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Unconstitutional State Supreme Court kills ‘3 Californias’

Wednesday, July 18, 2018, 4:32 pm | Randy Thomasson

It’s in-your-face tyranny from judicial activists on the California Supreme Court. They’ve again abused their limited power by REMOVING the “3 Californias” initiative (Proposition 9) from the November 6 ballot. This is despite the California State Constitution’s foundational declaration that:

All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their protection, security, and benefit, and they have the right to alter or reform it when the public good may require.

There is NOTHING in California state law permitting the California Supreme Court to remove an initiative for any reason. And there is no law in the California Constitution or California statutes that gives any court carte blanche to strike propositions it doesn’t like from the ballot.

Consider that:

  • “3 Californias” has not failed to meet the procedural requirements to qualify for the ballot
  • “3 Californias” does not conflict with the federal or state constitution, or a federal statute
  • “3 Californias” does not violate any constitutional provision or statute, such as the rule requiring initiatives to encompass a single subject

Here’s the California Supreme Court’s lame, make-it-up-as-you-go explanation, posted on their site:

Because significant questions have been raised regarding the proposition’s validity, and because we conclude that the potential harm in permitting the measure to remain on the ballot outweighs the potential harm in delaying the proposition to a future election, respondent Alex Padilla, as Secretary of State of the State of California, is directed to refrain from placing Proposition 9 on the November 6, 2018, ballot.

As usual, the big media is singing the same song and reporting it wrong. At issue is Article 18 of the California Constitution, concerning “Amending and Revising the Constitution.” In 1970, this article was changed from ONLY THE CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATURE having power to place such initiatives on the ballot, to ALSO RECOGNIZING THE PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO DO SO, inserting the words, “The electors may amend the Constitution by initiative.” (See Prop. 16 on the 1970 ballot: https://bit.ly/2JMLmqX).

Therefore, it was unconstitutional for the California Supreme Court to suggest that the People’s initiative to revise (or nullify) the California Constitution (Prop. 9 on the November 2018 ballot, known as “3 Californias”) somehow lacked “validity” — especially in light of the California State Constitution’s Article 2 (REAFFIRMED IN 1976), which declares “All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their protection, security, and benefit, and they have the right to alter or reform it when the public good may require.”

What’s more, former Supreme Court Judge Marvin Baxter (one of the last constitutional ones), wrote in 1993: “Although the legislative power under our state Constitution is vested in the Legislature, ‘the people reserve to themselves the powers of initiative and referendum.’ (Cal. Const., art. IV, § 1.) Accordingly, the initiative power must be liberally construed to promote the democratic process. (Raven v. Deukmejian [(1990) 52 Cal. 3d 336,] 341 [276 [6 Cal. 4th 721] Cal.Rptr. 326, 801 P.2d 1077].)

“Indeed, it is our solemn duty to jealously guard the precious initiative power, and to resolve any reasonable doubts in favor of its exercise. (Ibid., and cases cited.) As with statutes adopted by the Legislature, all presumptions favor the validity of initiative measures and mere doubts as to validity are insufficient; such measures must be upheld unless their unconstitutionality clearly, positively, and unmistakably appears.” (https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/4th/6/707.html)

So why did the California Supreme Court go against the People? Was it to satisfy the environmental activists who had sued to protect their statewide laws burdening businesses and jobs from being “non-applicable” in three “Californias”? This ruling by the state high court’s 6 current judges is a severe miscarriage of justice.

ACTION: Please expose this tyrannical act against the People on news sites and your social networking.

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Posted in Ballot, California Constitution, California Supreme Court, Democrats, SaveAmerica.com | Comments Off on Unconstitutional State Supreme Court kills ‘3 Californias’

The good, the bad, and the ugly in California

Monday, January 15, 2018, 11:15 am | Randy Thomasson

One the best Westerns ever made was 1966’s “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.” It starred Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef.

