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City could face suit for family definition


By JACLYN PITTS
jpitts@potomacnews.com
Thursday, January 5, 2006

Manassas' redefinition of "family" in December has raised eyebrows not only around the state, but across the country as well.
Now the city could face a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia "if necessary," ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis said Wednesday.

However, Willis said a lawsuit will be filed only if issues can't be resolved out of court.

"We will always attempt to do anything short of litigation," he said. "The next step is to sit down with other organizations and see what they are prepared to do."

The new definition defines a family as "two or more persons related to the second degree of collateral consanguinity" plus one non-related person, despite the home's occupancy limit.

The previous code defined family as two or more persons related by blood, marriage, adoption or guardianship living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit.

With this new definition, which is loosely based on an ordinance Herndon adopted in 2004, the head of household's aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews would not be considered family.

The city released a statement Dec. 29 explaining that this new definition was in response to "broad-based concerns about overcrowding."

"The City views residential zoning regulations as a covenant with citizens who purchase property in the community, and our actions honor this commitment," city officials added in the statement. "The suggestion that changes in the Zoning Ordinance reflect any other intent on the part of the City government are absolutely false."

But Willis said he thinks it's not about overcrowding at all.

He said the ordinance violates constitutional rights to substantive due process, which are rights that give a person the power to possess or to do certain things, such as freedom of speech or religion.

"It's a place where the government can't enter into," Willis said. "The government has no right to tell family members they can't live together under the same roof."

He also pointed to the 1977 case of Moore v. City of East Cleveland, when the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed a similar ordinance.

Willis said the other issue around the ordinance involves its alleged tie to fighting illegal immigration.

"Both its purpose and effects appear to target Manassas' growing Latino population," he said. "It appears that the clear purpose is to break up Latino families."

Also, the ordinance is only enforced on a complaint basis.

He said, instead, the city should enforce health and safety codes to combat overcrowding.

The ACLU isn't the only group interested in the ordinance, either. The Equal Rights Center, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., has partnered with the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Affairs to conduct their own investigation of the ordinance, said Rabbi Bruce Kahn, ERC executive director.

"The ordinance doesn't deal with overcrowding," Kahn said. "It's getting into who can live with whom. I don't get it."

Some residents are speaking out against the ordinance, too.

Robin Croft, a 47-year-old artist and Manassas resident of 16 years, has been protesting the ordinance in front of City Hall this week, holding a large sign that reads: "Manassas! Thanks for helping to revive Virginia's BIGOTED past! Find a constitutional way to address illegal immigration!"

As he stood in front of City Hall on Wednesday with longtime friend Joe Senkow, he said he's received mostly positive feedback from passersby.

Senkow, a retired engineer who moved to Manassas six months ago from Fairfax County, said he supported his friend's cause.

"I'm not a lawyer, but I've been around long enough to recognize a bad law," he said.

City officials and employees declined to comment for this story.