Candidate asks federal court to left fine

Wednesday, Oct. 14, 1998 | 11:11 a.m.

A hearing has been set for Oct. 20 in federal court to determine whether a temporary restraining order should be issued to prevent the state from collecting a $5,000 fine issued against a Las Vegas office-seeker.

The American Civil Liberties Union hopes it will be the first step toward a ruling that Nevada's "truth in campaigning" law is unconstitutional.

Assembly District Four candidate Bob Beers and the ACLU filed separate lawsuits Tuesday and, hours later, were granted the 4 p.m. Oct. 20 hearing in Department 2 of federal court in Las Vegas.

The ACLU is supporting Beers legal action but is not endorsing his candidacy or representing him in the court action. The organization is involved in the case as a third party to test the constitutionality of the state law.

ACLU Director Gary Peck said a quick hearing date was requested because of the irreparable harm Beers would suffer if the ruling issued by the Nevada Ethics Commission following a hearing in Reno in late September were not challenged before the Nov. 3 general election.

At the heart of the case is the Ethics Commission's decision to fine Beers $5,000 for campaign material it said was false and misleading, even though it was factually correct.

"It (the ruling) restricts the flow of political free speech and free ideas that are the life's blood of our country," Peck said. "The law is unconstitutional on its face and how it was applied in this case."

The campaign literature in question was issued before the Sept. 1 primary hinted that Beers' primary opponent, Dennis Silvers, could have been culpable for a crime.

The ad read, in part, "By November 1996, Alias Smith and Jones was over $20,000 in debt, had 13 late rent notices, before the third arson fire destroyed it, killing 66 pets at a nearby clinic. The fire is still under investigation."

In his complaint to the Ethics Commission, Silvers said Beers knew he didn't own the restaurant at that time, having sold it to his partner five months earlier.

Ethics Commission Chairman Mary Boetsch, a Reno lawyer, said she has not seen Beers' suit and thus cannot comment on it.

However, Boetsch said the commission was charged with ruling on the matter and, in that process, followed the law.

"Similar statutes have been the subject of litigation with differing results," she said.

Peck said no state board should be allowed by any law to be placed in a position of "playing arbiter of the truth."

"I hope the federal court moves quickly on this," Beers said. "This unjust and incorrect decision by the Ethics Commission should not be allowed to influence the general election."

Beers won the GOP primary by a 2-to-1 vote margin and faces Democrat Vince Triggs for the seat of Republican Deanna Braunlin who did not seek reelection.

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AARP to hold televised forums

The American Association of Retired Persons is sponsoring two televised forums featuring the Senatorial and 1st Congressional District candidates.

The first forum, featuring Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV, and Rep. John Ensign, R-NV, is scheduled to air on KLVX Channel 10 at 10 p.m. on Oct. 15. The second forum, featuring Democrat Shelley Berkley and Republican Don Chairez, will also air on Channel 10 at 8 p.m. on Friday Oct.16.

All candidates will respond to questions submitted to the Las Vegas Review Journal website, www.lvrj.com.

Clark County urges use of sample ballots

The Clark County Election Department is hoping that voters will bring their sample ballot to the polls to speed up the voting process.

Officials say that filling in the sample ballot and using it as a guide is essential with 14 ballot questions for the Nov. 3 election.

All registered voters will receive a sample ballot in the mail prior to the star of early voting on Oct. 17. The ballot will include a map and which polling place the voter should go to. They will also include ballot faces so that the voter can see what the face of the voting machine looks like before they go and vote.

UNLV voting bus

UNLV's Political Science Honor Society and Student Government's Board of Nevada Student Affairs will co-sponsor the "Early Voter Motor Shuttle."

The shuttle will transport voters from the Moyer Student Union at UNLV to the Boulevard Mall's early polling place and back. It will run Oct. 19-23 and the 26-29.

The shuttle will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in half hour increments with the last shuttle returning to campus at 3:30 p.m.

Medicare meeting

On Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 10 a.m. the Nevada delegation to the National Silver Haired Congress will host a public meeting to discuss Medicare reform and the effects it will have on our health care system. It will be held at the Showboat hotel-casino, 2800 Fremont St., in the second floor meeting rooms.

Among the topics covered at the meeting will be eligibility, benefits, structure and cost.