Breaking News: Judge Orders California Initiative Removed from the Ballot

The judge's written order is here. A snippet:

The procedures in question are clear and well known and easily followed. There is no good reason to put the courts in the position of having to decide what is good enough for qualifying an initiative measure for the ballot when actual compliance is easily attainable. The initiative process is to important to so broadly apply the doctrine of substantial compliance as RPI has requested. To rule otherwise would run the risk of the court inappropriately interjecting itself into the "political thicket." The court finds the purposes of the constitutional and statutory requirements at issue would be frustrated if the court were to apply the substantial compliance doctrine to excuse the clear defects in this situation.

But I think the lower court has it about right, as I've indicated in this earlier post. At the very least, this blunts the earlier attack on me by the proponents' lawyers. Responding to my analysis, James Sweeney wrote: "“Come on, Rick, you cannot be serious! Surely, you know that the reapportionment initiative and its preparation will ultimately be found to satisfy the 'substantial compliance' doctrine, and the voters will have their opportunity to decide whether the initiative will succeed."

-- 
Rick Hasen
William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law
Loyola Law School
919 Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA  90015-1211
(213)736-1466
(213)380-3769 - fax
rick.hasen@lls.edu
http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org