Term limits: 12 years means 12 years

On Monday, the Nevada Supreme Court heard arguments in the historic case, Miller v. Burk, over whether term limits were enacted constitutionally when Nevadans voted to amend the state constitution in 1994 and 1996.

The controversy arose when several term-limited officials filed for re-election this year, thus invoking the constitution, which states that "No person may be elected to any state office or local governing body who has served in that office, or at the expiration of his current term if he is so serving will have served, 12 years or more." (Article 15, Section 3)

The concept is simple enough. No one can serve more than 12 years in any state or local elected office, and 12 years means 12 years. Politicians looking to circumvent this requirement are stooping to legal shenanigans " ranging from arguing over which year this very clear amendment took effect (it was 1996) " to whether the Supreme Court erred when it split the term limits question into parts A and B back in 1996. Even if it did, it is too late to overturn the enactment because the case is no longer legally ripe for challenge. Moreover, it would disenfranchise the vast majority of voters who twice voted to enact term limits.

I believe a ruling by the court throwing out the clear expression of our citizens and voters on July 14 will create a Nevada constitutional crisis even larger than 2003's Guinn v. Legislature.

In that case, the court ruled taxes could be raised without a two-thirds vote. The two-thirds vote rule had been approved by two-thirds of voters, in two separate elections. Not only was the decision ridiculed by legal scholars all around the United States, the offending justices were turned away from the bench. That ruling resulted in the largest tax increase in Nevada history, and Nevadans expressed their outrage loudly.

Five out of the six justices who ruled in Governor Guinn's favor in 2003 have since left the bench. Justice Becker lost re-election, garnering less than 38 percent of the vote in her re-election bid. Chief Justice Shearing retired, as did Justices Rose and Agosti. Then-Justice Gibbons (now Chief Justice) eventually apologized for that decision and joined in overturning his own ruling three years later.

In Nevada, we hold our judges and justices accountable for the decisions that they make.

Our people have spoken " clearly and overwhelmingly " that serving in elected office should be rotated amongst us, that too much power accruing to too few people for decades is not in the best interests of we, the people.

It's right there, in the constitution.

Senator Bob Beers is the Chairman of Take Back Nevada.