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Sacramento Bee Columnist Daniel Weintraub

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July 31, 2003

If Cruz loses, he wins

With inspiration from our admittedly paranoid friend Tony Quinn, we continue now on the theme of what might go wrong with the "if appropriate" lawsuits pending at the Supreme Court. To refresh, these are the suits seeking to block the second part of the recall election, in which the voters choose someone to replace Gray should he be removed. The defendants in those suits are Kevin Shelley and Cruz Bustamante, both of whom are represented by Bill Lockyer. And so we will have people who opposed the recall defending these lawsuits. Perhaps someone else might want to weigh in with an amicus brief. For context, some might remember what happened with the litigation to stop Prop. 187. The original lawsuit against the initiative prevailed at trial court, and Pete Wilson, who was governor at the time, appealed that judgment on behalf of the state's voters. Then Gray Davis, who had opposed 187, took office, and took over as defendant. You then had opponents of 187 on one side and opponents of 187 on the other. Gray soon sent the matter to "mediation" and the parties emerged with a deal that dropped the suit and struck down virtually all of the initiative. And no one could appeal. At the moment there is nothing to stop the "defendants" in this case from doing the same thing. If Cruz loses this suit, he's in line to be governor if Davis is recalled.

UPDATE: A member of the Establishment responds with some counterpoints:

Even if Ron George wants to help the Establishment, it's not clear what he should do. Is helping Cruz get elected helping the poltiical establishment? Further, would dropping the second part of the election help or hurt Gray? Some people think the "if appropriate" suits are a way to screw Gray because removing the conservatives from the ballot would make Democrats more comfortable voting for the recall. Also: It is not in Lockyer's interest to take a dive on this, because he is getting older, and his last best chance to run for governor is in 06. He can only do that if Gray serves out his term or is replaced by a caretaker. Elevating Cruz serves neither purpose.

TWO MORE UPDATES:

First, here is a piece at politicsus.com comparing the "if appropriate" case to the dispute in last year's New Jersey Senate election, and suggesting that the California Supremes might just bend to the political will of the powerful (if we can only figure out what that is).

And, from a reader, this retort to the Ron-George-is-suspect theory:

Ronald George is Chief Justice, but has only one vote out of seven. He does not control the other justices, so he could hardly rescue the political establishment. My experience with the California Supreme Court is that its members decide cases on their merits, and not on what is politically expedient. Of course, I thought the same of the U.S. Supreme Court until Bush v. Gore. I have read the petition filed by Mr. and Mrs. Frankel against Kevin Shelley, and the argument is not quite so far-fetched. Besides, the California Supreme Court is not bold enough to interfere with the political process, Tony Quinn's paranoia notwithstanding.

As for the Ted Costa initiative, Mr. Quinn should remember that under the California Constitution, initiatives can cover only a "single subject." The Costa initiative's primary goal was to reduce the salaries of legislators, and that is how Costa and his supporters marketed it to voters. They did not tell voters that the initiative also would change the reapportionment process. Now, common sense should tell anybody that reapportionment has nothing to do with legislative salaries, even if you stretch the English language to the breaking point. That is why the Court took the initiative off the ballot. If Mr. Costa had been honest and limited his measure just to salaries, the Court would have let it remain on the ballot. He overreached and suffered for it.