Patterico's Pontifications

8/7/2005

Weintraub on Prop. 77 Oral Argument

Filed under: Law,Public Policy — Patterico @ 9:43 pm



Daniel Weintraub has a great post about the oral argument over whether Prop. 77 stays on the ballot. His post is titled ‘Stop thinking like a lawyer’ — a quote from one of the justices to the lawyer for the A.G.’s office:

[Presiding Justice Arthur Scotland] had the quote of the day when he asked Vickie Whitney, the deputy attorney general arguing the case for Bill Lockyer, to “stop thinking like a lawyer” and put herself in the shoes of the “average voter” looking at the discrepancy in this case.

“Don’t you honestly think,” Scotland asked, “that the voter would say, ‘What’s the big deal?’”

Based on the post, it sounds like the decision will issue on Tuesday and is likely to be 2-1 — though which way it will come out is anyone’s guess.

2 Responses to “Weintraub on Prop. 77 Oral Argument”

  1. Pardon me if you answered this, but why can’t what the citizens signed be put on the ballot if it differs from what is currently there?

    CAL

    CAL (fc6837)

  2. CAL:

    Pardon me if you answered this, but why can’t what the citizens signed be put on the ballot if it differs from what is currently there?

    Because the purpose of Lockyer’s lawsuit was never to stand up for the integrity of the electoral system… it was always to prevent the citizens from voting to reform legislative districts.

    The obvious solution wouldn’t be a solution at all, from Lockyer’s viewpoint, since it would still allow the people to vote. He is afraid of what will happen to Democratic hegemony if that vote is allowed to happen.

    Dafydd

    Dafydd (f8a7be)


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