DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Burlington Commission on Human Rights, 1964-1965 | Iowa Law Review, "State Civil Rights Statute: Some Proposals" Page 1124

Transcribe
Translate

Burlington Commission on Human Rights, 1964-1965

Iowa Law Review, "State Civil Rights Statute: Some Proposals" Page 1124

1124     IOWA LAW REVIEW     [Vol. 49

   preserve the health, promote the prosperity, improve the morals, order, comfort, and convenience of such corporations and the inhabitants thereof....

Additionally, section 368.2 of the Iowa Code states that:

   Cities and towns ... shall have the general powers and privileges granted, and such others as are incident to municipal corporations of like character, not inconsistent with the statutes of the state, for the protection of their property and inhabitants and the preservation of peace and good order therein ....

The last session of the General Assembly amended this provision by adding the following language:

   It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state of Iowa that the provisions of the Code relating to the powers, privileges, and immunities of cities and towns are intended to confer broad powers of self-determination as to strictly local and internal affairs upon such municipal corporations and should be liberally construed in favor of such corporations. The rule that cities and towns have only those powers expressly conferred by statute has no application to this Code. Its provisions hall be construed to confer upon such corporations broad and implied power over all local and internal affairs which may exist within constitutional limits. No section of the Code which grants a specific power to cities and towns ... shall be construed as narrowing or restricting the general grant of powers hereinabove conferred unless such restriction is expressly set forth in such statute or unless the terms of such statute are so comprehensive as to have entirely occupied the field of its subject....187

   No attempt will be made here to do a comprehensive analysis of this amendment to section 368.2 of the Iowa Code. Such an investigation has already been done elsewhere.188 For present purposes some general remarks should suffice.189
   The power of Iowa cities and towns to enact the kinds of legislation proposed here rests upon the resolution of two problems. First, it must be ascertained whether these kinds of laws are within the legislative competence of our cities and towns because such laws may be deemed to deal with their "strictly local and internal affairs." Second, it must be ascertained whether our local governments are precluded from legislating against discrimination in these areas because state laws have "entirely occupied the field of its subject." The reason for this twofold inquiry is as follows.
    The amendment to section 368.2 of the Iowa Code can be viewed as a rule of construction by which the powers previously granted cities and towns are to be given specific substance.190 This approach gleans support from the fact that the word "construed" appears in the first, third, and fourth sentences of the added provision. If the amendment is a rule of construction, cities and towns are still limited solely to
________________________

187 Iowa Acts 1963, ch. 235, at 311
188 See Note, 49 IOWA L. REV. 826 (1964).
189 The discussion in the text of this Article of the 1962 amendment to Iowa Code 368.2 follows closely that found in Note, 49 IOWA L. REV. 826 (1964).
190 See Note, 49 IOWA L. REV. 826 (1964).

Saving...

1124 IOWA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 49 preserve the health, promote the prosperity, improve the morals, order, comfort, and convenience of such corporations and the inhabitants thereof.... Additionally, section 368.2 of the Iowa Code states that: Cities and towns ... shall have the general powers and privileges granted, and such others as are incident to municipal corporations of like character, not inconsistent with the statutes of the state, for the protection of their property and inhabitants and the preservation of peace and good order therein .... The last session of the General Assembly amended this provision by adding the following language: It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state of Iowa that the provisions of the Code relating to the powers, privileges, and immunities of cities and towns are intended to confer broad powers of self-determination as to strictly local and internal affairs upon such municipal corporations and should be liberally construed in favor of such corporations. The rule that cities and towns have only those powers expressly conferred by statute has no application to this Code. Its provisions hall be construed to confer upon such corporations broad and implied power over all local and internal affairs which may exist within constitutional limits. No section of the Code which grants a specific power to cities and towns ... shall be construed as narrowing or restricting the general grant of powers hereinabove conferred unless such restriction is expressly set forth in such statute or unless the terms of such statute are so comprehensive as to have entirely occupied the field of its subject....187 No attempt will be made here to do a comprehensive analysis of this amendment to section 368.2 of the Iowa Code. Such an investigation has already been done elsewhere.188 For present purposes some general remarks should suffice.189 The power of Iowa cities and towns to enact the kinds of legislation proposed here rests upon the resolution of two problems. First, it must be ascertained whether these kinds of laws are within the legislative competence of our cities and towns because such laws may be deemed to deal with their "strictly local and internal affairs." Second, it must be ascertained whether our local governments are precluded from legislating against discrimination in these areas because state laws have "entirely occupied the field of its subject." The reason for this twofold inquiry is as follows. The amendment to section 368.2 of the Iowa Code can be viewed as a rule of construction by which the powers previously granted cities and towns are to be given specific substance.190 This approach gleans support from the fact that the word "construed" appears in the first, third, and fourth sentences of the added provision. If the amendment is a rule of construction, cities and towns are still limited solely to ________________________ 187 Iowa Acts 1963, ch. 235, at 311 188 See Note, 49 IOWA L. REV. 826 (1964). 189 The discussion in the text of this Article of the 1962 amendment to Iowa Code 368.2 follows closely that found in Note, 49 IOWA L. REV. 826 (1964). 190 See Note, 49 IOWA L. REV. 826 (1964).