Boyles v. City of Topeka

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Six, J.:

This case concerns the constitutionality of a city’s public nuisance ordinance prohibiting the maintaining on private property of any garbage, rubbish, trash, refuse, junk, or other listed items which create “an unsightly appearance.” The attack on the ordinance is based on a claim of vagueness linked to a claimed violation of defendant’s due process rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

The City of Topeka (City) found that the defendant property owner, Gerald M. Boyles, violated the City’s public…