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Will Power wins ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway

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Luzerne County proposes combining Wilkes-Barre magisterial offices

<p>Two cities, two ordinances, one lesson.</p><p>While Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s &#8220;One-Strike Ordinance&#8221; of 2013 and Hazleton&#8217;s Illegal Immigration Relief Act of 2006 were spawned by different concerns and intended for different targets, the failure of both seems rooted in the same cause.</p><p>Both attacked real problems through secondary targets.</p><p>The Illegal Immigration Relief Act, which helped propel then-Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta into the U.S. House of Representatives, attempted to curb illegal immigration into the city by fining landlords and revoking licenses for businesses that knowingly housed or hired undocumented aliens.</p><p>Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s one-strike law similarly went after landlords for crimes of their tenants by authorizing the city to evict residents and shut down properties where suspected illegal drug and gun activities took place.</p><p>There are differences between them, most notably that the Hazleton law grappled with immigration, a federal bailiwick.</p><p>Hazleton fought legal efforts to kill the ordinance all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court declined to hear the case, leaving a lower court&#8217;s ruling against the law intact, and the city ended up facing court-ordered payment of legal fees totaling $1.4 million.</p><p>There are strong arguments that the Supreme Court should have taken the Hazleton case. A similar law in Fremont, Neb., was upheld by a Circuit court, and the country deserves a definitive ruling. There is also a reasonable argument that the legal fees awarded in the case were excessive.</p><p>But the reality is simple: Hazleton lost, and the cost was staggering.</p><p>Which is, apparently, why Wilkes-Barre settled its legal battle, rather let it drag on. As staff writer Jerry Lynott <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/576120/wilkes-barre-settles-one-strike-ordinance-wont-enforce-it-will-pay-100k" target="_blank">reported</a>, the city agreed to have the law declared unconstitutional, and to pay $100,000 to the landlords and tenants who had sued.</p><p>Attorney John Dean, representing the city, conceded the reason for the settlement was to avoid &#8220;outrageous&#8221; attorney fee payments to the defendants if Wilkes-Barre lost.</p><p>Both laws attempted to address legitimate problems with reasonable-sounding measures. But obviously both included language and procedures opening the door for effective legal challenges that cost the cities &#8212; and by extension, residents and taxpayers &#8212; a small fortune.</p><p>In the end, both failed because they put too much power in the hands of local authorities while raising doubts about protection of due process.</p><p>The hurdle here is that the root problems each law tried to address remain. Changing demographics and shifting economics present new challenges for law enforcement, and answers must be found.</p><p>Perhaps the cities can take more modest measures. Perhaps they can make broader research of successful laws implemented elsewhere. Perhaps they can consult with the American Civil Liberties Union &#8212; which assisted in lawsuits against both cities &#8212; for options.</p><p>What they &#8212; and other municipalities &#8212; can&#8217;t do is take more bold steps into uncharted legal territory and hope they get it right. Taxpayers are the ones who pay when such bets are lost.</p><style>
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Our Opinion: Costly legal failures of Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton are cautionary tale