Opinion ID: 176682
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Mayor

Text: CHI asserts that Mayor Bieter is not entitled to legislative immunity because [a] mayor is a city's chief administrative official, the act of signing a public contract is ministerial, and he did not vote on the Ordinance or lease. This argument ignores the Supreme Court's insistence that the question of whether an act is legislative turns on the nature and character of the particular act, not on any bright-line rule. Bogan, 523 U.S. at 54, 118 S.Ct. 966. Indeed, the Court held in Bogan that an executive official's introduction of a budget and signing of a local ordinance were legislative acts. Id. at 55, 118 S.Ct. 966. Here, the mayor's office participated in the entire legislative process regarding Community House. Members of the mayor's staff attended various CHI Board meetings to discuss potential solutions to Community House issues. The mayor requested in February 2004 that CHI make a proposal if it needed financial assistance. The Advisory Committee, of which Watson was a member, stated its intent to help Mayor Bieternot just the City Council membersevaluate the best course of action with respect to Community House. As contemplated by state law, he signed the Ordinances and approved the Resolutions passed by the City Council. See id. Because the mayor was intricately involved in the City's policy decision to provide shelter for the homeless, he is entitled to legislative immunity along with the council members, even though he is nominally an executive official. That the mayor and council members knew the BRM was a religious organization and would allow only single men to stay at the shelter does not change our analysis. Courts must be extremely careful that considerations of a legislator's motive do not infect the determination of whether an act is legislative: The claim of an unworthy purpose does not destroy the privilege. Legislators are immune from deterrents to the uninhibited discharge of their legislative duty, not for their private indulgence but for the public good. One must not expect uncommon courage even in legislators. Tenney, 341 U.S. at 377, 71 S.Ct. 783. It [is] not consonant with our scheme of government for a court to inquire into the motives of legislators.... Id. The importance of absolute legislative immunity to our system of government cannot be overstated: In times of political passion, dishonest or vindictive motives are readily attributed to legislative conduct and are readily believed. Courts are not the place for such controversies. Self-discipline and the voters must be the ultimate reliance for discouraging or correcting such abuses. Id. at 378, 71 S.Ct. 783 (footnote omitted). For their legislative decisions, legislators are answerable to the citizenrynot to a court of law. The specters of impeachment, recall, lost elections, and criminal prosecution for bribery and other crimes are enough checks against a legislator's malfeasance. As a matter of sound public policy, we must not and should not add personal financial liability to that list.