Thread: Judge rules against San Bernardino illegal-immigrant petitio

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... e=politics

Anti-illegal immigrant measure didn't qualify for city ballot
-
Monday, June 26, 2006


(06-26) 14:27 PDT San Bernardino, Calif. (AP) --

A judge ruled Monday that an anti-illegal immigration activist had not collected enough signatures to hold a city vote on a measure that would severely curtail the rights of illegal immigrants.

San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge A. Rex Victor granted activist Joseph Turner 10 days to collect the signatures needed to qualify his measure for a September special election in the city 70 miles east of Los Angeles.

The initiative, which the City Council referred to voters last month, would be one of the most far-reaching in the nation in its effort to limit the rights of illegal immigrants.

As written, it would bar undocumented residents from renting in the city and force day laborers to prove they are legal residents. The initiative would also ban day labor centers, deny permits, contracts and grants to employers who hire illegal immigrants and require that city business be conducted in English.

Turner said after the judge's ruling that he doubted that he would try to collect the needed signatures in the 10-day window, but would instead return to voters with an even "more draconian" initiative.

"I was told I needed to gather a certain number of signatures and I gathered those signatures. I followed the process to the T, to the letter. And now they tell me, 'You're wrong,'" Turner said. "This is not going to deter me or make me go away. I'm going to come back harder and stronger."

The initiative has attracted national attention and prompted copycat measures elsewhere, including in Hazleton, Pa. That city recently gave tentative approval to a measure that would revoke the business licenses of companies that employ illegal immigrants, impose $1,000 fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and make English the city's official language.

In San Bernardino, the debate over the initiative has created tension among the city's population of 200,000. Just under 50 percent are Hispanic, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Its previous mayor was a Hispanic woman elected to two terms.

On Friday, an immigration rights activist was cited for battery after allegedly slapping Turner following a court hearing.

The council was set to schedule an election date earlier this month, but instead voted to ask a judge to determine whether they could legally do that after receiving a letter from an attorney challenging the process.

Attorney Dana W. Reed, who represents resident Florentino Garza, questioned the formula city officials used to determine how many signatures were needed to put the measure on the ballot.

The city charter states an ordinance's author must gather enough signatures to equal 30 percent of voters "at the last preceding city election at which a mayor was elected."

The initiative petition qualified last month with 2,216 signatures, which was at least 30 percent of the number of voters who cast ballots in the 2001 mayoral race.

But Reed contended the city should have used February's mayoral runoff as its base for determining how many signatures were needed. Doing so would have required Turner to gather 4,771 signatures, according to Reed.

http://www.pe.com

Judge rules against San Bernardino illegal-immigrant petition

02:32 PM PDT on Monday, June 26, 2006
The Press-Enterprise


A judge has ruled that backers of a controversial San Bernardino illegal-immigration initiative did not gather enough petition signatures to qualify the measure for a public vote.

San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge A. Rex Victor said Monday that the standard to qualify the city of San Bernardino Illegal Immigration Relief Act should have been about twice as high as the benchmark set by City Clerk Rachel Clark.

Victor's ruling hinged on a section of San Bernardino's charter that requires petition sponsors to submit voter signatures equal to 30 percent of the total ballots cast the last time San Bernardino elected a mayor.

When initiative author Joseph Turner started collecting signatures, Clark told him the standard was a November 2001 election in which former Mayor Judith Valles ran unopposed.

But Turner submitted his petitions in April, after a landslide victory by new Mayor Pat Morris in a February runoff election. Victor ruled that the standard should have been the February election, in which about twice as many ballots were cast.

Turner's initiative would have enlisted city agencies to try to curtail illegal immigration through sanctions on employers and landlords.

Victor gave Turner 10 more days to collect the additional signatures. Turner said that he might instead launch a new initiative drive.

--Chris Richard
crichard@PE.com

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=5081838

Judge: Not Enough Signatures to Qualify

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) - A judge ruled today that an anti-illegal immigration activist had not collected enough signatures to get a controversial measure before voters that would severely curtail the rights of illegal immigrants in San Bernardino.

Judge Rex Victor granted activist Joseph Turner ten days to collect the signatures needed to qualify his measure for a September special election.

The initiative, which the City Council referred to voters last month, would be one of the most far-reaching in the nation in its effort to limit the rights of illegal immigrants.

As written, it would bar undocumented residents from renting in the city and force day laborers to prove they are legal residents. The initiative would also ban day labor centers, deny permits, contracts and grants to employers who hire illegal immigrants and require that city business be conducted in English.

