Court: Denver it’s own country
District Court judge finds “home rule” trumps state law
Doggone.
At least pit bulls, anyway, which can be legally banned from Denver, a Denver District Court ruled Thursday.
In upholding the city and county’s 15-year prohibition on pit bulls and related breeds, the court found that “home rule” gives Denver the right to ban specific breeds of dogs, even though a recent state law prohibited Denver and other cities and counties from doing so.
However, Denver cannot restrict temporary transportation of pit bulls through its borders, ruled District Judge Martin F. Egelhoff.
Aside from the fact that breed bans are pointless and ineffective, Denver’s home rule can trump state law? Seems a bit odd to me. What if Denver, say, made the sale, manufacture and marketing of cocaine legal? Talk about your slippery slope.
December 15th, 2004 at 5:55 pm
Home rule law is weird. It doesn’t affect federal law, so your cocaine example wouldn’t work, but it does haev a tendency to allow cities and counties to act as though they were states, at least in certain respects.
Hopefully, the case will be reversed on appeal, or barring that, the good people of Colorado will have the good sense to abolish home rule.