Dan Walters: Jerry Brown's paddling his political canoe

Sacramento Bee ^ | 12/15/8 | Dan Walters

[SmithL]

Attorney General Jerry Brown made noises like a 19th-century states' rights zealot last week in opposing a looming federal court order requiring the state to spend up to $8 billion to improve health care in its much-overcrowded prison system.

As Brown depicted it in his appellate filing opposing the order obtained by federal receiver Clark Kelso, the order violates a federal law barring courts from ordering states to build new prisons as well as constitutional guarantees of state sovereignty.

"In ordering the state to fund the receiver's massive prison construction program, the district court clearly violated federal law, and its decision must be reversed," Brown told the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, adding that the order is "particularly unacceptable at a time when California is facing a $25 billion deficit" and that the state had already acknowledged its prison health care problem and moved vigorously to solve it.

There was a nice bit of irony attached to Brown's effort to block judicial interference in California's prisons – the fact that he's been doing much the same thing vis-à-vis local governments and their land-use decisions.

Last year, after Assembly Bill 32, the state's landmark anti-greenhouse gas law, went into effect, a newly elected Brown took it upon himself to begin suing, or threatening to sue, cities and counties that didn't alter their local housing and land use plans to suit his vision of "elegant density" that would reduce auto traffic and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

[1000 silverlings]

Well he’s Moonbeam and I’m not defending all he does, but when he left as Governor of California it was fat with a surplus, not this mess they’ve got now, and Linda Ronstadt was skinny

[Chet 99]

The state had not yet been overrun with illegals when he left office.

[Oldpuppymax]

A nice braindead leftist scewered by a nice braindead leftist judge. Justice at last. And more taxpayers will leave the state. Just like Christmas!

[reagan_fanatic]

..and Linda Ronstadt was skinny

My, how time flies.

[GVnana]

he left as Governor of California it was fat with a surplus

No he didn't. REAGAN left California with a surplus. Brown spent it all and left California with a deficit.

[1000 silverlings]

You can’t rewrite history, and I lived and worked there under both of them and their disastrous successors. Reagan’s administration raised taxes, and resulted in the passage of Proposition 13 during Brown’s term. Once, California was the 9th largest economy during that time. The Reagan and Brown years were the last of the Golden years, and the last of the Golden state too

[GVnana]

You can’t rewrite history,
I'm not rewriting history.

I lived and worked there under both of them
So did I. I even worked for the state of california under Brown II.

and their disastrous successors.
Like who?

Reagan’s administration raised taxes,
Yes, he did. And he also streamlined CA's government bureaucracy. Both actions contributed to eliminating the deficit CA had when Brown Sr. left office.

and resulted in the passage of Proposition 13
California voters instituted Prop 13 in a direct election. What's the problem?

[1000 silverlings]

No problem, I’m not your enemy, just sayin’ that’s all
Well I’d say Wilson and Gray and the current one aren’t exactly leading lights

[GVnana]

I’d say Wilson and Deukmejian were a leading lights compared to Gray Davis, and apparently the voters of CA agreed. Arnold’s been a real mixed bag. Hope he holds the line on the budget.