Festival gun ban lawsuit returns on appeal before Idaho Supreme Court Bits ’n’ Pieces

From east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling:

Numerous media reported a one-ton foreign surveillance balloon flying over the U.S., with officials stating it was being “closely monitored.” China admitted ownership, saying it was used for “meteorological and other scientific research.” U.S. officials didn’t buy that: It was flying over areas with missiles and military bases. President Joe Biden started discussions about shooting it down Feb. 1; that operation was delayed until Feb. 4 when the balloon traveled over shallow ocean waters, so debris falling from an altitude of 18.5 miles could cause no harm.

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

is a pay-in cap at $160,200, after which an earner pays no more. A counter plan, the Social Security Expansion Act of 2023, calls for stabilizing the program by requiring the wealthy (7% of earners) to pay in beyond the cap. The Republican Study Committee proposed its fix: raise the retirement age to 70, means-testing for Social Security and partially privatizing the program. That plan has no additional pay-ins by the wealthy.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported employers added 517,000 jobs in January, while December posted 260,000 new jobs. Unemployment was at 3.4% — the lowest since 1969.

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

An appeal of the 2021 District Court decision in favor of the city of Sandpoint and Festival at Sandpoint over the legality of a weapons ban at the summer concert series is moving through the Idaho Supreme Court.

Justices heard arguments in the case Feb. 6 in Boise, brought by Sen. Scott Herndon, R-Sagle; area resident Jeff Avery; Boise-based gun rights lobby group Idaho Second Amendment Alliance; and Washington-based Second Amendment Foundation.

Herndon and Avery prompted the issue in 2019, when they attempted to enter the Festival bearing firearms and were told to leave their weapons in their vehicles or they would be trespassed from War Memorial Field, which the city owns and leases to the nonprofit for two weeks each summer. Weapons of any kind are prohibited from the Festival.

The incident triggered a lawsuit from Bonner County and Sheriff Daryl Wheeler against the city, which Judge Lansing B. Haynes dismissed in September 2020 for lack of standing. Herndon and Avery filed their lawsuit against the city and the Festival, supported by ISAA and ISAF, arguing their constitutional rights had been violated.

In addition, the Herndon et al. case argued that the city could not convey authority to the Festival, as a leaseholder, to preempt firearms possession protected by Idaho Code on publicly-owned property.

Haynes dismissed that complaint in June 2021, ruling, “There are no genuine issues of material fact as to whether the city has promulgated any rule or ordinance in conflict with I.C. l8-3302J [the firearms preemption portion of state law]; likewise, no genuine issues of fact exist as to whether the Festival has violated state law or any constitutional rights of plaintiffs.”

The lawsuits surrounding the weapons ban cost the county and city more than $320,000 in fees and attorney bills, with the county ultimately being ordered to reimburse Sandpoint more than $71,000.

In his 2021 ruling in the Herndon et al. case, Haynes sought to settle the argument over the Festival’s right to ban weapons at War Memorial Field, writing, “The city’s lease does not delegate firearms banning authority to the Festival; rather, the city simply leases [the field] to the Festival for the purpose of conducting a music festival. The city’s conveyance of a leasehold interest entitles the Festival to exclusive possession of the property.”

In the appeal, plaintiffs argue, “[T]hey were entitled to a declaratory judgment and summary judgment on the civil rights claims, and the district court erred in applying judicial estoppel. The Plaintiffs also argue the district court erred in denying their motion for an extension of time to object to attorney fees,” according to the court filing.

Idaho Reports wrote Feb. 6 that attorney Donald Kilmer, who is representing the appellants, returned to the allegation that Herndon’s and Avery’s Second Amendment rights had been violated and that a lessee cannot bar firearms from public property.

Attorney Katharine Brereton, of Lake City Law, representing Sandpoint, told justices that siding with the appellants would set a dangerous precedent.

“People who rent from a public housing authority would have no right to exclude someone from their home who is carrying a firearm,” Brereton said, according to Idaho Reports. “… This would effectively deprive people of their right to defend their castle.”

A written decision is forthcoming at an unspecified date.

Instruments in the balloon were blocked from gathering intelligence, and now intelligence will be gathered from the balloon’s equipment. According to the Pentagon, there were at least three such Chinese air vessels spotted during the presidency of Donald Trump. No action was taken.

Two neo-Nazi leaders have been charged with plotting to crash Maryland’s electric power grid in an effort to “destroy” Baltimore, The Washington Post reported. A study program at George Washington University has warned that grid attacks by white supremacists aim to trigger societal collapse.

Various media has stated that House Republicans, in their quest to vote against the debt ceiling (which would renege on paying debts already approved — after voting three times to raise debt ceilings under Trump) have not shared specific plans about what to cut from the government budget.

At a recent business summit in Washington, D.C., former-Vice President Mike Pence spoke of replacing the New Deal “with a better deal.” He said that could be giving younger Americans the “ability to take a portion of Social Security holdings” and place it into a private savings account.

A similar plan was explored by economists under the G.W. Bush administration, which included a member of Bush’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security. They said the idea of privatizing Social Security for higher returns “is false.” (Google details at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities: “Would Private Accounts Provide a Higher Rate of Return Than Social Security?”)

Currently, Social Security is funded by employers and employees each paying 6.2% of wages to a payroll tax. There

Blast from the past: With inflation declining and job creation expanding, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the chances of a recession are “low.” Meanwhile, there are similarities to economic conditions from 1933 to 1980.

Former Labor Secretary and columnist Robert Reich calls that era’s policy “democratic capitalism.” The Great Depression brought to light how financial elites created economic collapse via unlimited borrowing, suppressing wages, battling unions and allowing Wall Street to take big risks with others’ money.

To address the devastation of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to have the market serve public purposes, which included boosting unions, stopping out-of-control borrowing and addressing Wall Street’s irresponsible policies. To wrestle control from self-serving financial interests, FDR established Social Security, unemployment disability insurance and established a 40-hour work week. Government spending went to job creation and regulations reigned in Wall Street. High-earners’ taxes were increased and invested in public infrastructure and higher education.

That all changed with “trickle down” policies in the 1980s, when business interests ditched public concerns and focused on economic growth, which then went caused an economic decline for the average citizen. Jobs were outsourced, hostile corporate takeovers grew, wages stalled, monopolies crept back and unions atrophied.

As Reich points out, Biden aims to bring back democratic capitalism, “an era when government organized the market for the greater good.” That has included the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, which has so far created 100,000 clean energy jobs for American workers.