3 Cities Call Gallegly Bill an Affront to Free Speech : Government: The proposal to cut federal funds to areas offering sanctuary to war resisters is constitutional, however, two legal experts say.

Officials of three Northern California cities that offered sanctuary to war resisters and deserters condemned Thursday a San Fernando Valley congressman’s bill to cut off federal funds to them, saying it is unconstitutional and curtails their free-speech rights.

Authorities in San Francisco, Berkeley and the Humboldt County college town of Arcata said the actions are largely symbolic efforts to express their opposition to the Gulf War. They said the sanctuary resolutions do not violate state or federal law.

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) introduced his legislation Wednesday after the three cities declared themselves havens for those avoiding military service in the Persian Gulf.

Gallegly, a conservative elected to Congress in 1986 after serving as mayor of Simi Valley, said the three cities’ actions were “a slap in the face to the brave Americans now risking their lives in the Middle East.”

“Once again, several cities with their own radical foreign policies have taken it upon themselves to declare that they will offer sanctuary to people who break the law . . . I believe that cities that adopt such policies have forfeited their right to receive federal tax dollars,” he said.

A spokesman for San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos said that city’s resolution means “We are not going to spend city money or ask city workers, including the police, to help the federal government track down and identify people who object to war or military service on the basis of moral or ethical beliefs.

“The most patriotic thing a city can do is declare its opposition to a wrongful policy and urge an end to the war so that the servicemen and women over there can return as safely and quickly as possible,” spokesman Scott Shafer said.

He said it was hypocritical for the congressman to attempt to punish the cities for their war stand, saying it would be an unconstitutional abridgement of free speech.

However, Prof. Jesse Choper, dean of the UC Berkeley law school and an expert on constitutional law, said he believes Gallegly’s bill is constitutional.

Choper said that under the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power to raise and maintain an army. If local governments resist that, he said, Congress has the right to halt funding for them.

“Since desertion from the military services is not constitutionally protected, and since Congress can act within its authority to prevent it, this bill is not an impermissible way of seeking to prevent desertion,” Choper said.

Gallegly said his bill applies to deserters, reservists who refuse to serve after being called up and those who refuse to register for the draft. It does not apply to conscientious objectors, he said.

The congressman said there is “a great deal of momentum” in the House for his proposal, which is co-sponsored by eight other members, including Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) and Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura).

But a spokeswoman for Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), who sits with Gallegly on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the bill’s chances for passage “start at zero and go down” in the Democrat-controlled lower house.

Arcata officials rescinded a sanctuary resolution Wednesday night after vehement objections by business owners and longtime residents, City Councilman Bob Ornelas said. However, the resolution may be put to a citywide vote this spring, and is likely to pass, he said.

Gallegly said his bill is not intended to deprive city officials of their free-speech rights but to encourage them not to advocate the obstruction of justice.

The congressman acknowledged that he does not know how much federal money the three cities receive and said his intention is not to punish AIDS patients, the homeless or other beneficiaries of federal largess.

Prof. Kenneth Karst, a constitutional law expert at UCLA law school, said he generally agrees that Gallegly’s legislation, if passed, would be found constitutional.

However, he dismissed both Gallegly’s legislation and the three cities’ sanctuary declarations, branding them as “all political theater” intended mostly to make points with local voters.

A spokeswoman for Berkeley Mayor Loni Hancock said the federal government has never tried to punish the city since it enacted a sanctuary resolution during the Vietnam War. The resolution, which the City Council reaffirmed last week, applies to refugees from Central America and South Africa as well as deserters.

The spokeswoman said that during the Vietnam War, military police came to Berkeley hunting an Army deserter who was hiding at a local church. By the time the police arrived, church members had spirited the man away to another church in Oakland.