CA: Governor faces tough choices on lawsuit initiative

Sac Bee ^ | 5/9/04 | Gary Delsohn

[NormsRevenge]

A hotly contested initiative headed for the November ballot puts California's new governor in a position he's yet to face - taking sides in a fight between two powerful constituencies that are convinced he's on their side.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is already on record supporting the primary aim of the California Chamber of Commerce-backed measure to "reform" the state's Unfair Business Competition Law.

"We will get rid of the shakedown lawsuits," he told 2,000 people at a chamber breakfast in Sacramento last week, invoking the name of the chamber-led "Coalition Against Shakedown Lawsuits" that circulated petitions for the initiative.

"We certainly expect him to support it," John Sullivan, a leading proponent of the measure, said after Schwarzenegger's remarks.

[NormsRevenge]

I'd put my money on the trial lawyers ...

[NormsRevenge]

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[NormsRevenge]

Sac Bee/John Decker

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn't taken a position on the proposal, but a spokeswoman says he backs stopping what he calls "shakedown lawsuits."

[ArmstedFragg]

Environmentalists complaining about this initiative is about the same as the D.A.'s office complaining about the fourth and fifth amendments.

Contrary to their complaints, making it harder for people to engage in activities that are not good for the public is not necessarily a bad thing.

[elbucko]

...said Michael Schmitz, a Bay Area environmentalist with a group known as CLEAN, a consortium of environmental groups and law firms that take on environmental issues.

I would be more kindly disposed towards the environmental movement, if there was not so much money involved for the environmental law firms. IMHO, the entire "Progressive" movement is about getting money from corporations or the taxpayer. They are all wealth transfer schemes, using legal extortion, by people that would otherwise need to find a job.