My client Assemblyman Bill Emmerson will stay on the ballot for the April 13th special election for the vacant Republican-dominated 37 th State Senate special election, according to a bench ruling by Superior Court Judge Kenneth Andreen, issued about an hour ago in Riverside. The judge announced his ruling after a full blown Perry Mason-style trial that included testimony from a Private Eye that Emmerson opponent and Corona Councilman Steve Nolan, the unsuccessful petitioner, had hired to snoop on where Emmerson sleeps at night. I must admit, I thought the case was getting a little out of hand, but the judge delivered a resounding ruling in Emmerson’s favor and I’m pleased to chalk this one up as yet another Lacy legal masterpiece.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:00 am
How about deleting the special provision in the election code that allows sitting legislators to run for office in another district?
How can anyone justify that this is right?
No legislator should get preferential treatment!
Heck, even I can’t do that as a GOP Central Committee Member in Los Angeles County. If I move out of my Assembly District, I lose my seat!
March 10th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Congratulations on ANOTHER memorable courtroom victory, Jim.
Your “Perry Mason” reference is especially valid since his creator,
Erle Stanley Gardner, was a real-life successful civil and criminal attorney in Ventura county for many years before he became an author. Gardner later moved to a ranch near Temecula. His memory is honored there by
a junior high school named in his honor.
I’m sure Perry, Della Stret and Paul Drake were cheering you on yesterday!
March 11th, 2010 at 12:00 am
I live in the 37th Senate District and am very upset that a law exists that allows sitting legislators that live in another senate district to run where they don’t live. A sitting legislator can run for any office anywhere in California without proof of residence. I don’t want carpetbaggers like Emmerson representing me in the senate. Wouldn’t you be mad if it was happening in your district? Well it can. Change the law, so it can’t.
Bob Richmond
Past Chairman Riverside Republican Party
March 11th, 2010 at 12:00 am
The judge found two grounds that justify the residency. One ground was the facts: he specifically found that the facts support that Bill Emmerson’s residence is in Hemet. He did that after a full-blown evidentiary trial. The second ground was the special law, which basically made the decision bullet-proff from an appeal.