Politics & Government

Ghigliotti's Lawsuit vs. City Rendered Moot by Court

With new state law preventing cities from requiring E-Verify to check employees' immigration status, lawyer's suit is dismissed in appellate court.

A Novato man's court appeal challenging the city of Novato's stance on an immigration-related ordinance regarding hiring practices has been dismissed because of a recent state law that went into effect, according to court documents.

Jerome Ghigliotti, a former practicing attorney and , tried in vain over three years to force the E-Verify citizenship documentation system to be used by any company doing business with the city of Novato. His intent was for those companies to only hire United States citizens.

Enough verified signatures were gathered for place the topic on a ballot, but the Novato City Council followed the advice of City Attorney Jeffrey Walter and ; the options before the council were to adopt the ordinance as written, place it before the voters or do nothing.

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Ghigliotti challenged the city's inaction in Marin County Superior Court , but then . On May 16, the First Appellate District of the Court of Appeals said a new state law forbidding local entities from requiring the use of E-Verify means it had "no power to compel the City Council to take an action that is no longer legal."

“We're glad to have this behind us," City Manager Michael Frank said. "We take comfort in the knowledge that its position has been vindicated by the courts and the state Legislature.”

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The E-Verify online system checks residency status of anybody within minutes. The city of Novato has voluntarily used it to check residency status of its own employees, and the federal government uses it as well.

In May 2010, more than 3,500 people signed a petition and the voter initiative was approved by the Marin County Registrar's Office based on having enough verified signatures to qualify. However, the City Council refused to take action at its meeting six weeks later because Walter contended the local ordinance would be preempted by federal law.

A year later, the city issued a response to Ghigliotti's petition for a writ of mandate and maintained the stance on preemption and other constitutional grounds, according to court documents. The trial court supported the city's viewpoint, and a subsequent motion for reconsideration filed by Ghigliotti was denied.

On Jan. 1, a state law took effect barring any California city from requiring to use the E-Verify system unless required to do so by federal law. A handful of California municipalities had passed E-Verify ordinances over the past few years, and all are now rendered moot.

"One purpose of this new state law is to allow private employers to retain the ability to choose whether or not to participate in the E-Verify program," Judge Timothy Reardon wrote in the court's May 16 ruling. "... The ordinance that Ghigliotti's initiative proposes — if enacted by the City Council directly or by Novato voters in a municipal election — would be illegal under state law."

Ghigliotti, who has filed multiple lawsuits against the city, individual council members and the chief of police, said his underlying goal with his lawsuits is assure that anybody making a single cent of taxpayer money via city coffers is a legal resident of the United States. Before the new state law was enacted, he maintained that there is no federal preemption on the E-Verify online system of immigration status checks and cited case law that supported his claim.

The ordinance drawn up by Ghigliotti, called the Novato Legal Employment and Contracting Initiative, dealt with monetary penalties for those who do not comply with the legal citizenship requirement, not licensing penalties. Walter cited that when explaining why the initiative was unconstitutional.

Running largely on the E-Verify platform, Ghigliotti made an unsuccessful bid for a Novato City Council seat in November 2011, out of seven candidates.


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