Target rich

Nevada -- it's a target-rich environment.

We're sure the new litigation arm of the Nevada Policy Research Institute will find it to be so.

The nonprofit, free-market think tank has created the Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation and named attorney Joe Becker its initial litigator, though they hope to establish a team of attorneys eventually.

Andy Matthews, vice president for communications at NPRI, described the areas for potential litigation as the First and Second amendments, property rights, privacy and governmental separation of power. We would encourage Mr. Becker to make the latter an early priority.

The Nevada Legislature, which holds the power of the purse over virtually every local political entity, is chock full of professors, teachers and city and county employees who are given months-long leaves from their jobs to go sit in judgment in Carson City to decide on their employers' future well-being.

This occurs despite the fact Article 3, Section 1 of the Nevada Constitution states unequivocally, "The powers of the Government of the State of Nevada shall be divided into three separate departments, -- the Legislative, -- the Executive and the Judicial; and no persons charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments shall exercise any functions, appertaining to either of the others ..."

In 2004, then-Attorney General Brian Sandoval, now governor-elect, issued an opinion that employees of the state may not serve in the Legislature but employees of local governments may. The opinion relied on a California court ruling, because Nevada's own constitution was modeled on California's.

The problem with that is California has home rule, while local governments in Nevada exist at the behest and whim of the Legislature, meaning legislators have nearly unchecked power over the operations of local governments.

Sandoval's opinion explains the separation of power concept by quoting Justice Louis Brandeis: "The purpose was, not to avoid friction, but, by means of the inevitable friction incident to the distribution of the governmental powers among three departments, to save the people from autocracy."

In an interview Friday, Mr. Becker described the objectives of the new CJCL as addressing encroachments on the Bill of Rights, as well as, "separation of powers, leaving to the states what's the order of the states and ... making sure that the legislative, executive and judicial branch maintain their separate and proper roles."

As we said, it's a target-rich environment.