A First Judicial District Court Judge has tossed out a petition initiative led by Senate Minority Leader, Michael Roberson. The amendment aimed to prevent any city or county in Nevada from becoming a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants. 

ACLU Nevada challenged the "Prevent Sanctuary Cities" petition, claiming that the petition might be misleading to voters. 

A court hearing for the controversial petition was held Friday morning. Judge James Todd Russell threw the case out, ruling in favor of the initiative's opponents who say the language is excessively broad and general, and would confuse voters. 

After Friday's decision the ACLU of Nevada Legal Director Amy Rose said:

“We are happy the judge recognized the misleading nature of this initiative petition, which if allowed to move forward would have confused voters.”

When we reached out for comment from Senator Roberson, he issued this statement:

"We are clearly disappointed with the ruling and believe it was wrong. In 2017, Nevada Democrats proposed the most reckless legislation in Nevada history which would have turned Nevada into a Sanctuary State. Nevada voters have a right to prevent this from happening. California has now become a Sanctuary State and if politicians like Jacky Rosen, Chris Giunchigliani, Kate Marshall, and Aaron Ford have their say, Nevada will be next. Rest assured, I have not yet begun to fight and I look forward to presenting our case at the Nevada Supreme Court." 

ACLU of Nevada Executive Director Tod Story Said:

“If this discriminatory, unnecessary, and misleading initiative had gone forward it would have mislead voters and ultimately split families apart and imperiled public safety. We appreciate the judge’s thoughtful decision in invalidating this pointless petition.”

Fighting alongside the ACLU was former Washoe County Sheriff, Mike Haley. He says the policy is not only unspecific, but would cause a mix between federal law and local law. He says that would be difficult and confusing for local officers to enforce, "It requires deputies who have to make decisions often without immediate supervision."

Haley also says the policy could discourage undocumented immigrants to come forward to act as witnesses or even to report crimes. He explains, "If an entire community shuts down because they are going to be exposed, or they believed they're going to be exposed beyond their willingness to help you, then it does no good for public safety."

In May, Roberson was announced as honorary chairman of a Political Action Committee that would help create a proposed ballot question involving the sanctuary cities in Nevada.

“I am proud to lead the effort to pass a ballot question to Prevent Sanctuary Cities in Nevada,” Senator Michael Roberson wrote in the release at that time. “We look forward to unveiling an aggressive signature gathering strategy and spreading our message to every corner of Nevada. The successful passage of this ballot question will help to keep our communities safe by ensuring that local jurisdictions do not willfully ignore federal law and operate as sanctuary cities. This will allow local law enforcement to cooperate with our federal immigration officials once they have detained dangerous criminal aliens who have committed crimes in our state and who should be removed from our country.” 

The ACLU says, if this case ends up in the Supreme Court, they will continue their fight against it.