Weeks ago, super loon Matt McLaughlin, some lawyer from the OC, submitted the infamous "Sodomite Suppression Act", which says that we should be put to death with bullets in our heads.
This act will never be a law, never! But it may clear circulation this coming May, and Attorney General Kamala Harris may not be able to stop it.
The state Supreme Court has the power to keep measures off the ballot if they violate the California Constitution. It has exercised that power to disqualify measures that cover more than one subject, broadly defined, and to block last year’s attempt by legislative Democrats to seek a statewide advisory vote on a U.S. constitutional amendment that would limit corporate spending in federal elections. Presumably the justices could locate a state constitutional provision that would discourage shooting people in the head.
But McLaughlin’s measure is currently before Harris, whose options appear to be limited. Once the sponsor has paid the required fee, state law directs the attorney general to prepare a title and a maximum 100-word summary of the initiative and forward it to the secretary of state for a 90-day period of public signature-gathering. The secretary of state’s website says Harris is scheduled to take those actions by about May 4.
Does she have the power to refuse if the measure is patently unconstitutional? Harris isn’t saying; her office did not return repeated phone calls. But some veteran practitioners of election law said they don’t think so.
“The statute is clear: that the office has to prepare a summary provided the proponents have paid $200 and followed the right procedures,” said attorney Robert Stern, author of the state’s 1974 Political Reform Act. He said he’s never heard of a case in which the attorney general refused to issue a title and summary.
I'm not worried about this. It's very clear this act will never come to pass, but the idea of the act is just inhumane. I hope this Matt McLaughlin is monitored.
source
1 comment:
NEVER doubt the stupidity of California voters when it comes to ballot initiatives. Look at the marriage amendment act in 2001, Prop 8 in 2007. We also have the 2014 decision to overburden the courts that are already two or more years behind in hearing cases with petitions to reduce charges in their criminal history to misdemeanors, retroactively, and deciding that the fish in our waters deserve more protection than our agricultural industry and reservoirs to supply water to its People. 365,000 signatures wont be difficult. He could get half of that in OC alone. Throw in some of the interior counties that overwhelmingly voted YES on Prop 8, and its on the ballot. What we would need to do is get more people to just vote it down, or send an initiative that either (a) changes the way initiative measures are approved, or (b) strictly prohibits measure proposals that are discriminatory, unconstitutional, violent, or illegal as they stand. Then fine the proposer $150,000 for wasting the State's time. Perhaps that will make people think twice about using, in McLaughlin's words, "Almighty God" as a pretext for legislation.
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