Ruling against laborer crackdown upheld

A federal appeals court has upheld a judge's ruling barring Oyster Bay Town from enforcing its controversial crackdown on day laborers.

The Second Circuit panel didn't weigh in on the merits of the case in yesterday's ruling, but said its power was limited since the district court's temporary restraining order became a preliminary injunction last June without a full hearing.

Appeals courts typically do not have jurisdiction over a lower court's temporary restraining orders. Oyster Bay agreed to the preliminary injunction without a hearing, choosing instead to appeal to the Second Circuit.

"The district court made no findings of fact and only tentative conclusions of law . . . contrasting with the requirements of a true preliminary injunction," wrote the three-judge appeals panel. "This gives us little ground" to resolve questions.

So now the case returns to Eastern District Court in Central Islip, where it will either be subject to a preliminary injunction hearing or go directly to trial.

In issuing the temporary restraining order last year, U.S. District Judge Denis R. Hurley said the broadness of Oyster Bay's "local solicitation law" raised constitutional concerns.

The town rejects arguments that seeking employment from a moving vehicle is protected political speech.

It said existing traffic law insufficiently regulated street-corner crowds, largely Latino, that gathered for work in Locust Valley. The 2009 ordinance bans standing in rights-of-way to "stop or attempt to stop" vehicles to solicit jobs.

The New York Civil Liberties Union contended the ban also ensnared First Amendment-protected expression. It sued on behalf of Locust Valley's Centro de la Comunidad Hispana and The Workplace Project of Hempstead.