SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The chief justice of the California Supreme Court is criticizing the state's reliance on the referendum process, saying it has "rendered our state government dysfunctional." .. the widespread use of referendums to change state laws and constitutions hampers legislators, burdens the judicial branch and gives special interests too much power. George says the system places California's lawmakers in a "fiscal straitjacket" that prevents them from effectively solving the state's financial crisis. The speech .. entitled "The Perils of Direct Democracy: The California Experience."