• Capital Clemency Report
• Bioterrorism and National Security
• California Law Revision Commission Submissions
• Grand Jury Reform Project
• Integrated Information Technologies Project
• Materials on Judicial Elections
• Materials on Judicial Involvement in Legislative Processes
• Reports and Studies
• • Government Agency Resource Center
  • Amendments to California Cemetery Law: Technical Corrections and Alienability of Family Plots
  • Jury Verdicts in Insurance Bad Faith Cases
  • California Law Revision Commission Submission
  • California Law Revision Commission Submission
  • California Law Revision Commission Submission
  • Policy Forum - A Retrospective on Election 2000
  • Grand Jury Reform Message from Senator Ackerman's Office
  • Presents a Conference on Leadership Issues in Criminal Justice Policy
  • Constitutional Problems with California's Specialty License Plate Program
  • Jury Verdicts in Medical Malpractice Cases and the MICRA Cap
  • Materials on Judicial Elections
  • Merit Selection of California Judges
  • Materials on Judicial Elections
  • Capital Center Report - April 2001
  • Capital Center Report - April 2002 (Vol. 7, No.2)
  • Capital Center Report - August 2000
  • Capital Center Report - January 2002 (Vol. 7, No.1)
  • Capital Center Report - July 2002 (Vol. 7, No.3)
  • Capital Center Report - May 2000
  • Capital Center Report - October 2001
  • Capital Center Report - October 2000
  • Policy Forum -Our War on Terrorism and The Rule of Law
  • Speech - ERISA Health Plan Liability: Examining Models for Reform
  • Speech - Reflections on Insurance Regulation
  • California Whistleblower Protection Act Amendments

Capital Center Report - October 2000

New Name: Capital Center for
Government Law and Policy
For five years, you’ve known us as the Institute for Legislative Practice. Today, we are announcing a new name, the Capital Center for Government Law and Policy. The new name better reflects the steady expansion of our activities over the last five years to encompass all branches and levels of government. “We have grown over time,” said Clark Kelso, “and the Institute for Legislative Practice has undertaken projects related to the executive and judicial branches as well as the legislative branch. The new name does a better job of communicating the breadth of our programs.” Clark Kelso is director of the Capital Center, which now includes these subdivisions:
. Governmental Affairs Program (educational programs)
. Institute for Legislative Practice (legislative programs)
. Judicial Administration Bureau (judicial branch programs)
. Government Agency Resource Center (executive branch and
local agency programs).
The Center’s telephone number remains the same (916) 739-7104, and the office continues to be located on the second floor of the Muddox Building on the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law’s campus in Sacramento.

Graduate Program Gets Faculty Nodovernment Law and Policy
In October, the UOP McGeorge faculty approved a proposed Master of Laws program in Government and Public Policy. The American Bar Association will now conduct a brief review to decide whether to “acquiesce” in creation of this new program. Given the strength of the school, we have no doubt that the ABA will acquiesce, and the program will be established beginning next fall.

The cornerstone of the program will be a number of full-time Graduate Legal Scholar internship positions with various state agencies. We already have negotiated contracts with the Department of Justice and the Public Utilities Commission, and we will be securing additional positions over the course of the next several months. We’ll provide more details about the program in our next newsletter, so stay tuned!

California Initiative Review On Web
The California Initiative Review (CIR) was posted on the McGeorge web site in October. CIR is a comprehensive, nonpartisan analysis of statewide measures on California's November 7 ballot. CIR also contains independent studies of the impact of past initiatives that were adopted in California and in-depth reports on issues of current and ongoing interest to Californians, such as internet voting and reapportionment. CIR is written by law students in the California Initiative Seminar course and edited by a board of editors under faculty supervision. The course was created in the wake of the success of earlier editions of CIR, published in November 1998 and March 2000 by McGeorge law student volunteers. Access to CIR is through UOP McGeorge’s Home Page at www.mcgeorge.edu.

The 2000-2001 Editorial Board includes Editor-in-Chief Lisa Wright 3D, Chief Articles Editor Marcy Lechner 4E, Chief Past Initiatives Editor Monica Williamson 3D, Managing Editor Kerry Ruzicka 3E, and Associate Editor Jason M. Ackerman 3D. Writers include Jason M. Ackerman 3D, Harllee Branch 3D, Louis A. Brown, Jr. 4E, Andre M. Chernay 3D, David Gonzalez 4E, Marcy Lechner 4E, Mark Leonard 4E, Lisa Rettig Ryan 4E,
Adam S. Towers 3D, and Monica Williamson 3D.

Kiley Goes to Pacific Legal Foundation
Deborah Graham Kiley, director of operations for the Capital Center for Government Law and Policy, will leave UOP McGeorge early in November to serve as an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm headquartered in Sacramento.

At UOP McGeorge, in addition to her duties as director of operations at the Capital Center, Kiley taught the California Initiative Seminar course, co-taught the evening section of Appellate Advocacy, and served as the faculty advisor to the California Initiative Review Editorial Board. She also was assistant director of the Appellate Advocacy program.

“I’m grateful for Debbie’s fine stewardship of the Center during my tenure as Acting Insurance Commissioner and for her outstanding contributions to the growth of our programs this last year,” said Director Clark Kelso. “McGeorge will miss her excellent work.”

