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1981 United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
-- Lawson v. Kolender, 658 F.2d 1362 (9th Cir. 1981) October 15, 1981
On approximately fifteen occasions between March, 1975 and January, 1977, Edward Lawson was stopped by law enforcement officials. On each occasion, he was detained or arrested on the basis of California Penal Code § 647(e). Lawson was prosecuted only twice for the alleged offenses; one resulted in dismissal, the other in conviction. Lawson filed a complaint seeking: (1) a declaratory judgment that section 647(e) is unconstitutional; (2) a mandatory injunction restraining the enforcement of the section; and (3) compensatory and punitive damages against the various officers who arrested him because they deprived him of his constitutional rights.
-- "a person who is stopped on less than probable cause cannot be punished for failing to identify himself."
--  "... the arrests were not made in good faith and that they were merely made for the purpose of harassing Lawson, since very few of the arrests ended in prosecution."