Here in 2018, you deserve to know “the good, the bad, and the ugly” about life in California and your prospects to do good. Here’s how I see it:

THE GOOD

1. Your chance to repeal the gas tax and DMV fee hikes: There’s a pretty good chance you’ll get to vote in November to repeal the unnecessary and corrupt gas tax and DMV fee hikes with a state constitutional amendment. This one has solid language and is currently gathering signatures. If approved, it will protect your family’s money and and trump the Governor, the Legislature, and the state Supreme Court.

2. Your chance to elect a family-friendly governor (and other state and local officials — it’s an election year and that’s good!): The major candidates for California Governor are currently 4 Democrats and 3 Republicans. If you want a mostly conservative governor, you’ll have that chance if you work to help your favorite candidate get elected. But for one of the Republicans to make the November run-off, I believe it’s necessary for other 2 Republicans to step aside.

And all the other statewide offices in California are up for grabs — Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, Controller, Treasurer, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Insurance Commissioner. Add to this all 53 U.S. congressional seats in California, all 80 state Assembly seats, 20 of the 40 state Senate seats, and city and county and special district elections. What’s more, there will be statewide and local ballot measures.

Bottom line, if you want to change your government, get excited about the possibility of positive change this election year! Think lovingly, responsibly, and actively. Contact your favorite candidates to volunteer yourself and your family for half a day, at their campaign offices or in your neighborhood.

(SaveCalifornia.com provides the above information solely for educational purposes and does not support or oppose candidates for public office.)

3. This might be the year we get religious freedom for wedding-related businesses and pro-life property rights for crisis pregnancy centers:

At the United States Supreme Court is the all-important case of a Christian baker who went with his religious freedom and obeyed God by not promoting a homosexual “wedding.” The fact that at least four justices took this case means at least four affirmative votes in 2018 for the First Amendment (you won’t find homosexuality anywhere in the Constitution). The deciding vote, Anthony Kennedy, seems newly concerned about religious freedom being trampled by homosexual “marriages.” Increasing our chances for a victory is there weren’t even four votes on the high court to accept a Mississippi case from the Left arguing that homosexuality was more important than religious freedom.

And for California pro-life crisis pregnancy centers, there is real hope to see the unconstitutional AB 775 overturned. This 2015 edict of the Democrat politicians required pro-abortion signage in the lobbies of pro-life clinics. At its core, forcing pro-abortion messages at pro-life centers forces them to say what they don’t wish. It’s compelled speech, a direct violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which reads in part, “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.” A similar guarantee is mirrored in the California Constitution.

Now at the U.S. Supreme Court to be heard this Spring, I believe AB 775 has a good chance of being ruled unconstitutional; in the meantime, no crisis pregnancy clinic should post pro-abortion messages. SaveCalifornia.com was privileged to help find plaintiffs for a companion case “lobbying” the high court to take up this vital appeal.

THE BAD

1. More unnatural, tyrannical pro-transsexuality laws: If you’ve been tracking with SaveCalifornia.com over the past year, you know that the Democrat politicians in Sacramento (plus a handful of anti-family “Republicans”) imposed on you new laws that take away your religious freedom, free speech, and ownership rights. In effect today is SB 219, which forces California care facilities to do things the transsexual way, or face fines, closure, even jail time. Another anti-family law that will further confuse children is SB 179, which creates a non-existent 3rd “sex/gender” called “nonbinary.” In September 2018, California birth certificates must have this option; then, in January 2019, the DMV will begin issuing “nonbinary” licenses to anyone who requests one. These new laws defy reality, logic, and fairness, and they spit in the face of Creator God who made people either male or female.

ACTION: If you know of a church-based or religiously-organized long-term care facility, please contact SaveCalifornia.com at 916-265-5650. The tyrannical takeover of religious care homes by SB 219 deserves a First Amendment lawsuit in federal court.

