Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
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New Hampshire One-Year Refugee Moratorium Bill Called Unconstitutional
Posted by Christopher Coen on February 3, 2012
A University of New Hampshire Law professor told a state House committee that a bill for a proposed one-year moratorium on refugee resettlement is probably unconstitutional. He said that the moratorium provision raises constitutional questions because it singles out a particular class of legal residents. He contrasted the bill with another that became law in Tennessee last year. A Union Leader article has more
CONCORD — A bill allowing communities to impose a one-year moratorium on refugee resettlements is probably unconstitutional, a law professor told a House committee Thursday.
House Bill 1405 had both its supporters and detractors at a public hearing Thursday before the House Municipal and County Government Committee…
…The bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Laura Pettengill, R-Glen, told the committee the legislation is similar to one passed in Tennessee…
But University of New Hampshire Law professor Albert Scheer told the committee the moratorium provision raises constitutional questions because it singles out a particular class of legal residents.
He cited a 1941 U.S. Supreme Court case involving a California law forbidding indigent residents from other states from settling in California.
He also said states cannot pass laws that conflict with the “federal framework.” The refugee resettlement program is under the direction of the State Department.
Scheer said the Tennessee bill did not include the moratorium provision when it finally passed…
…Representatives of Lutheran Social Services of New England and the International Institute of New Hampshire spoke against the bill. Read more here
