Collier County Commissioners to Propose Bill of Rights Sanctuary Ordinance

Commissioner Hall is introducing a “Bill of Rights Sanctuary Ordinance” at the August 22nd Collier County Commission meeting.

Local politicians and sheriffs declaring their counties “Bill of Rights sanctuaries” seek to disregard the will of the voters, circumvent the legislative process, and short-circuit the judicial function by declaring themselves arbiters of the law.

The 2021 proposed ordinance narrowly failed with a vote of 3-2, with commissioners McDaniel and LoCastro voting in favor. Incoming commissioners, Kowal and Hall have publicly vowed to reintroduce the Bill of Rights Sanctuary ordinance and along with McDaniel and LoCastro, unless we make some noise, we can expect it to pass with a vote of 4-1. Collier would be the first county in Florida to pass such an ordinance, so this would be a real feather in the commissioners’ caps.

This is a dangerous ordinance and will create chaos. Who will enforce it? How will it be enforced? And the really sticky part is: who determines what is a violation of the constitution? Isn’t that the role of the judicial system? And, in addition, where will the money come from to pay the attorney’s fees associated with the actions that are sure to be brought forth.

• If you’re in town and can speak in person at the meeting, please let Lisa Freund know (laf307@gmail.com) and she’ll send you details on how to proceed. You’ll need to sign up before the agenda item is discussed to get your 3 minutes.