Yesterday, in a decision apparently issued orally from the bench, a Nevada trial court judge ruled that a petition seeking to place a proposed "Personhood Amendment" to the state Constitution on the November ballot cannot be circulated. The proposed amendment reads: "In the great state of Nevada,the term 'person' applies to every human being."
In Bristol v. Personhood Nevada, the court held that the language of the amendment is so vague that there is no way the average person can understand the effect of the petition. The court also concluded that the petition violates a state law that limits ballot issues to one subject. The Las Vegas Review-Journal and a release from the ACLU of Nevada report on the decision. The petition is part of a national campaign by a Christian anti-abortion organization, PersonhoodUSA, to find a way to overturn Roe v. Wade. Personhood Nevada says it will appeal yesterday's decision to the Nevada Supreme Court.
