Legal Pad

Cooley Lands Punch in Brawl Over Ballot Title

[Cheryl Miller]

John Eastman’s quest to let voters know he’s an assistant attorney general (without telling them the title refers to a temporary gig in South Dakota) will head to court next week.

Eastman, a Republican candidate for California attorney general, sued Secretary of State Debra Bowen this week after she rejected his requested “assistant attorney general” ballot title as misleading. Bowen wants Eastman, the former dean of Chapman University School of Law, to use his third choice: “taxpayer advocate / attorney.”

But one of Eastman’s competitors, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, thinks both titles are bogus. Today, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley let Cooley intervene in the lawsuit and set a hearing on the whole brouhaha for next Thursday.

In February, South Dakota’s attorney general named Eastman a temporary assistant AG for the state so the constitutional law expert could petition the U.S. Supreme Court in a single case: Reisch v. Sisney (The case involves two inmates who claim the state prison system violated their rights to religious freedom).

Eastman argues that work on that case constitutes his primary occupation, and so he should be allowed to use the title on the ballot. But critics, primarily Cooley, accuse Eastman of trying to trick voters into thinking he’s a high-ranking California prosecutor who’s already one step away from the top office he’s trying to win.

Bowen did let stand the job title submitted by a third GOP candidate. Voters will see Tom Harman listed as “prosecutor / attorney / senator” even though “prosecutor” refers to his just-started work in an Orange County program that lets civil litigators work temporarily as criminal attorneys.

Jerry Brown Riffs With Dr. Phil (And Kelly Osbourne)

[Cheryl Miller]

He wasn’t accused of cheating on his wife, and he wasn’t there to reveal a shocking secret from his past. But there was Jerry Brown this afternoon, sitting next to America’s favorite TV shrink, Dr. Phil.

California’s attorney general was invited, along with an unusual assortment of guests, to talk about the problem of prescription painkiller abuse. The episode follows the recent death of former child star Corey Haim.

Brown detailed a growing problem of criminals who steal doctors’ identities, fraudulently order prescription pads and then recruit homeless people to purchase Vicodin, OxyContin and other controlled drugs that they later sell.

Checking In: AG Fundraising Efforts

[Cheryl Miller]

Chris Kelly’s personal bank account has catapulted the Facebook executive into the fundraising lead in the crowded race for attorney general, according to records filed with the state on Monday.

The Peninsula Democrat raised $2.1 million between Jan. 1 and March 17, thanks largely to the $2 million Kelly poured into his own campaign this month. Kelly reported $3.4 million on hand through mid-March.

The three-month take and cash-on-hand figures reported by other Democratic AG candidates are:

Kamala Harris: $414,974 ($1.4 million)
Ted Lieu: $184,647 ($1.1 million)
Rocky Delgadillo: $124,591 ($1.1 million)
Alberto Torrico: $141,029 ($1 million)
Pedro Nava: $36,125 ($43,921)

On the Republican side, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley enjoyed a big fundraising quarter, reporting contributions since Jan. 1 of $395,970. Cooley’s campaign cash-on-hand was $297,247.

The fundraising totals for the other GOP candidates are:

Tom Harman: $81,746 ($239,956)
John Eastman: $194,116 ($148,276)

Update: Cooley Thinks Eastman's Move Is "Cynical" and "Ridiculous"

[Cheryl Miller]

Yesterday, news broke that ex-Chapman Dean John Eastman is seeking "Assistant Attorney General" designation on the California election ballot.

At least one of Eastman’s opponents is none too pleased about it.

“It’s a cynical and ridiculous effort to mislead the voters of California,” said Kevin Spillane, a campaign consultant for Republican AG candidate Steve Cooley. If Secretary of State Debra Bowen doesn’t make Eastman drop his “assistant attorney general” label, the Cooley campaign will ask a judge to do just that, Spillane said.

But Eastman consultant Jeff Flint said his client’s job title is accurate.

“The law and the regulations state that you are supposed to list your current occupation,” Flint said.

A spokeswoman for South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said that Eastman’s powers as an appointed assistant attorney general are “pretty limited.” Jackley had no immediate comment on Eastman’s ballot job description, she said.