2. Legal marijuana being sold commercially in California: Under California’s foolishly-approved legalization of full-blown marijuana (Proposition 64 in November 2016), commercial sales of pot to adults ages 21 or older kicked in this New Year. Of course, any 21-year-old who wants to make a buck can buy the junk and resell it at a premium to high schoolers. In Colorado, after highly-potent, mind-altering marijuana was legalized only for adults in November 2012, the rate of children using it skyrocketed.

As SaveCalifornia.com explains on our MarijuanaHarmsFamilies website, the Liberal Left wants the next generation to think it’s “normal” to “get high.” Studies show marijuana is a gateway drug to cocaine and meth. Teens and young adults are especially at risk from today’s potent, mind-altering marijuana, which can permanently damage their developing brains and young lungs. If pot is legalized, your health and auto insurance will likely cost more because increased addictions, accidents, and drug rehab will burden all Californians. “Drugged driving” will become commonplace. It will be a new “right” to get high on marijuana at work, even in transportation jobs. Marijuana legalization means cities and counties can OK selling pot in grocery stores and permit marijuana operatives to buy thousands of acres of farmland.

Now, the good news is the Trump Administration has announced it will combat the legalization of marijuana in California and a handful of other states. Federal law says the truth — that marijuana is harmful and illegal. On January 4, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered federal attorneys (there are 4 U.S. attorneys in California and Sessions is hiring more) to enforce the federal law. This hopefully will mean shutting down commercial growers and sellers of marijuana in California. For the sake of children’s minds, bodies, and souls, please join me in hoping and praying that this will indeed happen.

3. More illegals in California than ever: It’s getting downright dangerous now that California’s new “sanctuary state” law is being implemented. The Democrat politicians’ new pro-illegal-alien policy places sharp limits on how state and local law enforcement agencies can cooperate with federal immigration authorities, placing California squarely and provocatively in conflict with President Trump and his calls to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.” Get it? Illegals who are career criminals will not be turned over to the feds but will be released “to go back out into the community, and people are going to be victimized.”

What’s the big picture? The Democrats in charge of California have been using all the magnets at their disposal to attract people to illegally cross over from Mexico. Invaders get virtually all the benefits of U.S. citizenship, including California driver’s licenses and government welfare, with zero legal need to learn English. Today, there is hardly any distinction or benefit of being a citizen versus a non-citizen. Illegally crossing the border has been rewarded with money, so it’s no surprise that, in 2014, California had at least 2.35 million illegal immigrants.

If the Trump Administration comes in strong to rid California of illegal-alien criminals, that would be a very appropriate use of federal power on a matter of national security in the rogue state of California. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), under the Department of Homeland Security, needs to get busy!

THE UGLY

1. Man-made wildfires and mudslides are the result of political neglect: The 9,133 separate wildfires in California in 2017 were not caused by lighting from the sky, but caused by negligent, unloving, or evil human beings. And the Democrat politicians in control of California government are permitting it.

Governor Jerry Brown labels California’s late-season wildfires “the new normal” and is publicly blaming “climate change” for this fall’s rapid spread of wildfires, while ignoring any cause of whoever or whatever ignited the flames in the first place.

Democrat politicians in Sacramento are asleep at the wheel. There have been decades of destructive wildfires in California, but the Democrats still haven’t passed good laws, such as requiring a wide swath — a “no burn zone” — between hillside brush and the houses beneath them; buying many more helicopters and jet planes to compose a quick-response, water-dropping “air force”; or announcing big fines for evil or negligent people who set or spread wildfires.

And beyond “downed power lines” that might have caused the big Santa Rosa fire in October, the Democrat politicians have refused to call on perpetrators to be identified and punished, when dozens of fires in October, November, and December “coincidentally” happened all at once. Wind doesn’t cause fires — people do, and there are enough evil young people in California who gain false significance by lighting fires on windy days. Yet as it is, Jerry Brown and the ruling Democrats are ignoring reality and are shunning the important warning that generations have heard from Smokey the Bear: “Remember, only you can prevent forest fires.” See more in my January 10 blog.

