FEDERAL JUDGE USURPS SIMI OFFICIALS' POWER.

Byline: James Bemis

``Usurpation - unauthorized arbitrary assumption and exercise of power, esp. as infringing on others' rights (dictatorial).''

Webster's Third New Unabridged Dictionary's definition of ``usurpation'' also neatly serves as a description of U.S. District Judge William J. Rea's ruling that Simi Valley's law governing adult entertainment clubs is unconstitutional. In deciding in favor of Philip Young, who has tried since 1990 to open a nude dance club, Rea ruled that the ordinance violates the businessman's First Amendment rights in two ways:

First, it allows ``sensitive uses'' such as churches, schools and youth activities to ``knock out'' adult entertainment uses from the permit process, even up to the last minute. Second, Rea states that the city's provisions result in only three sites for adult entertainment businesses - a number that, according to his reading of the Constitution, is insufficiently low.

How many does the Constitution require? A ``reasonable'' number, according to the judge's ruling. ``Reasonable to whom?'' one might ask, reasonably. To the judge, of course.

In the ``Alice in Wonderland'' world our legal system has become, words seem to mean only what judges, like black-robed Humpty Dumptys, choose for them to mean. With each passing year, the rendering of constitutional law gets, as Alice herself might say, ``curiouser and curiouser.''

Now that ``constitutional law'' is disengaged from the Constitution, we are living in a judicial Never-Never Land that would make Alice's head spin in confusion. Like an order from the Queen of Hearts, no one knows what the Constitution will mean tomorrow.

No one but the courts, that is.

How odd it is for a federal judge to be making decisions regarding how many sites a city is required to set aside for strip clubs

We already have a mayor - a perfectly competent man - and a City Council composed of concerned, public-spirited citizens to whom we've delegated this authority. We have a Planning Commission whose job it is to advise the City Council on such matters.

So where does a federal judge find the authority to overrule all their zoning codes, ordinances and decisions they made by majority vote, after substantial public input?

The answer: Nowhere.

The plain words of the Constitution are instructive. The First Amendment states that ``Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . '' Now, any reasonably well-educated schoolchild can tell you that this sentence confers two thoughts: It limits the authority of someone, namely Congress, from doing something - in this case, restricting anyone's freedom of speech.

It is more than a stretch to read this limitation on Congress' authority as also applying to the city of Simi Valley. And it is positively Orwellian to interpret ``abridging the freedom of speech'' as ``preventing from opening a strip club.''

How did we arrive at such a peculiar state, in which words lose their usual meaning and take on strange, unintended ones determined by our federal ``public servants'' - which always seems to increase their power, thereby diminishing our own?

Beginning with the Earl Warren era, the Supreme Court has used the Bill of Rights as an instrument of increasing the federal government's power, particularly that of the judiciary, over the states. This is precisely the opposite of the framers' intent, which was to use the Constitution's first 10 amendments as a means of limiting the government's authority.

Nevertheless, as the courts have discovered more and more ``rights,'' we find ourselves with less and less freedom.

On Thursday the City Council voted to appeal this restriction on its governing authority and continue its search for some light of reason within our legal system. The appeal process will, no doubt, be painful, time-consuming and expensive. But in fighting the good fight, the City Council is attempting to preserve a most precious thing - the right of self-government bequeathed to us by our nation's founders. I, for one, can't think of a better use of our tax money.

It's ironic that just last month, Simi Valley was named one of America's best places to raise children - a tribute to many factors, not the least of which are its low crime rate and wholesome family atmosphere. However, our ability to determine the type of community in which we live and raise our kids is now being jeopardized.

Judge Robert Bork, a former federal appeals judge and Supreme Court justice nominee, has said that ``our country is being radically altered, step by step, by judges who are not following any law.''

Judge Bork, meet Judge Rea.