Turner said after the judge's ruling that he doubts he will try to collect the needed signatures in the ten-day window, but will instead return to voters with what he calls an even "more draconian" initiative.

I live in Riverisde and we have it bad too!
Illegals are all over the place.
When i go to Mc Donalds I see then.
When I was bulk laundry I see them.
But I feel sorry for them because i know their country is a total toilet.

The Court systems set this poor guy up.
As did the county register better luck next time.

SB is a total crap hole ever since the military bases have left.

When the military left the morals of the city left too.

Moreno Valley and Victorville are the same way.

http://www.latimes.com

San Bernardino Measure Targeting Illegal Immigrants Faces Hurdle
About 2,500 more signatures are needed to get the proposal on the city ballot, a judge rules. The measure seeks to limit access to housing and job centers.
By Ashley Powers
Times Staff Writer

June 27, 2006

A Superior Court judge ruled Monday that a voter initiative to crack down on illegal immigrants in San Bernardino needed more signatures to qualify for the ballot, a decision that could quash a measure that has divided city leaders and added fuel to the nationwide immigration debate.

Judge A. Rex Victor said the city used a flawed formula when it determined how many signatures the petitions needed. Joseph Turner, the author of the measure, will have 10 days to submit about 2,500 additional signatures, and on Monday he conceded that collecting them would be next to impossible.

"This is a case of an activist judge that took matters into his own hands," Turner said after Monday's hearing. "Obviously, it's disappointing, but we have great momentum."

Turner said his proposal was successful in reshaping the border-control debate that has preoccupied Congress and the White House and spurred rallies large and small across Southern California and the nation.

The measure would effectively ban day-labor centers, ban illegal immigrants from renting in the city, punish employers who hire illegal immigrants and require city business to be conducted in English.

It inspired a similar proposal in Hazleton, Penn., which is being considered by the City Council there.

Turner's ballot measure turned San Bernardino into a flash point on the immigration debate, similar to Costa Mesa, where city officials were criticized and lauded for allowing police officers to check suspected felons' immigration status. In Highland, which borders San Bernardino, the City Council recently strengthened language in municipal contracts that bans use of undocumented workers.

"In every respect, we saved ourselves from the emotional trauma of a fight that has no meaning," said San Bernardino Mayor Patrick J. Morris, a former Superior Court judge who has denounced the proposal. "Mr. Turner said this would send a message. It's like shooting ourselves in the stomach."

Monday's ruling prompted City Clerk Rachel G. Clark to ask the council to reexamine how the city handled initiatives. She wants the council to ask voters to amend the City Charter to clarify the confusing initiative process, something she had requested twice before.

The judge's decision turned on the interpretation of a section in the City Charter governing voter initiatives. For an initiative to be considered, the number of petition signatures must equal 30% of voters who cast ballots "at the last preceding city election at which a mayor was elected," the charter says.

Once that is done, the proposal must go before the City Council for an up-or-down vote. If the council rejects the measure, as it did Turner's antiillegal immigrant proposal, the measure automatically goes on a citywide ballot.

A mayoral election occurred between the time Turner began the initiative petition process and when he submitted signatures. Which election, the judge was asked, should be used to calculate how many signatures Turner needed?

Clark had consulted the state Elections Code, which sets the number when the notice to circulate a petition is published — in Turner's case, November 2005. Based on the most recent mayoral election, a November 2001 ballot that drew a sparse crowd, she told Turner he needed 2,216 signatures.

But the judge ruled that the number of petition signatures required should have been set by a mayoral runoff election in February, which took place after Turner began collecting signatures but before he submitted his petitions to the city.

Using that election, which had a more robust turnout, Turner would need to submit 4,771 signatures.

In effect, the number of signatures a San Bernardino resident needs to put a proposal on a citywide ballot could change if a mayoral election is held while the resident is gathering signatures, Victor ruled.

"This enhances rather than restricts the people's right to an initiative," Victor told a packed courtroom, where immigrant-rights activists broke into applause at the ruling.

This month the council voted to ask for a judge's assistance in sorting out questions about the initiative process, spurred by questions raised by attorneys representing San Bernardino resident Florentino Garza.

Armando Navarro, coordinator for the Riverside immigrant-rights group National Alliance for Human Rights, cautioned that Turner could still push for more signatures.

"We're not home yet," he said. "We're victorious when Joseph Turner fails…. His racism has spread like a cancer."