By Sam Galski (Staff Writer)
Published: October 24, 2013
citizensvoice.com
An attorney for Hazleton will ask the nation's highest court to hear its appeal of a federal appeals court ruling that declared the city's never-enforced immigration ordinances unconstitutional.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who serves as Hazleton's defense attorney in its ongoing court battle, will formally petition the Supreme Court today to hear the city's appeal of a July ruling from Third Circuit Court of Appeals that declared Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act and rental registration ordinances unconstitutional.
Hazleton Mayor Joseph Yannuzzi confirmed the development Wednesday.
The announcement was expected, as the mayor pledged in August that the city would petition the Supreme Court and bring Hazleton's seven-year legal battle over its immigration ordinances to a close.
"We've got to get this to a conclusion one way or the other," Yannuzzi said at the time.
Hazleton's laws sought to prohibit landlords from renting to illegal immigrants and fine businesses that hire them.
Kobach said recently that he believes the city has a "better than average" chance for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, particularly since federal appeals courts have ruled differently on Hazleton's ordinance and a similar law in Fremont, Neb.
The Third Circuit Court declared Hazleton's ordinances unconstitutional in late July and said Hazleton's ordinances superseded federal laws that regulate immigration.
The Eighth Circuit Court, however, ruled that a similar ordinance that was approved in 2010 by referendum in Fremont did not supersede federal immigration and anti-harboring laws, Kobach recently said.
Hazleton's ongoing immigration battle has been funded solely by donations.
The city reported collecting as much as $430,000 worth of contributions as of the end of 2009 but had just $400 left in its defense fund in March. The defense fund was replenished in May when Trammell S. Crow, the heir to a Texas real estate empire, donated $50,000. The city used the money to pay legal fees and had about $20,000 remaining.
The balance should be close to what the city needs to cover costs of having the U.S. Supreme Court rule on the appeal, Yannuzzi recently said.
Three years ago, the Third Circuit Court upheld a ruling by Senior U.S. District Judge James Munley, who declared Hazleton's laws unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court later ordered the Third Circuit Court to reconsider that ruling. In July, the Third Circuit Court declared Hazleton's ordinances unconstitutional.
http://citizensvoice.com/news/hazlet...ance-1.1573976
