First Lawsuit Filed Against Farmers Branch

Last month, Farmers Branch passed some new ordinances targeted at Hispanics. The ordinances made English the official language, created fines for landlords who rented to illegal immigrants, and created new property maintenance laws. I think we all knew then that it was just a matter of time before the ordinances were attacked in court.

On Monday, the first lawsuit was filed. Guillermo Ramos, a resident of Farmers Branch and owner of a real estate business there, said the ordinances were passed after the city council has met in a closed session. He believes this was a violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Ramos also claims that the new property maintenance rule "is unmistakably and improperly directed toward a definable ethnic group -- Hispanics -- in Farmers Branch." Ramos stated further that his business "like other businesses in Farmers Branch will suffer from the negative impacts likely to result from the ordinances."

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund [MALDEF] and the ACLU are also considering lawsuits against Farmers Branch. MALDEF has already filed suit against a California city [Escondido] that passed similar ordinances. The city better have packed away lots of money after passing the bigoted ordinances, because they'll need it to fight all the lawsuits.

There is also a petition collecting signatures to force a referendum on the ordinances in Farmers Branch. The petition needs to be signed by 700 registered voters. William Brewer, a partner in Ramos' real estate business, says "We're already there. We'll get two or three times the number we need."

Looks like Farmers Branch has opened a hornet's nest. If the referendum doesn't get the ordinances dumped, the lawsuits probably will. I certainly hope so. These councilmen may have the right in a free country to be bigots, but they don't have the right to put their bigotry into law so that it affects everyone.