On Jan. 11 the Gering City Council approved a new Disorderly House Ordinance and likely placed an unconstitutional ban on clairvoyance, fortunetelling and divination.
Some consider clairvoyance, fortunetelling and divination a part of their religion while others believe it is a matter of free speech.
It is doubtful members of the Gering city council realized what passing such a ban really meant and they did so without malice or ill will toward the people of this community in their hearts.
Rather, this measure snuck under the radar due to the lack of research and study.
When a new ordinance is approved, members of the council need to examine what all the ramifications of the new law might be.
Council members more than likely envisioned old Gypsy women with crystal balls roaming the streets of Gering ripping people off with nightly séances.
It’s not like we have a serious problem with wild bands of fortunetellers overrunning the downtown district or anything. Laws governing theft by deception already exist and this new law is not focused on a crime but rather the location of where “questionable” acts occur.
The ordinance creates up to a $1,000 fine if a location is deemed “disorderly.”
It took about 10 minutes to search the Internet and find more than one case questioning the constitutionality of such a ban.
It is doubtful the Gering City Council really planned to outlaw churches and our newspaper but they technically did put a ban on anyone who looks into the future and plans for coming events.
The idea of planning for coming events, which includes the Holy Bible, could be construed as clairvoyance by those in the future who will be enforcing this ordinance.
It is unsettling that somehow the ordinance might be able to fine this newspaper because we print an astrology column each week. Astrology is considered divination, as is the Bible and possibly the city’s own budget forecasts.
I’ve actually questioned two city council members on the subject and both of them responded with “well who cares about that?”
I do and I don’t believe that I am alone on this.
I consider this law unconstitutional as it is a violation of this newspaper’s right to free speech as well as being a violation of this city’s churches rights to practice their religions as they choose.
The city will not likely enforce this silly part of the ordinance and there is no reason to leave it on the books.
I kindly ask the Gering and Scottsbluff City Councils to repeal their bans on clairvoyance, fortunetelling and divination from their Disorderly House Ordinances and remove an outdated restriction before it ends up in court.
If city council members don’t actually care about this law, why not remove it from the city ordinance book? It has no value.
It’s odd that a city council would approve one four-worded sentence and basically outlaw every church, newspaper, weather forecast and financial counselor in the community. It doesn’t make sense and I’m sure it was accidental.
The rest of the ordinance is great and I have no problem with it.
Please eliminate the one line in the Disorderly House Ordinance that reads, “clairvoyance, fortunetelling or divination” and we will all sleep easier.
This whole problem occurred because Scottsbluff has this law in their city ordinance book and they expect Gering to follow like blind sheep and accept all their laws, so the two police departments can be uniform on city codes.
Perhaps those in power need to actually read the laws they are asking the city council to approve and decide if Gering really needs to be more like Scottsbluff.
This measure was not properly evaluated and analyzed before it was presented to city council members.
It was in Scottsbluff’s city ordinance book and the Gering Police Department presented it in their effort to unify the two cities’ police departments.
A little common sense will go a long way. Perhaps Scottsbluff’s city ordinance book might need updates too.
I’d like to see Gering Police officers receiving hourly pay that is equal to the pay officers in Scottsbluff receive. There is no reason that Gering officers shouldn’t get paid the same.
Why isn’t someone working on that problem instead of attempting to harm the people who make this community strong with frivolous city ordinances that cannot be enforced? - Even if it was by accident.