The Bush Presidency is almost over. In November the President announced the pardons of several people that included embezzlers, drug dealers, liars and the like.

There is an injustice that President Bush still has a few days to correct. Read my lips: Pardon Pat Nolan.

Most people know Pat Nolan now as the president of Justice Fellowship and his work for prison reform.

I met him over two decades ago as he served as State GOP Assembly Minority Leader Pat Nolan. Pat Nolan was an Assemblyman from the Glendale area.

But he was more than that. Nolan was the conservative movement in California. He was the one that helped organize conservatives in attempt to capture Democratic seats and preserve Republican ones. He found and developed leaders. He led fights in internal battles with GOP “old guard” types that stood in the way. Nolan also took care of his constituents.

That came to a screeching halt when he plead guilty in a FBI sting, one year before the Republicans took control of the State Assembly. One can only… Read More

It’s the first week of the 111th Congress and it’s a little like the first week back at school in September. "So what did you do over the holidays?" is the standard greeting as "What did you do over the summer?" was in high school. There are the new kids (freshman Congressman numbering over 50), the missing kids that graduated (retired or elected to something else), and you also notice the absence of kids that were expelled (lost reelections). So, we all get sworn into office for another term, reacquaint with one another, introduce ourselves to the freshman who we don’t recognize, and note Congresswomen with new hairstyles and Congressmen with changes in facial hair. I have added to that number by growing a beard in the off-season.

Then it’s back to work, and given a terrible economy and a fragile international climate, there is plenty of work to do.… Read More

Yesterday’s Flash Report highlighted an excellent Golden Pen selection from George Will regarding the judiciary’s meddling in Proposition 8. Among his many keen observations, Will made the following comment about states’ use of the initiative process:

“Passing laws by referenda is an imprudent departure from the core principle of republican government – representation: The people do not decide issues, they decide who shall decide. But the right of Californians to make laws through the direct democracy of referenda is as firmly established as it is promiscuously exercised.”

Although Will doesn’t seem to agree with the initiative process—based on republican principles—he concedes its use has passed constitutional muster. Will’s position recalled to my mind an experience I had last year when I was helping collect signatures for the marriage constitutional amendment. One man I talked to said that although he agreed with the amendment’s definition of marriage, he would not sign the petition because he believed, as George Will argues, the initiative process violates the… Read More

Liberal election lawyers are calling "bold and dangerous" and a "potential blockbuster" a brief filed by former Solicitor General Ted Olson on behalf of Citizens United in a Federal election case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. Citizens United produced a critical film about Hillary Clinton during the presidential election, and marketed it as a commerical venture a la Michael Moore. Regulators didn’t like the idea and Citizens United couldn’t get a court to agree with them that their film should not be subject to Federal Election Commission regulation, such as the ban on corporate funding in any federal election. Now the issue of whether such an activity is an illegal "corporate" expenditure in a Federal election is one of several issues to be decided by the nation’s highest court.

The liberal pro-regulation lawyers are concerned that the Citizens United case might be a basis for the Roberts Court, which has proven itself to be deregulatory-oriented inFirst Amendment/election law cases, to overturn the case of Austin v.… Read More

Holy mackerel. Former OC Sheriff Mike Carona beat the rap — or almost all of it.

The jury acquitted him of all charges but one: witness tampering. It’s interesting that he escaped conviction on the underlying corruption charges — which was the public focus — but not the charge of trying to influence witness Don Haidl. The latter struck me as one of the weaker counts, and I’ll wager he beats that on appeal.

This is obviously good news for Debbie Carona. It’ll be tough for federal prosecutors to convict her of being part of a conspiracy of which her husband was acquitted.

This is a legal exoneration of Mike Carona, not a moral one. The legality of his conduct notwithstanding, he clearly disgraced the office, manipulated and lied to family and friends, and lived a double life. None of that is illegal, but it is real nonetheless.

Amazing.

There’s an open thread on the topic over at OC Blog, if you want to… Read More

The Bush Presidency is almost over. In November the President announced the pardons of several people that included embezzlers, drug dealers, liars and the like.

There is an injustice that President Bush still has a few days to correct. Read my lips: Pardon Pat Nolan.

Most people know Pat Nolan now as the president of Justice Fellowship and his work for prison reform.

I met him over two decades ago as he served as State GOP Assembly Minority Leader Pat Nolan. Pat Nolan was an Assemblyman from the Glendale area.

But he was more than that. Nolan was the conservative movement in California. He was the one that helped organize conservatives in attempt to capture Democratic seats and preserve Republican ones. He found and developed leaders. He led fights in internal battles with GOP “old guard” types that stood in the way. Nolan also took care of his constituents.

That came to a screeching halt when he plead guilty in a FBI sting, one year before the Republicans took control of the State Assembly. One can only… Read More

This week, readers of the Sacramento Bee are being “treated” to a series of editorials where, on a day by day basis, the editorial board fixes its sights on yet another “interest group” that is playing a role in the politics surrounding the state budget crisis. Their format seems to be similar – brief praise for their target, acknowledging a legitimate role for that group, and then blasting away at the group in question. I would summarize it this way – the members of the Bee editorial board clearly feel that the solution to the overspending crisis is some sort of mega-compromise where some of the increases in spending of the last few years are cut, and (I know you will be shocked) they want taxes to go up on Californians. So they have decided to heap criticism on anyone and everyone, right or left, who opposes this scheme. The Bee Editorial Board started off by blasting “the business community” and the Chamber of Commerce most specifically for their “narrow interest” (the state’s business climate?) and their failure to adequately help the Governor to… Read More

This week, readers of the Sacramento Bee are being “treated” to a series of editorials where, on a day by day basis, the editorial board fixes its sights on yet another “interest group” that is playing a role in the politics surrounding the state budget crisis. Their format seems to be similar – brief praise for their target, acknowledging a legitimate role for that group, and then blasting away at the group in question. I would summarize it this way – the members of the Bee editorial board clearly feel that the solution to the overspending crisis is some sort of mega-compromise where some of the increases in spending of the last few years are cut, and (I know you will be shocked) they want taxes to go up on Californians. So they have decided to heap criticism on anyone and everyone, right or left, who opposes this scheme. The Bee Editorial Board started off by blasting “the business community” and the Chamber of Commerce most specifically for their “narrow interest” (the state’s business climate?) and their failure to adequately help the Governor to… Read More