A Stay on Prop 14 Judicial Revisions Makes Detractors and Supporters Happy

[Cheryl Miller]

An appellate court this afternoon put the brakes on attempts to place a judicially rewritten Prop 14 – the so-called open primary measure – on the June ballot.

The Third District Court of Appeal gave parties until Tuesday at noon to submit arguments as to why Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Allen Sumner’s recent edits (free reg. req.) of Prop. 14 should, or should not, stand.

Harris and Kelly Duke it Out Over Pretty Meaningless Crime Stats

[Kate Moser]

A catty (but fun!) statistical spat has broken out between two candidates in the race for California Attorney General.

First, Facebook lawyer Chris Kelly blasted San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris for crime stats released last week by the state. He noted, among other categories, that San Francisco’s homicide rate increased by 32 percent since Harris has been DA, while the statewide homicide rate dropped 16 percent in the same period.

So Harris’ campaign retorted: “Instead of spending $2 million and counting on his own Facebook fortune running for a job for which he’s eminently unqualified, perhaps he should go back and clerk for another year – and actually learn a little something about fighting crime.”

Ooo, snap!

Governor Wants Cal Supremes to Draw Line in the Furlough Sand

[Cheryl Miller]

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today asked (.pdf) the Supreme Court to take up seven furlough lawsuit appeals before the appellate courts can rule on them.

The move makes sense economically. The state has already spent $589,000 on litigation costs “with tens of thousands remaining to be billed,” Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Rachel Arrezola said.

And it’s not like the trial courts have been issuing consistent rulings.

State Dems Take Down Bills Close to Conservative Hearts

[Cheryl Miller]

It wasn’t unexpected and it didn’t take long for state legislative Democrats today to squash a handful of lawsuit-blocking bills sought by their Republican counterparts and the governor during the current emergency budget session.

The first to die was SB X8 66, a proposed change — long sought by the business lobby — to allow for four-days-a-week, 10-hour workdays without overtime pay.

Next was SB X8 70, which would have eased California’s strict rules mandating meal periods for workers. Meal and rest period violations have been major sources of costly litigation in recent years.

Finally, a Senate committee iced SB X8 42, the governor’s plan to exempt 125 construction projects — selected by him and the next governor over the next five years — from lawsuits brought under the California Environmental Quality Act.

In a prepared statement, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the Democrats’ votes “remind Californians that their leaders too often put partisanship before problem solving.”

Democrats accused the governor and Republicans of using the state’s financial troubles as an excuse to gut consumer and environmental protection laws.

Memo Identifies 100 Legal Jobs to Be Cut in L.A.

[Petra Pasternak]

It looks like the debt-laden city of Los Angeles will be shedding at least 100 legal positions before the summer is half over.

In a memo (.pdf) describing 1,000 city government positions marked for elimination, about 60 are deputy attorneys and 40 legal staff.

By cutting 60 deputy attorney positions, the city aimed to save close to $6 million in salaries. The biggest hit went to those holding positions in a section labeled “central trials” who were making between $74,875 and $92,100 — 10 of those posts were highlighted for elimination. Other areas on the chopping block included workers comp, labor relations, criminal appeals, employment litigation and business litigation. The city attorneys’ office says on its web site that it employs more than 500 lawyers.

It’s unclear what the city council’s call today to cut 3,000 more positions will mean for the city attorneys’ office. So far, no layoff notices have gone out to city lawyers or staff, according to John Franklin, the director of communications for the city attorneys’ office.

“There’s $880 million in civil claims against the city at this time,” Franklin noted. “If all these mass layoffs take place, who’s going to defend them?”

The memo went out Feb. 8 from the city’s employee relations division to all city unions.

Meg No Fan of State Lawyers

[Cheryl Miller]

What does “out of control” government spending look like? Nearly 3,400 lawyers employed by the state of California, according to GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.

In a new radio ad, below, the former eBay executive takes aim at the state’s payroll, which, she notes, includes all those lawyers.

“Twice as many as the biggest law firm in the country,” she says.

And what would the governor wannabe do with these hordes of attorneys? She doesn’t say specifically but offers that, “If we ran things more efficiently, couldn’t we do more with less?”

Wonder if she means fewer deputy attorneys general, which comprise roughly a third of the state’s legal force? Of course, those prosecutors probably think they’re doing just that since they’re already some of the lowest paid publicly-employed lawyers in the state.