To: CVF-NEWS
From: Kim Alexander
Date: Tuesday, January 6, 1998
Subject: Prop. 208 decision online!

Hi Folks,

After some web surfing and with a lead from one Coby King (thanks, Coby!), I was able to locate a url for Judge Karlton's Prop. 208 decision.

You can find the full text of the opinion at: http://www.caed.uscourts.gov/208op.htm

Also online is the court's "findings of fact" which detail some 450+ facts relating to the 208 case, based on testimony delivered in court. The findings of fact document is available at: http://www.caed.uscourts.gov/208fin.htm

Below is the first paragraph of Karlton's opinion. I'm sure the entire document will be an interesting read to anyone interested in campaign finance reform.

-- Kim Alexander, Executive Director, California Voter Foundation
kimalex@netcom.com
916-325-2120

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

CALIFORNIA PROLIFE COUNCIL
POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE,
NO. CIV. S-96-1965 LKK/DAD
Plaintiff,

v.

JAN SCULLY, et al., OPINION(1)

Defendants and
Defendants in TO BE PUBLISHED
Intervention. AND CONSOLIDATED ACTION

A healthy scepticism on the part of the governed concerning those who govern is as much a mark of a vibrant democracy as a paranoid suspicion is a symptom of its decline. Whether California's voters entertain the former or suffer the latter is of some moment in the matter at bar. After a two-week trial the issue remains one upon which reasonable minds might disagree.(2) That some elected officials have subordinated the duties of their office to their personal greed and ambition is hardly news or new. It is also true, however, that many seek office to advance their political convictions, and if elected, discharge the duties of their office pursuant to their view of the public good, as that view is informed by their ideology.(3) This case tests whether the evident disaffection from the prior political regimen of campaign financing exhibited by California's voters in adopting Proposition 208 is premised upon a proper concern or rests upon an exaggerated view, and whether in either event, the various provisions of the initiative abridge those constitutional rights which are central to preservation of the democratic process.(4)

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this page authored by Kim Alexander,
kimalex@netcom.com

first published 1/6/98

last updated 1/13/98

© 1998, California Voter Foundation