Looks like San Francisco voters have unwittingly made their city a huge donor to the National Rifle Association.
On Tuesday, the county board of supervisors will vote on whether to settle a $380,000 attorneys fees claim with the NRA and a host of other plaintiffs. They sued San Francisco in 2005 after voters passed Proposition H, banning handgun possession and the sale of firearms and ammunition in the city.
Since a state appeal court had ruled 13 years earlier that California laws regulating gun ownership pre-empt local rules, San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Warren predictably ruled for the NRA and its fellow plaintiffs.
The city appealed and lost, and the state Supreme Court declined to take up the issue.
Given that California rules award attorneys fees to the prevailing party in litigation that involves public interest law, said Matt Dorsey, spokesman for City Attorney Dennis Herrera, the office thinks it’s wise to settle and avoid paying a higher amount, which would be the likely outcome if there was a fight over the issue.
Asked whether the city’s lawyers had been confident they could win on appeal with such poor precedent, Dorsey said the office had “expressed confidence” during the appeal.
“The NRA’s complaint offered a quote as its first footnote from [Mayor] Gavin Newsom that [Proposition H] was unconstitutional but that he was voting for it anyway,” Dorsey said. “This measure was not prepared by the city attorney’s office…[But] it’s the job of the city attorney’s office to defend laws that are duly enacted.”
So remember, San Francisco voters, be careful what you wish for.
— Evan Hill
Comments