Capital Center Report - May 2000
Institute Honors Presley
On May 18 at McGeorge, the Institute for Legislative Practice
will confer its Distinguished Service in Government Award
upon Robert Presley, Secretary of the California Youth and
Adult Correctional Agency.
AWe are honoring Robert Presley with our annual award during
the fifth anniversary of the Governmental Affairs Program
at McGeorge,@ said Professor Clark Kelso, director of the
program. AHe sets an example for everyone who is interested
in good government, especially those of our Governmental Affairs
students who seek careers in public service.@
As Secretary of the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, Robert
Presley serves as Chair of the Board of Corrections. Before
he was appointed Secretary, Mr. Presley was chairman of the
California Youthful Offender Parole Board. He served in the
California State Senate for 20 years and was with the Riverside
County Sheriff's Department for 24 years.
The Distinguished Service in Government award is presented
to an outstanding individual whose sustained commitment to
leadership and public service is an inspiration to others
who aspire to public and community service. Presentation of
the award provides an opportunity for the community to celebrate
the dignity and value of public service. The previous recipient
of the award was Justice Frank K. Richardson.
The Governmental Affairs Program is a unique law school curriculum
that offers students a certificate for completing a specialized
course of study in addition to the traditional law school
curriculum at McGeorge. The program offers courses and professional
experience in government law and policy. Students who receive
Governmental Affairs Certificates this May comprise the fifth
graduating class of the Governmental Affairs Program.
Institute for Legislative Practice Publications
on the Web
The Institute for Legislative Practice now posts its publications
on the McGeorge website. Newsletters can be accessed at www.mcgeorge.edu/11225.htm.
Other publications can be found at www.mcgeorge.edu/ilp main.htm.
Publications currently found on the website include materials
on health care liability, papers prepared for the California
Law Revision Commission, and materials on judicial elections
and the selection of judges. In the next several months, the
Institute will put all of its past publications on the web
to complete its electronic library of materials.
Complex Litigation Report Available
The "Complex Litigation Manual," drafted primarily
by Professor Clark Kelso and approved by the California Judicial
Council for distribution to all California trial judges, now
is available to practitioners from publisher Matthew Bender.
The manual provides guidance for improving the way complex
cases are managed by California state trial courts and explains
the new rules of court applicable to complex cases (Rules
1800-1830). The publisher's order line is 1-(800)-533-1637.
Professor Kelso joined Justice Richard Aldrich and Judge Harvey
Schneider at a recent meeting of the Los Angeles chapter of
the Association of Business Trial Lawyers to discuss the new
rules and to answer questions. The session, held at the Biltmore
Hotel, was attended by almost 500 attorneys and judges.
Conference on Health Care Dispute Resolution
Planned
The Institute for Legislative Practice is planning to host
a conference on dispute resolution in the health care industry
this summer. Topics being explored for discussion include
internal and external review systems, medical malpractice
reform, arbitration of health care disputes, and a roundtable
discussion by policymakers and others involved in the public
policy debate about health care dispute resolution. The Institute
will notify potential attendees by mail when plans are firm.
California Initiative Seminar Class Offered
The California Initiative Review (CIR) has been so successful
that, beginning this summer, a course will be offered so that
students now will receive credit for writing and editing the
publication under faculty supervision. CIR has been published
during the last two election cycles, in November 1998 and
March 2000, as a public service by student volunteers.
CIR is a nonpartisan legal review of propositions that appear
on the ballot. It is published on the law school=s website
at
www.mcgeorge.edu/cir/cir homepage.htm.
The individual review of each measure includes a description
of the initiative, the current state of the law and changes
in the law that the initiative would make. The writers analyze
the language of each initiative, to determine whether any
legal issues arise from the way the measure is drafted. The
students also assess any constitutional challenges that each
initiative, if approved, may face in the courts. Writers also
discuss policy questions.
CIR includes a direct link to the California Secretary of
State=s website so that readers have easy access to the text
of each initiative and to other information in the official
Voter Information Guide.
The new California Initiative Seminar course will have a classroom
component that includes a detailed examination of the initiative
and referendum process and of the research tools and writing
techniques for preparing the CIR. The clinical component of
the class requires each student to write an objective analysis
of one of more initiatives. The course will be taught by Deborah
Kiley, director of operations of the Institute for Legislative
Practice.
Institute Addresses UOP Regents
The Board of Regents of the University of the Pacific met
at McGeorge in April. Clark Kelso presented an update on the
Institute for Legislative Practice's ongoing programs in a
lunchtime address. Debbie Kiley spoke about the California
Initiative Review.
