<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>Does Occupy SJ have anything planned for Sept 17th? I looked on all of their available web pages and I didn't see anything except the Sept 15th foreclosure summit. I suppose I will wander down to City Hall anyway sometime tomorrow to hold up my signs about derivatives and free education.</DIV>
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<DIV>John Thielking<BR><BR>--- On <B>Sun, 9/16/12, Spencer Graves <I><spencer.graves@prodsyse.com></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><BR>From: Spencer Graves <spencer.graves@prodsyse.com><BR>Subject: [GPSCC-chat] Hearing re. a court challenge in SF on Monday morning, September 17<BR>To: "Gerry Gras" <gerrygras@earthlink.net><BR>Cc: "GPSCC" <sosfbay-discuss@cagreens.org><BR>Date: Sunday, September 16, 2012, 11:23 AM<BR><BR>
<DIV class=plainMail>Hi, Gerry, et al.:<BR><BR><BR> I forwarded Gerry's email to the Occupy San José list. Dave Kadlecek <BR>replied that at most two of the plaintiffs hit with this quarter-million <BR>dollar judgment were Greens and gave links to more info. I modified the <BR>Wikipedia article on that, and I'm taking a proposal on it to the Occupy <BR>San José General assembly at noon today.<BR><BR><BR> Below please see Dave's comments and my reply.<BR><BR><BR> Spencer<BR><BR><BR>##############################<BR><BR><BR>Hi, Dave, et al.:<BR><BR><BR> Thanks for the corrections AND the links to further information. <BR> Using the links, I updated the Wikipedia article on "California <BR>Proposition 14 (2010)" to summarize the information in those two links. <BR> If you have time to review that article and see other changes
that you <BR>feel should be made, please let me know. (Note, however, that Wikipedia <BR>requires "a neutral point of view" and solid sources for what is stated <BR>there.)<BR><BR><BR> Next: Revise my proposal for today's General Assembly, print, <BR>and take them there by noon.<BR><BR><BR> Best Wishes,<BR> Spencer<BR><BR><BR>On 9/16/2012 9:09 AM, Dave Kadlecek wrote:<BR>> Spencer and all,<BR>><BR>> I also urge those of you who can make it to the court hearing in San<BR>> Francisco tomorrow to go, but I have a correction to Spencer's email and<BR>> a bit of elaboration.<BR>><BR>> The lawsuit (Field v. Bowen) wasn't by "6 Green Party activists", but by<BR>> six people, at least four of whom are not Greens (Richard Winger, the<BR>> publisher of Ballot Access News, is a Libertarian; Steve Chessin, the<BR>> chair of Californians
for Electoral Reform, is a Democrat; and Rodney<BR>> Martin (Reform Party) and Jeff Mackler (Socialist Action) are with<BR>> non-ballot qualified parties).<BR>><BR>> As you may remember, Prop 14 brought about the "top two" primary system,<BR>> first implemented state-wide this year, which is why there will be only<BR>> two candidates on the ballot (and no write-in space) in every race for<BR>> U.S. Congress (both House and Senate) and the state legislature (both<BR>> State Senate and Assembly) this November. If you don't like Dianne<BR>> Feinstein and don't want to vote for her Republican opponent, your only<BR>> choice this November will be to abstain; you can't vote for a third<BR>> party candidate, because none will be on the ballot, and you can't even<BR>> write in "Mickey Mouse" because there won't be a write-in space for U.S.<BR>> Senate.<BR>><BR>> The lawsuit directly challenged two specific aspects of
SB 6, the bill<BR>> that implemented Prop 14 (which was a constitutional amendment): one<BR>> that said candidates from non-ballot qualified parties couldn't have<BR>> their party listed on the ballot, and another that said write-in votes<BR>> could not be counted in general elections. The judge ruled against the<BR>> plaintiffs in lower court, and the legislature changed the relevant law<BR>> (basically to put into the state Elections Code the interpretations of<BR>> ambiguous language the Secretary of State had made) while appeals were<BR>> in process.<BR>><BR>> There were two sets of lawyers on the other side in the case, one from<BR>> the Attorney General's office, representing the Secretary of State (the<BR>> defendant), and the other from the Nielsen Merksamer law firm<BR>> representing Abel Maldonado (who got it on the ballot by extorting the<BR>> Democrats in the legislature for his vote on the 2009