Law Revision Commission Issues Recommendation
The California Law Revision Commission has issued a tentative recommendation to repeal statutes referring to expired pilot projects. The recommendation is the result of a report written by Professor Clark Kelso and Tamika Spirling (Class of 2000), with assistance from Erin Koch (Class of 1999). Statutes that authorize pilot projects usually contain a termination date but often fail to contain a provision that automatically repeals the statutory language when the project terminates. Consequently, the California codes contain many obsolete provisions for pilot projects that terminated long ago. The tentative recommendation is published so interested persons can make their views on the subject known. Following public comment, the Commission will make its final recommendation to the State Legislature.

Governor Signs Court Employees Bill
On September 30, Governor Gray Davis signed into law S.B. 2140 to establish a new, statewide personnel system for trial court employees. The Trial Court Employment Protection and Governance Act is the legislative implementation of recommendations contained in the Final Report of the Task Force on Trial Court Employees. Professor Clark Kelso was retained by the Task Force to serve as primary drafter for the legislation, and he was assisted in his work by David Gonzalez (Class of 2001), Lee Neves (Class of 2000), and Tony Smith (Class of 2000). President pro Tempore John Burton, D-San Francisco, is the author of the legislation. The bill passed both the Senate and the Assembly by unanimous votes. S.B.2140 is the second bill drafted primarily by Professor Kelso and students at UOP McGeorge to become law this year.

McGeorge Professor’s Firm Wins U.S. Supreme Court Case
Last April, Professor Lance Olson’s law firm, Olson, Hagel, Leidigh, Waters & Fishburn, appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in California Democratic Party v. Jones. Professor Olson’s firm represented the Democratic, Libertarian and Peace and Freedom parties which challenged California’s Open Primary law. The law was adopted as Proposition 198 in 1996. George Waters from Professor Olson’s firm argued the case against the proposition. The Supreme Court agreed and struck down Proposition 198 as an unconstitutional burden on First Amendment rights of association. In one of the Institute’s early reports published in 1996 before the initiative had been approved by the voters, Professor Kelso had forecast that “Proposition 198 is probably an unconstitutional burden upon the rights of political parties and their members to associate, a right protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.” Clark Kelso, A Legal Assessment of Proposition 198 (Open Primary) (Institute for Legislative Practice 1996). Congratulations to Lance and George.

Draft Report Completed
on Grand Jury Project
The Capital Center soon will issue a draft report on its study of potential reform of the grand jury system in California. The project was directed by Professor Michael Vitiello, with the help of research assistants Amelia Burroughs 2D, Cristina Johnson 2D, and Michael Soejoto 2D (now a student at Boalt Hall). As part of the research, the Capital Center invited attendees from District Attorneys offices, defense attorneys, county grand juries, and public interest groups for two days of discussions with Professors Clark Kelso and Michael Vitiello on the merits of the grand jury system. The draft report will be distributed for comment to participants and others concerned with the project. After receiving comments on the draft, the Capital Center will issue the final report that will include draft legislation.

Whistleblower Recommendations
During his tenure as California’s Acting Insurance Commissioner, Clark Kelso had the opportunity to study California’s whistleblower statutes in great detail. Kelso has now issued a brief report with some recommendations for clarifying and strengthening those statutes. The report and draft legislation address four major problems with the existing statutes: (1) There are at least three overlapping and somewhat conflicting sets of statutes that regulate disclosures to the Legislature and State Auditor, and that restrict the power of a state agency or employee to retaliate against someone who makes such a disclosure; (2) The primary whistleblower statutes do not clearly set forth a right to make a protected disclosure; (3) One of the whistleblower statutes does not clearly indicate to whom a protected disclosure is supposed to be made; and (4) None of the whistleblower statutes unambiguously cover situations involving the disclosure of information that is privileged, confidential or a trade secret. The report is available on UOP McGeorge’s website at http://www.mcgeorge.edu.

GASA Elects Officers, Meets with Kelso
The McGeorge Governmental Affairs Student Association has elected its board members for the 2000-2001 academic year. They are: President Larenda Burke 2E, Administrator Karen Hester 1E, Communications Officer Joshua Golka 1E, Speaker Coordinator Mike McDermott 1D, Job Fair Coordinator Lyn Amor Macaraeg 1E, Community Service Coordinator Dean Okimoto 1D, and Alumni Coordinator Michele Dias 2D.

On October 16, Professor Clark Kelso spoke to the members of the Governmental Affairs Student Association about his experience as Interim Insurance Commissioner for California. Professor Kelso addressed a number of topics, including the need for more formal procedures at the Department of Insurance, the Department’s relationship with the Attorney General’s Office, the Conservation and Liquidation Office, and his views on whether the Insurance Commissioner should be an appointed position.

Administrative Law Professor Acting as Mediator
Professor Gregory Weber is working as a mediator with the Center for Collaborative Policy, a joint project of California State University Sacramento and UOP McGeorge School of Law. His current project is assisting the start up of the Sacramento Community Collaborative for Transportation and Air Quality, a 50 stakeholder interest based negotiation sponsored by 9 public agencies in Sacramento County. Professor Weber teaches Administrative Law, one of the required courses in the governmental affairs curriculum.

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