Farmers Branch referendum

DallasMorningViews | Rod Dreher:

“On yesterday's local TV news, I saw [Farmers Branch] talking heads who had their heads handed to them by voters saying that they're just going to take this to court now and let the legal system sort it out. They might prevail, but if they do, they will have managed to overturn a popular referendum by getting a judge to govern from the bench. Can you imagine how well that will play with voters? Note that I'm making a political point here: that because the pro-illegal crowd decided to call a public referendum on the question, and lost badly, the only hope they have of pulling out a victory is completely anti-democratic.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

There are a lot of assumptions in this blog item.

Rod Dreher says a lawsuit would be "getting a judge to govern from the bench". Does the US Constitution not apply in Farmers Branch? Or only if the residents agree it does? When laws conflict, isn't it the courts' responsibility to sort out the conflict? If the courts decide the US Constitution trumps a local ordinance in Farmers Branch, Texas, is that governing from the bench? What if the courts decide that local referenda trump the Constitution? Would ignoring Constitutional protections (should they exist) not be "governing from the bench", as well? There's a way to change the Constitution and it's not through local referenda. And it's not "anti-democratic" to say we have courts to sort out just such conflicts about our laws.

Rod Dreher describes those who opposed this referendum as the "pro-illegal crowd." What if it turns out that the courts rule this ordinance unconstitutional, making the ordinance itself illegal? Would that make this a dispute between those who are pro-illegal aliens and those who are pro-illegal ordinances? And what of those who opposed this ordinance on other grounds? Does one have to be "pro-illegal" in order to be against the city of Farmers Branch spending hundreds of thousands of local tax dollars defending itself against a matter that some might feel is a federal matter, and some might feel is a losing cause regardless? Of course not, but Rod Dreher paints all opponents with the same broad "pro-illegal" brush.

Rod Dreher gets one thing right, but he borrowed that from FrontBurner's Trey Garrison. From a purely public relations point of view, the opponents of this referendum weren't thinking far enough ahead when they decided to name their organized effort Let the Voters Decide. Trey Garrison asks:

"Say, if your group's name is Let the Voters Decide should you really plan on lawsuits when the vote doesn't go your way? IJS."