Posted on 07/20/2005 7:52:14 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Three civil rights groups and two legislative committees Wednesday jumped into the fight over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempt to reshuffle how legislative and congressional districts are drawn in California.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the William C. Velasquez Institute and the Congress on Racial Equality Legal Defense Fund filed lawsuits challenging placement of the governor's proposal on the Nov. 8 special election ballot.
Meanwhile, the Senate and Assembly elections committees announced they would hold a joint hearing next month on the controversy surrounding signature gathering to qualify the initiative for the ballot.
Schwarzenegger's press secretary, Margita Thompson, characterized the lawsuits and the hearing as attempts by "opponents of reform" to sidetrack the measure.
"We need to continue to focus on the fact that we need to make elected officials more responsive to the people and to make districts more competitive," she said.
The measure, Proposition 77, would take the power to draw the districts away from the Legislature and give it to a panel of retired judges. Schwarzenegger contends districts drawn by lawmakers tend to favor incumbents and maintain partisan lineups in the Legislature and Congress.
Proposition 77's supporters have acknowledged that they used two versions of the proposal: One that was used to gather signatures and a second one that they gave to the attorney general's office to prepare a title and summary of the proposal for the petitions.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer says that discrepancy violated the state constitution and has filed a lawsuit trying to remove the measure from the November ballot. A hearing on his suit is scheduled Thursday in Sacramento County Superior Court.
MALDEF filed a second suit Wednesday in federal court in San Jose, contending state election officials should have obtained clearance from the U.S. Justice Department before certifying the initiative for the ballot.
A MALDEF attorney, Steve Reyes, said any change in election practices requires pre-approval from the Justice Department to protect minority voting rights.
The fact that Proposition 77 was certified even though proponents used two difference versions of the initiative constituted an "essential change" in practices, he said.
"We are not really attacking the merits of Proposition 77, just the way it got certified for the ballot," he said.
The William C. Velasquez Institute and the Congress on Racial Equality Legal Defense Fund filed a suit in Sacramento County Superior Court challenging the initiative for the same reason cited by Lockyer and on the fact that it would require the ex-judges to try to redraw the districts in time for next year's elections.
A spokesman for the institute, Michael Bustamante, said the retired judges would have to use outdated population figures to redraw districts in mid-decade and that would result in the under-representation of the state's fast-growing Hispanic and Asian populations.
Lawmakers said the elections committees' hearing, which was tentatively scheduled for Aug. 17, would focus on the fact that two different versions of the initiative were used, and on news reports that the governor's office was aware of the discrepancy more than a week before it was revealed.
"I'm very troubled by what appear to be decisions made in the governor's office and the secretary of state's office to basically put the legal concerns about the measure in an envelope and cram it under the mattress," said Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach.
A movie line that fits; Don't worry Rick we've got a round up of the usual suspects going on.
LOL.
Not sure why but it reminds me of the end of Little Caesar and Edward G. Robinson .. as he slowly dies on screen at the end of the movie..
"Is this the end of RICO?"
Something Scaramento could definitely use a dose of .. RICO. :-)
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