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Article Posted: 07/06/2007 9:14:35 AM
Nebraska Supreme Court Upholds Term Limits
Today, the Nebraska Supreme Court announced the affirmation of a District Court decision denying a challenge to term limits in the Nebraska Legislature.
In November 2005, Senators Dennis Byars, Marian L. Price, and Ernie Chambers submitted candidate filings for reelection to Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale. Byars and Price asked to be placed on the primary ballot in 2006; Chambers asked to be placed on the primary ballot in 2008. Byars and Price were first elected to the Legislature in 1998 and reelected in 2002. Chambers was first sworn in on January 5, 1971, and was reelected to consecutive terms thereafter, including reelections in 2000 and 2004. Gale rejected all three filings because he determined the legislators were ineligible to serve another consecutive term.
The court supported that decision, saying, "Appellants have failed to show that Nebraska’s term limit amendment imposes a severe burden on their First Amendment rights or that it violates the equal protection Clause. both claims depended upon their contention that article III, § 12, disqualifies any incumbent legislator after serving more than half of his or her second term. We conclude that appellants’ interpretation of § 12 is contrary to its plain and obvious meaning. We agree with the district court’s conclusion that subsection (3) determines whether an expired term counts as one of the two consecutive terms a legislator is permitted to serve before being disqualified to seek a third consecutive term. We further agree that subsection (3) has no application to determining the length of term under subsection (1). We therefore affirm the district court’s denial a peremptory writ of mandamus and declaratory judgment."
Fulll text of the decision is posted at http://www.supremecourt.ne.gov/opinions/2007/july/jul6/s06-224.pdf
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