Ferguson Township Community Bill of Rights is a Bill of Disaster

In September, I blogged briefly about a proposed "community bill of rights" on the ballot in Ferguson Township, Pennsylvania. I didn't spend much time on it because 1) from a constitutional perspective, it was a complete disaster; and 2) frankly, I didn't think it would pass.

The township considered an injunction to allow the measure's constitutionality to be tested in court before appearing on the ballot, but decided to allow the vote first.

Anyways, I should mention that it did pass: 4,272-3,896.

The cruel irony of this "bill of rights" is that many of the provisions are extremely hostile to individual rights, especially property rights. Additionally, other provisions assert power that the township has no authority to assert in the first place. All in all, a disaster of epic proportions.

I would be surprised if any significant portion of this "bill of rights" goes into effect. If it does, the slippery slope will have gotten a lot steeper.

Ferguson Township Community Bill of Rights

Ferguson Township is a mostly rural township in Centre County, Pennsylvania, just west of State College. This fall, the citizens of Ferguson Township gathered enough signatures to place a measure on the November ballot to amend the township's home rule charter to create a Community Bill of Rights.

Here's the text. There are so many problems with this thing I stopped counting.
Ferguson Township Petition for Community Bill of Rights