2. California has nearly the highest rate of sexually-transmitted diseases in the nation: The latest CDC statistics from September 2017 are described and linked here: “The problem is particularly severe in California, which has the nation’s second-highest rates of congenital syphilis. In 2012, 35 babies were infected. Last year, there were 206. “The number of reported STDs in California is increasing at a concerning rate,” Dr. Karen Smith, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement Tuesday. “This is the third year in a row that we have seen increases in chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.”

This is crisis affecting California youth! All of you who know your history or your Bible know that debilitating and even fatal STDs were rare when God’s biblical values of chastity until man-woman marriage and monogamous fidelity within marriage were embraced as the cultural norm. And there was a time when homosexuality and transsexuality, which spread STDs the most, was avoided by the wide majority of people. Oh, the protection and benefits of obeying God’s commands!

ACTION: In your own family and church, please shepherd children’s hearts so that they willingly embrace sexual purity. Here’s a great resource: “Prescriptions for Parents”

3. Nationwide, most who were raised in the Church leave “faith” behind upon adulthood: Why? The government schools’ deceptive lies against God’s existence and miracles have been very successful. The major objections of young adults who abandoned their Protestant or Catholic faith are caused, in part, by the following: Unscientific “evolution” which claims there is no Creator or Sustainer; lack of belief that miracles have happened and can still happen; lack of critical thinking in the Church; no answers to hard questions about God and the Bible; lack of comprehensive bible study; lack of consistency in parents’ faith; and dissatisfaction with the “God is in control” mantra in the face of evil and tragedy.

ACTION: Prioritize teaching apologetics — WHY to believe WHAT you believe — to every family and every youth group within your church. Free videos | “I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist” | More free ideas

Korean War Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.

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Posted in Abortion, America, Ballot, California Constitution, California Governor, California Supreme Court, Children, Culture, Democrats, Drug Abuse, Election, Fighting for what's right, Good Government, Good Science, Jerry Brown, Religious Freedom, Republicans, SaveCalifornia.com, Science, Taxes, Transsexuality | Comments Off on The good, the bad, and the ugly in California

3 ways to repeal the bill ushering in a Suicide State

Thursday, October 8, 2015, 9:14 pm | Randy Thomasson

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I’ve been talking to people about what can be done to repeal the awful suicide-promotion bill that Jerry Brown has signed into law.

There are at least 3 ways to repeal ABX2-15, the dangerous and unnecessary “assisted suicide” law that is scheduled to go into effect sometime next year.

Short-term: A constitutional lawsuit would challenge the California Supreme Court to uphold the clearly written words of the California State Constitution. A just ruling would find ABX2-15 unconstitutional.

Article IV, Section 3(b) limits special session bills to the subjects listed in the governor’s proclamation convening a special session. The specific subject of this special session was Medi-Cal funding, not suicide in any way, shape, or form.

I so wish we had a constitutional republic where any citizen could sue to enforce the clear reading of the Constitution. Over the decades, that right has been significantly and unconstitutionally eroded. Therefore, the task is to find the right person or persons of “standing” that the court will recognize.

Medium-term: A ballot referendum would aim to repeal AB2X-15 by a direct vote of the People. A referendum has been filed against for the Suicide State bill. It intends a clean, clear reversal of ABX2-15 and doesn’t seem to be for organization-building, but for a noble purpose.

Here’s the Oct. 6 filing, one day after Brown signed the bill. The official proponent is psychologist Mark Hoffman of Seniors Against Suicide. However, referenda are very difficult to qualify. There’s only around 2 months to collect nearly a half million raw signatures (the 90-day clock has already started and 10-20 days will be “eaten up” before signatures can begin to be collected). And it will be a long petition that cannot be functionally printed from the web.

