The City of Costa Mesa has pledged $10,000 to help fund an amicus brief to support Newport Beach’s attempt to get its group-home ordinance reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a May 6 e-mail to Costa Mesa City CEO Tom Hatch, Newport Beach City Manager Dave Kiff asked for assistance in his city’s legal bid to get the Supreme Court to review a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that declared that Newport Beach’s group-homes ordinance unconstitutional.

Kiff wrote that “the petition will focus on the 9th Circuit’s misapplication of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Fair Housing Act to invalidate a facially neutral zoning ordinance that does not single out residential-treatment facilities for disparate treatment and that has been enforced in a non-discriminatory manner. The 9th Circuit’s decision is inconsistent with settled principles of anti-discrimination law established by the U.S. Supreme Court and with the approach that other lower courts have taken when confronted with similar cases.”

Kiff said legal experts estimated that likelihood that the Supreme Court would take up the case was 20 to 25%, and that amicus—or “friends of the court”—briefs from other institutions and individuals would help maximize those chances.

“[B]riefs carry a lot of weight with the Court, and are especially valuable in demonstrating that an issue presented for review transcends the parties to the case,” Kiff wrote.