Posted on 10/19/2006 7:37:08 AM PDT by SmithL
Two Northern California county Republican chairmen intend to sue today to disqualify Democrat Jerry Brown from serving as state attorney general, but Brown's campaign calls it the last gasp of a desperate campaign.
"I can't tell you the nuts and bolts of what's behind it but we will have the news conference" at 10:30 a.m. in Sacramento, Contra Costa County GOP chairman Tom Del Beccaro said Wednesday; Yolo County GOP Chair Mark Pruner is involved, too.
A posting on Del Beccaro's Web site, www.politicalvanguard.com, said Oakland's mayor "is ineligible to serve as attorney general, because he does not meet the minimum qualifications for the office as set forth in California law. The lawsuit will also seek an injunction directing various county registrars of voters not to count ballots cast for Brown due to his ineligibility."
California Government Code section 12503 says, "No person shall be eligible to the office of attorney general unless he shall have been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the state for a period of at least five years immediately preceding his election or appointment to such office."
Brown, 68, earned a degree from Yale Law School in 1964, was admitted to the State Bar of California in June 1965 but was an "inactive member" from Jan. 1, 1997 through May 1, 2003, bar records show. "Inactive members have chosen this status voluntarily and may transfer to active at any time upon request," the bar's Web site says.
It's up to the attorney general's office to parse the language of state office qualifications, State Bar deputy executive director Robert Hawley said Wednesday.
Nathan Barankin, spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer, provided reporters Wednesday with a 1980 opinion issued by then-Attorney General George Deukmejian, a Republican, on Superior Court judicial qualifications.
In a footnote, it says certain judicial officers must become inactive State Bar members. "We express no opinion herein as to whether the time served in this capacity counts for eligibility for appointment or election to a municipal or higher court ... but do note that inactive members are members of the State Bar," the opinion said.
Brown campaign spokesman Ace Smith derided the action Wednesday as "nothing more than a frivolous lawsuit, a political dirty trick -- there is no issue there." He blamed it on Republican Attorney General nominee and state Sen. Chuck Poochigian, R-Fresno: "It's his party, c'mon -- it's pathetic and desperate."
"The law just says you need to be admitted to the bar, and you're admitted to the bar when you pass the bar, it's as clear as day," he said. "It's a pathetic dirty trick coming out of a campaign that's 20 points down."
A Field Poll survey conducted Sept. 14 through 24 found Brown leading Poochigian by 15 percentage points, down from a 21-point lead in July. A Los Angeles Times poll conducted Sept. 23 through 28 found Brown leading by 17 percentage points.
Poochigian campaign spokesman Seth Unger replied the lawsuit brings "serious charges that should be adjudicated.
"The Brown campaign's response doesn't address the merits of the case," he said. "It sounds like they're panicked over the probability that their candidate isn't qualified. It's a predictable response from a campaign manager who knows he has a serious problem. Even Jerry Brown isn't above the law."
Poochigian earned a degree from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1975, was admitted to the State Bar that December, and has been an active member ever since. But he might not want to buck Deukmejian's judgment: He was one of Gov. Deukmejian's senior staffers from 1988 to 1991.
A similar complaint about inactive status was made in 2004 against Rocky Delgadillo -- who, oddly enough, was Brown's rival in this year's Democratic primary race for attorney general -- by a candidate he'd defeated in the 2001 Los Angeles City Attorney's race. Los Angeles Superior Court judges refused to review the matter, telling the complainant to take it to the attorney general. A federal lawsuit was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
The complaint against Delgadillo was made under the Los Angeles City Charter, which is worded differently from state law, Barankin noted Wednesday: "Delgadillo had a much rougher go of it than Jerry Brown probably will."
Maybe Michael Savage can help out his buddy Ol' Jer!
Is this the same Jerry Brown that was governor in the 70s when CA suffered from the Mediterranean fruit fly. The governor at that time has civil servants with hand nets out in the fields trying to catch these flies.
The same.
Good Lord! And Brown is still alive.
That's Jerry "Moonbeam that loves Rose Bird and hates the Death Penalty" Brown.
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