According to the California Secretary of State: A proponent has only 90 days from the date of the enactment of a bill (or in the case of a redistricting map, the date a final map is certified to the Secretary of State) to request and receive a circulating title and summary from the Attorney General (Elections Code § 9006(a) allows 10 days for the preparation of the circulating title and summary), print petitions, gather the required number of valid signatures, and file the petitions with the county elections officials. [Bolding added for emphasis]

To successfully qualify for the California ballot, a referendum campaign quickly needs at least a million dollars — and more likely two or three million dollars — to hire professional signature gatherers to gather more than 60,000 raw voter signatures every week for eight straight weeks. Will a multi-millionaire against suicide come forward and make it happen?

Long-term: A state constitutional amendment is the best long-term legal protection against a suicide agenda. The current law against “assisted suicide” is short. Penal Code, Section 401 reads: Every person who deliberately aids, or advises, or encourages another to commit suicide, is guilty of a felony. These brief words, along with more words that provide greater definition and close all conceivable loopholes, could be filed as a state constitutional amendment. And it could fit on one page.

This long-term strategy is superior because a state constitutional amendment is the highest legal authority in California, higher than the Governor, the Legislature, and importantly, higher than the California Supreme Court. A constitutional amendment, even with its higher signature requirement, is also easier to qualify than a referendum. Not only does a state constitutional amendment allow the proponents to raise funds and organize ahead of time, it has 180 days to collect signatures compared to around 75 days to gather signatures for a referendum.

My take: I believe the best strategy is a constitutional court challenge, and at the same time, a state constitutional amendment. For the short term, getting ABX2-15 struck down as unconstitutional not only requires the least time and money, it’s entirely appropriate and necessary. And for long-term legal protection against a suicide agenda, a constitutional amendment has much better chances than a referendum of qualifying for the ballot. And a plus of doing these at the same time is that a constitutional amendment campaign collecting signatures will positively lobby the California Supreme Court as it considers a constitutional challenge to ABX2-15.

However, if a multi-millionaire stepped up and donated $1-2 million to the referendum campaign, that could be enough to qualify it. Otherwise, don’t count on it, even if a number of local churches energetically collected signatures from their own congregations. Not many pastors got involved in the battle against ABX2-15, so I don’t expect them to eagerly gather signatures on anti-suicide petitions. It’s sad, but true.

There are even those who think it’s possible for the California Legislature to repeal it themselves. This would take unusual leadership by a handful of anti-suicide Democrat legislators, and would require even better and more sophisticated lobbying than this year’s efforts.

That’s the lay of the land as I see it. SaveCalifornia.com will support any viable, principled effort to repeal the dangerous and unnecessary “assisted suicide” law. This terrible new law must be repealed!

Margaret Dore,jpgLearn the facts of ABX2-15 from expert attorney Margaret Dore of Choice is an Illusion:

1. ABX2-15 applies to people with a “terminal disease,” which is defined as having a medical prognosis of less than six months to live. Such persons can, in fact, have years, even decades, to live. The more obvious reasons being misdiagnosis and the fact that predicting life expectancy is not an exact science. Doctors can sometimes be widely wrong.

2. In Oregon, which has a nearly identical definition of “terminal disease,” eligible persons include young adults with chronic conditions such as insulin dependent diabetes. Such persons, with appropriate medical care, can have years, even decades, to live.

3. ABX2-15 allows the patient’s heir, who will financially benefit from his/her death, to actively participate in signing the patient up for the lethal dose. This is an extreme conflict of interest.

4. Once the lethal dose is issued by the pharmacy, there is no oversight. Not even a witness is required when the lethal dose is administered. If the patient protested or even struggled against administration, who would know?

5. Assisted suicide can be traumatic for family members as well as patients.

6. If California follows Washington State, the death certificate is required to be falsified to reflect a natural death. The significance is a lack of transparency and an inability to prosecute for murder even in a case of outright murder for the money.

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Posted in Assisted Suicide, California Legislation, California Supreme Court, Fighting for what's right | Comments Off on 3 ways to repeal the bill ushering in a Suicide State

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