The lawsuit was filed in Dade County Circuit Court during
the weekend on behalf of Raymond Molina, a candidate in the
mayor's race, and Anthony Bryant, a candidate for the District 3
commission seat.
Bryant is a former Black Panther militant who turned
anti-communist after spending 12 years in a Cuban jail for
hijacking a plane. Molina was a participant in the U.S.-backed
Bay of Pigs invasion, which attempted to topple the Castro
regime in Cuba.
The suit seeks an injunction preventing the city from
disqualifying the two from the Nov. 4 election. Circuit Court
Judge Amy Dean set a hearing for Wednesday at 1 p.m. EDT.
Bryant filed a statement of candidacy June 6 and Molina
filed June 8. At the time, the city charter imposed a six-month
residency requirement for candidates seeking elected office, a
requirement that both men met.
But in a special election Sept. 4, voters approved a charter
amendment that imposed a new residency requirement of one year
for candidates for city office, a requirement neither met.
"After previously accepting the candidacy filings of Bryant
and Molina, the city has now refused to let them participate in
the upcoming November election,'' the ACLU said.
The change in residency rules was not properly disclosed to
candidates or voters in the summary that appeared on the Sept. 4
ballot, ACLU attorney Luis Fernandez said.
"The new charter amendment gives an unfair advantage to
incumbents because it does not impose the same residency
requirements on them as all other candidates,'' Fernandez said.
Under the charter amendment, current city commissioners have
up to three months after the September election to become
residents of the districts in which they run for office.
The charter amendment adopted a district representation
plan, replacing the council's current all at-large structure.
The ACLU also said the retroactive application of the new
residency law violated Bryant's and Molina's constitutional
right to due process.
The city attorney was not immediately available for comment.