FLASHREPORT

WHY I AM RUNNING FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

John Eastman, Candidate for Attorney General

[Publisher's Note: As part of an ongoing effort to bring original, thoughtful commentary to you here at the FlashReport, I am pleased to present this column from John Eastman, who is a candidate for California State Attorney General - Flash]

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As some FlashReport readers may have seen, this morning I have stepped down from my position as Dean of the Chapman University Law School to seek the Republican nomination for Attorney General of California. 

It is clear to me that the power and responsibilities of the Attorney General’s lie in the protection of Californian’s fundamental rights.  These are enumerated in our state Constitution’s bill of rights, the first section of which states:

All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights.  Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.

From the first time I encountered them, such statements of inalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence, the Federal Constitution, and California Constitution inspired me.   They are what motivated me to pursue a career in the law, and now have led me to this campaign for Attorney General. 

In protecting these fundamental rights, the Attorney General is the top law enforcement officer in California. First and foremost, the Attorney General must protect the fundamental right to life, to protection of property, and to the pursuit of safety.  The people of California have made it clear they want law-abiding citizens protected from criminals, and that they want the very worst of criminals separated from society for a long, long time. In passing the “Three Strikes” law and a whole host of other such measures, the will of California voters is perfectly clear, and it reflects my views as well.

I am continually amazed and outraged that too many elected to positions charged with enforcing these laws work so hard to undermine these basic protections of personal safety.  They have sought to weaken these laws and in some cases have instructed their prosecutors not to utilize them to pursue maximum sentences.

I will defend these laws from all challenges and aggressively prosecute criminals under them. 

Some argue that our prison system is at capacity, that we’re under federal judicial order to reduce overcrowding, and that we can’t afford to apply the full penalty of law to criminals.  I would attack these challenges head on.

I do not believe California has aggressively pushed back against the liberal federal judges who have ordered such draconian measures against our prison system.  The effect of these measures would be the release of violent offenders back into society, or massive increases in spending on our prison system to give prisoners, for example, better medical care than many law abiding citizens in free society.

The so-called “rights” of these criminals that a few judges have “discovered” are in conflict with the rights of law-abiding Californians expressly set out in our state Constitution to be free from violent crime and free from excessive taxation to pay for a lavish prison system not approved by the legislature.

So let me be perfectly clear, my duty will be to vigorously defend the rights of the law-abiding citizen and the taxpayer.

Overcrowding in our prisons is equally impacted by the large number of criminals who are also in this country illegally.  The cost and burden on our system is a direct failure of the federal government to protect our borders and enforce existing immigration laws.  As Attorney General, I will fight, and if necessary, sue the federal government to pay for the cost of its failure. Washington must either reimburse California for the cost of incarcerating illegal immigrant prisoners, transfer them to federal custody, or deport them after reaching agreement with the country of their origin to keep them in prison there. Anything less in unacceptable.

Along with serving as chief law enforcement officer in the state, the Attorney General is also the chief legal officer for both the state government and the people of California.  In these positions, the Attorney General can have a tremendous impact on a whole host of policy issues, either positively or negatively.

Current Attorney General Jerry Brown has used the office to advance his far-left political agenda in issues dealing with fiscal, economic, and moral and social issues. 

Most egregiously, Jerry Brown has utterly shirked his constitutional duty to defend the people when they have enacted a law or constitutional amendment via the initiative process.  When the voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 8 to restore the traditional definition of marriage and place that in the Constitution, Jerry Brown has refused to represent the will of the people as he is required to by the constitutional duties of his office.  He failed to defend Proposition 8 at the State Supreme Court, and now he is refusing to vigorously defend it in Federal District Court in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case.  In fact, he is not only refusing to defend Proposition 8, but he is actually supporting the plaintiffs against the people of California.

The Attorney General can be a force for defending the rights of taxpayers and property owners in the hands of someone dedicated to the rights we hold in our constitution.  I successfully fought cases on behalf of taxpayers in both California and Nevada to oppose illegal tax increases.  In both cases, attempts were made to circumvent the requirement for a two-thirds vote to pass tax increases.  Both attempts were defeated as a result of our efforts.

There is so much more an Attorney General can do to defend our freedoms. Looking at cases I’ve helped fight can provide a clear sense of this role:

• I have defended property owners when local governments and environmental groups were making decisions about their land without even giving the owner a seat at the table. 
• I have defended the rights of citizens to participate fully in elections by overturning unconstitutional local campaign finance ordinances.
• I have fought for our values by stopping eminent domain proceedings against churches, and helped in the Boy Scouts cases and the Pledge of Allegiance cases, and other litigation to protect religious liberties.

It is clear that after the Governor, the Attorney General is the 2nd most important statewide elected official in California. In the right hands, the office can be a force for good.  In the hands of a liberal activist, it can do great harm. 

We have an outstanding opportunity to elect a new Attorney General this year who will use the power of this office for good, and I hope to earn your support.
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John Eastman is the former dean at Chapman Law School and a candidate for Attorney General. His campaign website is http://www.eastmanforag.com/.