exceeding
$500.00, or imprisoned for not more than two years, or both
fined and imprisoned."

The proposed statute must be considered under the constitutional
principle that criminal statutes must be sufficiently clear so as
to reasonably appraise as to what conduct is being proscribed. This
principle was restated by Chief Justice Burger in the recent case of