Agenda Packets - 1987/06/01 - Laserfiche WebLink

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city or state does not expect to be directly i No city or state expects case, and few become directly become involved in unexpected unexpectedly makes its way to we bene to he involved in a Supreme Court involved. But your government may litigation, or litigation that the Supreme Court. Moreover, your government is affected by Supreme Court deci- sions, even thouqh no statute, ordinance, administrative deci- sion, or tax from your jurisdiction is ever challenged in court. The Supreme Court: makes law for the nation; each city, county and state must obey its rulinqs. if the Supreme Court had decided that an ordinance restricting the location of "adult" motion picture theaters to commercial areas violated the First Amendment, that decision would have imperiled similar ordinances all over the country. The Legal Center helped to persuade the Court to sustain such an ordinance in Renton v. Playtime Theatres. Had the Court ruled that Congress grantea Federal Commun cations Commission authority to order California, Louisiana, Ohio, and Florida's regulatory agencies to use the federal depreciation rate schedules in settinq state telephone rates, regulation of utilities by all states would have been severely curtailed. The Leqal Center helped to protect the challenged regulations in Louisiana Public Service Commission v. FCC. As these cases illustrate., state and local governments in general benefit by havinq the State and Local Legal Center moni- toring the Court, ready to help make the best case for federalism by defendinq the authority and responsibility vested by our Constitution in the liands of elected state, county, and city officials. 4. flow did the Legal Center begin? The concept of a center for Supreme Court advocacy for state and local governments was developed over time and by many par- ticipants. Governors, legislators, and local government offi- cials worked Lhrough their own membership organizations for its establishment. In 1983, as a result of their efforts, the Leqal Center was established with a grant from the Pew Memorial Trust, one of the major national foundations. The seven trustee organi- zations have each made direct annual contributions to the Leqal Center, which also receives substantial support from the Academy. How does the Leaal Center State and local officials agree about. the principles of federalism and the importance of maintaining a stronq voice for -3-