Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019 | 2 a.m.
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Before he began his term as Nevada attorney general in January, Aaron Ford established a simple test to determine whether the state should go to court against the federal government.
If an action hurt Nevada families, he said, he’d sue.
Entering his ninth month in office, Ford has proven time and again he was serious about his vow to protect Nevadans.
Ford has signed the state into several multistate lawsuits opposing cruel and discriminatory policies adopted by the White House.
Among the legal actions:
• On Monday, Ford joined Nevada into a coalition of 20 states opposing the Trump administration’s new rule allowing the prolonged detention of immigrant children.
• In May, Ford signed Nevada into a suit fighting the Department of Health and Human Services over a new rule allowing health care providers, based on their religious beliefs or moral convictions, to deny treatment to people. At the time, there were 23 cities, states and municipalities involved in the suit.
• In April, Ford filed a motion to block the Trump administration from diverting $1.6 billion in federal funds to build a border wall. Nevada was among 20 states attempting to block the transfer of the funds, which originally were meant for law enforcement, drug interdiction and military construction projects.
• In March, Ford joined 21 attorneys general in a suit against a new HHS rule barring organizations receiving federal funding under the Title X family planning program from referring patients for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency.
• Also in March, Ford filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of maintaining an injunction against the rollback of an Affordable Care Act mandate for employers to provide birth control coverage in health insurance plans.
• In February, Ford entered Nevada into a 15-state group trying to halt the administration’s termination of a 20-year-old program protecting thousands of Liberians living in the U.S. from being deported.
• Also in February, Ford joined a group of 22 attorneys general fighting to uphold temporary protected status for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Sudan living legally in the U.S.
That’s just a sampling. Ford has been vigilant in keeping an eye on the federal government and stepping in when necessary to shield Nevadans from harmful actions. Meanwhile, he’s also been prosecuting criminals, suing companies for unscrupulous and predatory behavior, working with state lawmakers in support of such legislation as universal background checks on gun purchases, and much more.
At a time when the spineless Republican majority in the U.S. Senate refuses to check and balance the excesses of the executive branch, the people must turn to the courts to provide the balance required for our democracy to work.
Ford has been dogged in his efforts to protect Nevadans through the courts — just like he promised the voters he would be.
