Appeals court will hear I-300 arguments

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BY ART HOVEY / Lincoln Journal Star

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has formally notified six plaintiffs and the state of Nebraska, as defendant, that it will hear arguments on the constitutionality of a corporate farming ban adopted by voters in 1982.

The timetable for an appeal takes shape following a December ruling by a federal court judge in Omaha that Initiative 300 violates the interstate commerce clause and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Plaintiff attorney Steve Grasz said he learned Tuesday of impending events in St. Louis in front of a three-judge panel.

“It looks like it’s moving pretty fast,” Grasz said. “They want the state’s brief by March 6 and our brief by April 5. And the state’s reply is due April 19. So all the briefings will be done by mid-April.”

From there, he added, “we wait for it to be put on the (oral) argument calendar.” He is hopeful of a final outcome by December.

With few exceptions, Initiative 300 prohibits ownership of agricultural land or livestock by non-family farm corporations or limited liability partnerships.

Grasz said he and other attorneys representing a list of plaintiffs that includes former state Sen. Jim Jones of Eddyville remain confident of victory.

He called Judge Laurie Smith Camp’s decision “very tightly reasoned” and noted “she had more than one basis for voiding the amendment.”

Grasz also cited favorable court outcomes in challenging what he portrayed as similar restrictions in South Dakota and Iowa.

Initiative 300 proponents Chuck Hassebrook of the Nebraska Center for Rural Affairs and John Hansen of the Nebraska Farmers Union liked their chances for a reversal.

“We think we have very solid legal ground to stand on,” Hansen said.

Hassebrook said Smith Camp’s ruling, reached without a trial, “goes way beyond any existing precedent.”

With Amendment E in South Dakota, for example, “there was a clear intent to discriminate against out-of-state firms,” he said.

In contrast, with Initiative 300, “there’s nothing that treats a North Dakota rancher differently from a rancher in the Nebraska Sand Hills.”

Reach Art Hovey at 523-4949 or at ahovey@alltel.net.