McClintock Introduces Technology Integration
Bill
Assemblyman Tom McClintock, R-Granada Hills, has introduced
legislation to establish the Integrated Justice Information
System Task Force which would create a plan to maximize the
use of information and communications technologies in transactions
among federal, state and local justice system agencies. Assemblyman
McClintock said “Criminal justice must enter the information
age by incorporating technology as a tool to make the system
run efficiently and effectively.” The bill, AB 2124,
is the product of the Institute’s multi-year effort to
promote the development of paperless justice systems.
Grand Jury Reform Project Gets Rolling
The Institute has undertaken a review of the statutes governing
the selection and operation of grand juries in California.
Several students in the California Law Revision Seminar, Megan
Barker, Scott Baxter, Margaret Figeroid, and David Livingston,
have prepared a set of background materials on a wide range
of issues, including diversity of grand jury membership, compensation,
tenure, right to counsel, staff and legal support, and training.
Over the summer, the Institute will be holding a series of
roundtable meetings to discuss grand jury issues, and a final
report will be prepared this fall under the direction of Professor
Michael Vitiello. Anyone interested in attending the roundtable
sessions should contact the Institute at (916) 739-7104.
Task Force on Trial Court Employees
Late last year, Professor Clark Kelso was asked to draft legislation
to implement the recommendations contained in the Final Report
of the Task Force on Trial Court Employees. The Task Force
was statutorily created by the Lockyer-Isenberg Trial Court
Funding Act of 1997 to make recommendations to the State Legislature
for the establishment of a personnel system for trial court
employees in California. The recommendations encompass the
full range of personnel issues, including employee classification,
hiring and promotion, compensation, benefits, labor relations,
and employee protection systems.
Professor Kelso presented his draft work at several meetings
of the Task Force. David Gonzalez, Lee Neves and Tony Smith
assisted in the preparation of the draft as part of their
work in the California Law Revision Seminar. In March, the
drafts were turned over to Senator John Burton's office. Senator
Burton is author of the bill that carries the legislation,
S.B. 2140. Final negotiations between the courts, the counties
and several state employee unions are underway. When those
negotiations have concluded, the final draft will be amended
into the bill.
A Fish Story
Acting on a recommendation by McGeorge Governmental Affairs
Certificate graduate Joel Yang (Class of 1999), Tony Smith
(Class of 2000) and Professor Clark Kelso, the California
Senate in April passed a bill to scale back the Fish and Game
Code by gutting an obsolete and unenforced provision.
Section 2357 of the Fish and Game Code makes it a crime to
carry legally-caught trout into an area where the trout season
is closed, unless an affidavit attesting to the legality of
the transported trout is made before a notary public. "It's
absurd to keep fishy laws like this on the books and not enforce
them," said State Senator Wm. J. "Pete" Knight,
R-Palmdale, author of the repeal measure. "This law should
be tossed back right away."
S.B. 1487 would repeal Section 2357. The Senate floor analysis
of the bill noted that the law was enacted in 1957 "to
help wardens determine whether trout were lawfully taken."
However, the Department of Fish and Game has not reeled in
any violators under the provision and supports its repeal.
"[The law] criminalizes activity in a manner not to be
expected by a reasonable person," the analysis states.
The Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee reported,
"similar affidavit requirements do not apply to other
game fish, such as black bass and spotted bass." Repeal
of the law was sponsored by the California Law Revision Commission,
acting upon a report by Joel Yang and Professor Kelso entitled
"Transportation of Trout into Closed Areas." Readers
can hook up to the Internet to read the report on the McGeorge
website at www.mcgeorge.edu/law revision trout.htm. The repeal
measure netted support from the National Notary Association.
The law requires the person with the trout to carry a notarized
affidavit attesting to the trout's legality and also to leave
a copy on file with the notary. In a letter explaining its
support, the Notary Association noted that it was inappropriate
to require a notary to serve as a depository of documents.
"S.B. 1487 looks like a keeper," Professor Kelso
observed. The repeal measure glided through the Senate without
a ripple. After a 37 to 0 Senate vote, the bill angled its
way to the Assembly, where action is pending.
Fin
Newsletter published by
Capital Center for Government Law and Policy
University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law
3200 Fifth Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95817
Telephone (916) 739-7104
J. Clark Kelso, Editor-in-Chief
Ryan Marcroft, Articles Editor
Priscilla Dodson, Production