The Killing of California - The letter the L.A. Times will never print

Letter to the Editor, Los Angeles Times - Sent Sept. 20, 2014

Re: Gov. Brown signs bill repealing unenforceable parts of Prop. 187

Gov. Brown signed a bill to repeal sections of Proposition 187 that were present in the California Code. That language was present in the code because Proposition 187 was not tested at the level of the court of appeals as required the California Constitution. It was not tested because Gov. Gray Davis did not appeal the decision of one federal judge dealing with Proposition 187 to a higher court by, as was his duty.

He used mediation instead. In a May 6, 1999, letter to the Los Angeles Times, mediator Norman Brand wrote: "But whoever suggested to Gov. Gray Davis that he mediate the constitutionally of Proposition 187 badly misunderstands mediation's role in our democracy and in dispute resolution. And if the mediation goes forward, both constitutional law and mediation are at risk."

It gets worse. Gov. Davis invited only opponents of Proposition 187 to the mediation, including Carlos Holguin, the attorney who just happened to work for Peter Schey, the man who argued the Supreme Court decision that Proposition 187 was aimed at reversing. Holguin later admitted that the mediators rejected Proposition 187 because they were afraid "the right of the undocumented would be lost." (La Opinion, August 1, 1999).

Finally, I understand that a statue passed by referendum cannot be overturned by the legislature. If so, the bill signed by Gov. Brown is but another in an illegal, tortuous route to deny the will of the people.