Published Friday April 17, 2009
Judge to rule quickly on Fremont election
BY KEVIN COLE
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

FREMONT, Neb. — A Dodge County District Court judge promised Thursday to rule quickly on whether the City of Fremont must hold a special election to vote on an ordinance targeting illegal immigrants.

Judge John Samson listened to arguments for 90 minutes Thursday before assuring both sides that he wants to end a debate that began in the City Council last July.

"I don't have a time frame, but I will be issuing a written order as soon as possible," Samson said.

The ordinance is drawn along the same lines as one that failed when Mayor Skip Edwards cast the tie-breaking vote.

Soon afterward, residents Wanda Kotas, Jerry Hart and Josh Wiegert began circulating a petition requiring a special election on the ordinance. The necessary 3,000 signatures were reached last month.

If approved, the ordinance would require contractors and employers who get licenses, permits or loans from the city to electronically verify a job applicant's immigration status.

Also, landlords who lease to illegal immigrants would face a $100 fine. The ordinance would require every renter to buy a $5 occupancy license, issued only after local police had verified a person's immigration status.

City Attorney Dean Skokan contends that the ordinance would violate the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, does not provide sufficient safeguards for due process and would violate the federal Fair Housing Act.

"If we don't have the legislative authority to enact (the law), it should not go on the ballot," Skokan said.

The City of Fremont has hired attorneys J.L. Spray and Stephen Mossman. The Lincoln attorneys were called in to argue the question of whether the ordinance is too broad.

Spray argued that a referendum would befuddle voters because the ordinance is "is lengthy, confusing, convoluted and obscure."

Although the initiative states that an illegal immigrant can't rent a house in Fremont, Spray said, "it says nothing about buying a house."

Kris Kobach, a professor of law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, asked Samson — via speaker phone — to dismiss the city's challenge and issue a summary judgment allowing the election.

He argues that the city is interfering in a political debate and lacks the authority to do so.

"The Nebraska Constitution permits only procedural challenges to an initiative before an election takes place, not substantive constitutional challenges," Kobach said.

He also rejected the argument that the initiative is too broad.

"If that's the standard, much of Nebraska law would be illegal," he said.


• Contact the writer: 444-1272, kevin.cole@owh.com

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