Dana Reed tipped me to Bill Bradley’s recent post on New West Notes that “the law firm” that represented Plaintiffs in the case to disqualify Jerry Brown as Attorney General has apparently resigned. I am on vacation in San Francisco and will check this out with the court in Sacramento on Monday. Readers will recall that the case, originally brought just before the November general election by a group of GOP volunteers led by Contra Costa GOP Chair Tom Del Becarro, sought to disqualify Brown as a candidate for Attorney General on the grounds that he did not meet the “black letter” statutory requirements to serve as Attorney General because he shifted his bar dues status to “inactive” for a period of time while he served as Mayor of Oakland, and was therefore technically not praticing law for a continuous period before his election as Attorney General. Brown, however, has been a lawyer for over 40 years. As a former Secretary of State and Governor, there really isn’t any question about his ability to serve as Attorney General, regardless of what one thinks about his politics.
I think the original lawsuit, in which the Plaintiffs were represented by the very able Chuck Bell of Sacramento, was serious and an appropriate use of the judicial forum, but I believe the Plaintiffs may have wanted it filed more for its political value just before the election, than its legal value. To have really had legs, such a suit would have been filed by the Plantiffs not just before the election in October, but rather, way back when Brown originally filed to run for the office before the Democratic primary last June. Then the issues could have been resolved before Brown actually won the primary and general elections. But by virtue of the Plaintiffs failure to get a lawyer earlier, and letting time pass, those two significant electoral victories make it highly improbable that a judge would invalidate Brown’s election on the technicality that he paid lower dues as an inactive member of the bar for a couple years. What is at stake now, because of the failure of the Plaintiffs to get a lawyer earlier in the process, is more than just the technical requirements of the Code to assure a qualified Attorney General, rather, it is honoring the will of the people in selecting an Attorney General. In two elections.
Thus, it is not surprising that since the general election is done and overwith, that there might be a change in legal representation for the continuation of the lawsuit. I urge the Plaintiffs to just drop this lawsuit. A judge will likely feel it was unfair to Brown and the people that the Plaintiffs brought their case so late in the electoral process. Brown is already sworn into office and there is no way he will be turned out, because any reasonable interpretation of the Code in these circumstances will result in a judge ultimately asking themself, “Is Jerry Brown qualified or not,” and the answer is going to be “Yes, case dismissed.”