Date set for arguments on petitions

Friday, Aug. 13, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court has set Aug. 31 for oral arguments on the dispute whether initiative petitions on minimum wage and frivolous lawsuits should be on the election ballot.

Chief Justice Miriam Shearing said the court has "determined that oral arguments would be of assistance in resolving the issues."

One initiative seeks to amend the Nevada Constitution to boost the minimum wage by $1 an hour and by the cost of living up to 3 percent in following years. The other petition would penalize lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits and would prohibit limiting the award of damages to a person who wins a tort suit.

Nevada's Constitution requires that each initiative document must bear an affidavit signed by a registered voter that the signatures collected are valid. If the circulator is not a registered voter, a registered voter who signed the petition must sign the affidavit attesting the signatures were proper.

Parts of those two petitions were circulated by an unregistered voter and they did not bear the signature of a registered voter on the affidavit.

District Judge Bill Maddox of Carson City called that requirement "meaningless," and ruled that the petitions should be on the ballot. Secretary of State Dean Heller appealed and is joined by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the Nevada State Medical Association.