CARSON CITY, NV – Christian
Newswire – After sitting on the case for months, the Nevada State
Supreme Court waited until the day after the Personhood Nevada deadline to now
ask why they should have to decide the case at all.
On January 8, District Court Judge James Russell, in issuing an injunction
keeping the personhood initiative off the ballot and preventing signature
collection, ruled that the fourteen word amendment did not encompass a single
subject.
The proposed amendment reads, “In the great state of Nevada, the term
‘person’ applies to every human being.”
Personhood Nevada filed an appeal of Judge Russell’s decision to the Nevada
Supreme Court on February 12. Despite the timely manner of Personhood Nevada’s
appeal, the Nevada Supreme Court waited until the day after the deadline to
issue its order.
The Court Order read, “It appears that the initiative’s proponents may not
have obtained sufficient signatures to place the measure on the ballot, thus
rendering this appeal moot. This court’s duty is to decide actual
controversies, not to give opinions on moot questions.”
Personhood Nevada was prohibited from collecting even one signature by Judge
Russell’s decision. The Nevada Supreme Court was aware of Judge Russell’s
decision, and its ramifications, one of which being that Personhood Nevada
would be in violation of the law, and in contempt of court, for collecting even
one signature.
“Clearly this is an offense to our 1st Amendment rights,” stated Olaf
Vancura, initiative sponsor. “The Court delayed their response for so long
that they now have the audacity to try to avoid a decision altogether. When the
appeal was filed, the petition was not moot. The court, by its own inaction,
may now possibly find the issue moot. This is a gross obstruction of my rights,
and those of our board and volunteers as both Americans and Nevadans! The
Supreme Court needs to decide this case now; if they don’t, we can expect the
same injustices to repeat in 2012.”
Continued Vancura, “The state legislature’s small time window to gather
petitions, coupled with the routing of all challenges through a single,
activist district court, mean that it is nearly impossible for any citizen-led
initiative to reach the ballot if challenged. Tragically in Nevada, the
citizens’ right to petition is now, for all practical purposes, defunct.”
www.personhoodnevada.com
www.personhoodusa.com
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