budget deal) and<BR>> the other sponsors of Prop 14. For those who aren't otherwise aware, the<BR>> Nielsen Merksamer law firm is based in San Rafael, with a major part of<BR>> their practice representing landlords challenging local rent control<BR>> laws and other tenant protections; they used to represent the state<BR>> Republican Party when that party's apparatus was controlled primarily by<BR>> business interests, but when the social conservative types (i.e., the<BR>> ones who really are vehemently anti-gay, anti-choice and anti-immigrant,<BR>> as opposed to just using those issues to win votes) took over the party<BR>> organization, they switched law firms. It's the Nielsen Merksamer<BR>> lawyers who were awarded a quarter million dollars. They didn't trust<BR>> the state's lawyers to properly defend the ballot measure they backed,<BR>> but instead of going after the state for attorney's fees, they went<BR>>
after the plaintiffs who had sued the state.<BR>><BR>> For more information, see<BR>> "<A href="http://www.ballot-access.org/2012/09/15/some-supporters-of-top-two-open-primary-take-punitive-action-to-crush-opponents-with-crippling-legal-fees/" target=_blank>http://www.ballot-access.org/2012/09/15/some-supporters-of-top-two-open-primary-take-punitive-action-to-crush-opponents-with-crippling-legal-fees/</A>"<BR>><BR>> and "<A href="http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38148" target=_blank>http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38148</A>".<BR>><BR>> /Dave Kadlecek<BR>><BR>><BR>> Spencer Graves wrote:<BR>><BR>>> Hello, All:<BR>>><BR>>> The Green party is asking for support against an outrageous<BR>>> judgment in court in San Francisco at Larkin and McAllister next<BR>>> Monday at 10:45 AM for an 11 AM hearing. The 6 Green Party activists<BR>>> who challenged Prop 14
(the top two primary system) have been ordered<BR>>> to pay $243,500 to the attorneys representing the top two system.<BR>>> Prop 14 effectively eliminates third parties from the general<BR>>> election, except in rare cases where a third party candidate actually<BR>>> gets in the top two. Other states that have this have seen a decline<BR>>> in membership of third parties.<BR>>><BR>>> This punitive settlement may not stop here, because the same<BR>>> judge who assessed this punitive settlement will also hear the<BR>>> request request for reconsideration, even though normal court<BR>>> procedures require a different judge. Moreover, this hearing was<BR>>> moved up from October to tomorrow, Monday, September 17. The<BR>>> attorney challenging this decision is concerned that he may be levied<BR>>> a similar punitive judgment for
daring to challenge the $243,500<BR>>> settlement. For more details, see below.<BR>>><BR>>> I believe this is an attack on democracy. If you agree and can<BR>>> make it to court in San Francisco next Monday, I encourage you to do so.<BR>>><BR>>> Thanks,<BR>>> Spencer<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>> -------- Original Message --------<BR>>> Subject: Re: [GPSCC-chat] Fwd: [gpca-forum] Need Bay Area Greens<BR>>> help in SF on Monday morning, September 17<BR>>> Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2012 23:09:55 -0700<BR>>> From: Gerry Gras <<A href="http://us.mc1111.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=gerrygras@earthlink.net" ymailto="mailto:gerrygras@earthlink.net">gerrygras@earthlink.net</A>><BR>>> To:
GPSCC <<A href="http://us.mc1111.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sosfbay-discuss@cagreens.org" ymailto="mailto:sosfbay-discuss@cagreens.org">sosfbay-discuss@cagreens.org</A>><BR>>><BR>>><BR>>><BR>>> I am planning on going to court Monday.<BR>>><BR>>> Gerry<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>> Gerry Gras wrote:<BR>>>><BR>>>> I think this is pretty serious. I hope Richard<BR>>>> Winger (Ballot Access News) and the other 5 get<BR>>>> plenty of help.<BR>>>><BR>>>> For those who don't remember, Prop 14 is the one<BR>>>> that gave us the top two primary system.<BR>>>><BR>>>> Gerry<BR>>>><BR>>>><BR>>>> -------- Original Message --------<BR>>>> Subject: [gpca-forum] Need Bay Area Greens help in SF on Monday<BR>>>> morning,<BR>>>> September 17<BR>>>> Date:
Fri, 14 Sep 2012 20:39:49 -0700<BR>>>> From: Mike Feinstein <<A href="http://us.mc1111.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=mfeinstein@feinstein.org" ymailto="mailto:mfeinstein@feinstein.org">mfeinstein@feinstein.org</A>><BR>>>> To: GPCA Forum <<A href="http://us.mc1111.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=gpca-forum@cagreens.org" ymailto="mailto:gpca-forum@cagreens.org">gpca-forum@cagreens.org</A>><BR>>>><BR>>>><BR>>>> From: Richard Winger <<A href="http://us.mc1111.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=richardwinger@yahoo.com" ymailto="mailto:richardwinger@yahoo.com">richardwinger@yahoo.com</A>><BR>>>> Date: September 14, 2012 8:19:06 PM PDT<BR>>>> To: <A href="http://us.mc1111.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=mfeinstein@feinstein.org" ymailto="mailto:mfeinstein@feinstein.org">mfeinstein@feinstein.org</A><BR>>>> Subject: I badly hope to obtain help from everyone on this list<BR>>>>
Reply-To: <A href="http://us.mc1111.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=richardwinger@yahoo.com" ymailto="mailto:richardwinger@yahoo.com">richardwinger@yahoo.com</A><BR>>>><BR>>>> Dear Mike, if you could pass this on to any California Green Party<BR>>>> activists list, I would sure appreciate it. Obviously it would be<BR>>>> most useful sent to bay area Greens.<BR>>>><BR>>>> Richard Winger<BR>>>> 415-922-9779<BR>>>> PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147<BR>>>><BR>>>> --- On Fri, 9/14/12, Richard Winger <<A href="http://us.mc1111.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=richardwinger@yahoo.com" ymailto="mailto:richardwinger@yahoo.com">richardwinger@yahoo.com</A>> wrote:<BR>>>><BR>>>> From: Richard Winger <<A href="http://us.mc1111.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=richardwinger@yahoo.com"
ymailto="mailto:richardwinger@yahoo.com">richardwinger@yahoo.com</A>><BR>>>> Subject: I badly hope to obtain help from everyone on this list<BR>>>> To: <A href="http://us.mc1111.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=lpsf-activists@yahoogroups.com" ymailto="mailto:lpsf-activists@yahoogroups.com">lpsf-activists@yahoogroups.com</A><BR>>>> Date: Friday, September 14, 2012, 8:13 PM<BR>>>><BR>>>> Some of you know that on August 1, Judge Curtis Karnow ruled that the<BR>>>> six of us who challenged Prop. 14 in court, must pay $243,500 to the<BR>>>> attorneys who intervened in the case for Abel Maldonado and other<BR>>>> supporters of the top-two system. We asked for reconsideration.<BR>>>><BR>>>> The attorney for the intervenors has arranged to have the same judge<BR>>>> hear the request for reconsideration, even though according to the<BR>>>> normal
court procedures, we were supposed to have a different judge.<BR>>>> And he got the hearing moved up from October to Monday, September 17,<BR>>>> at 11 a.m. Our attorney, Gautam Dutta, a young attorney in Fremont,<BR>>>> California, is afraid that this same judge is going to impose<BR>>>> sanctions on him for even daring to ask for reconsideration. The<BR>>>> attorney for the other side is very cocky and we feel the only<BR>>>> recourse is to try to have as many friends in court as possible, so<BR>>>> the judge sees that we have support. Please, if you can possibly come<BR>>>> to court at Larkin and McAllister at 10:45 am Monday morning, I would<BR>>>> really appreciate it. We can meet outside the courthouse. Please let<BR>>>> me know if you can come. Thank you very much.<BR>>>><BR>>>> Richard Winger<BR>>>>
415-922-9779<BR>>>> PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147<BR>><BR>><BR><BR><BR>-- <BR>Spencer Graves, PE, PhD<BR>President and Chief Technology Officer<BR>Structure Inspection and Monitoring, Inc.<BR>751 Emerson Ct.<BR>San José, CA 95126<BR>ph: 408-655-4567<BR>web: www.structuremonitoring.com<BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>sosfbay-discuss mailing list<BR><A href="http://us.mc1111.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sosfbay-discuss@cagreens.org" ymailto="mailto:sosfbay-discuss@cagreens.org">sosfbay-discuss@cagreens.org</A><BR><A href="http://lists.cagreens.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sosfbay-discuss" target=_blank>http://lists.cagreens.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sosfbay-discuss</A><BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></td></tr></table>