The California People's Proposition

by J. Neil Schulman

THE CALIFORNIA PEOPLE'S PROPOSITION

PREAMBLE. PURPOSE OF ACT

The purpose of this Act is to curtail the ever-increasing transfer of power away from the people and to political bodies controlled by narrow interests by (I.) Establishing a direct means by which the people can disapprove legislation it dislikes; (II.) Reaffirming the traditional right of juries to rule on the law as well as the facts in any trial where government is one of the parties; and (III.) Enabling those most victimized by crime to defend themselves rather than being forced to rely upon a government system of police and courts which does little to protect the public beforehand from crime and is otherwise ineffective at curtailing it.

ARTICLE I. CITIZEN'S LINE ITEM VETO.

SECTION I. PURPOSE OF ARTICLE: CONSTRUCTION

The State of California shall establish a statewide voicemail telephone system whereby voters may exercise a line-item veto over all legislation signed by the governor. A one-third vote in favor of vetoing a line item shall prevent it from becoming law, with no override available.

SECTION II. The Constitution of the State of California is hereby amended as follows:

Within one year from the passage of this Act:

A. 1. The State of California shall register any California voter who wishes to enroll for Citizen's Line Item Veto participation. Such enrollment shall identify these voters in a manner not invasive to their personal privacy, but with a level of security equivalent to that used by the commercial banking industry for telephone banking transactions.

2. The State of California shall establish a state-wide voice- mail telephone system, operated by touch-tone telephones using an (800) area code telephone number or other free-to-caller area code. All California voters enrolled for Citizen's Line Item Veto participation shall be entitled to vote on this system.

3. Each line item in all legislation signed by the governor the previous week shall be placed before the enrolled voters on this voice mail system. Each voter on the system shall be given one vote per line item of legislation signed by the governor, YES or NO.

4. A count shall be made each week of all votes on each line- item. If a line-item gains one-third or more NO votes, it shall fail to have been passed into law, and no appeal to any legislative, executive, or judicial authority may override this veto.

B. The State of California shall provide a weekly line-item summary of all legislation which has been signed into law by the governor the previous week. Such summary shall be in a form understandable to any resident of the State of California with a high school diploma issued by a California public school, and shall be made publicly available.

C. To compensate voters in the Line Item Veto for the time and effort of reading the legislation and registering their vote, all voters enrolled in the Line Item Veto who vote on the system at least eight times per year shall be exempt at point of sale on all purchases from the California Sales Tax for the next year.

D. No line-item vetoed by the voters of the Line Item Veto may be reintroduced into legislation for a period of three years.

E. No tax or other method of public funding, including all usage fees, shall pass into effect without being subject to the Citizen's Line Item Veto, nor shall any tax or other method of funding, including all usage fees, remain in effect two years from the passage of this proposition unless it is placed before the enrolled voters of the Citizen's Line Item Veto.

F. Any California legislator, judge, or elected or appointed public office-holder, state, country, municipal, or local, who attempts to obstruct the enactment of this Article or who otherwise fails to honor the intent of this Article, shall be immediately removed from office, and hereafter be forbidden to hold any office of honor or trust under the State of California, or any county or municipality. This disability may only be removed by a proposition enacted by the people.

ARTICLE II. JURIES.

SECTION I. PURPOSE OF ARTICLE: CONSTRUCTION

The purpose of this Act is to assure that jurors are made aware of: (a) The jurors' inherent right to judge whether the law or laws applicable to the case being tried are unjust or misapplied. (b) The jurors' traditional right to vote according to conscience.

To this end, juries affected by this Act shall be allowed to hear evidence concerning the defendant's motives. This Act shall be construed liberally to effect its purposes.

SECTION II. Article I of the Constitution of the State of California is amended by adding a Section 29 that reads:

"JURY RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES SECTION 29

Whenever state or local government is one of the parties in any trial by jury, the court must inform the jurors that in addition to their responsibility to judge the facts of the case, they have the inherent right to judge the law itself."

SECTION III. Any trial included under Section II. of this Article for which the jury has not been properly informed of its inherent right to judge the law itself shall be declared a mistrial.

SECTION IV. Any judge who exhibits a pattern of failing to inform juries of their inherent right to judge the law itself, or who otherwise fails to honor the intent of this Article, shall be immediately removed from office, and hereafter be forbidden to hold any office of honor or trust under the State of California, or any county or municipality. This disability may only be removed by a proposition enacted by the people.

ARTICLE III. EQUAL PROTECTION.

SECTION I. PURPOSE OF ARTICLE: CONSTRUCTION

The purpose of this article is to provide adequate means of protection against violent crime to those who are most victimized by it: women, the elderly, minorities, the physically handicapped, children, residents of neighborhoods where there is persistent gang presence or drug-related violence, or anyone who lives or works in a municipality where city, county, state, or federal police presence is inadequate to prevent or protect the citizenry beforehand from any of the following crimes: rape, child molestation, mugging, hate crimes, murder, attempted murder, assault, mayhem, armed or unarmed robbery, burglary (including automobile burglary), grand theft (including grand theft, auto), extortion, drive-by shootings, purse snatching, or any other attack or threat of attack against the persons or personal property of peaceful citizens.

SECTION II. The Constitution of the State of California is hereby amended as follows:

Anyone who satisfies the following criteria:

A. A citizen or legal resident of the United States and of the State of California; and who is

B. Eighteen years or older (unless a member of the armed forces, or a cadet training for the armed forces,in which case the age requirement is waived); and who has

C. Never been convicted of a violent crime or never pleaded not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity to a violent crime, or has never been involuntarily committed to a mental institution for having committed a violent crime;

D. And can satisfy being in one or more of the following categories:

1. A woman;

2. A member of any race, religious group, sect, nationality, or other minority for which there is a history of hate crimes;

3. Over 50 years of age (the minimum membership age for the American Association of Retired Persons);

4. Physically handicapped, or suffering from any physical condition which would tend to make one a target for criminal assault, attack, robbery, or violence;

5. The parent or legal guardian of a minor child, or a person \in loco parentis\ for a minor child;

6. A person who has ever been the victim of any of the following crimes: rape, child molestation, mugging, hate crimes, attempted murder, assault, mayhem, armed or unarmed robbery, burglary (including automobile burglary), grand theft (including grand theft, auto), extortion, drive-by shooting, purse snatching, or any other attack or threat of attack against one's person or personal property;

7. A person whose residency or work places them in a municipality where there is persistent gang presence or drug-related violence, or anyone who lives or works in a municipality where city, county, state, or federal police presence is inadequate to prevent or protect the citizenry beforehand from any of the following crimes: rape, child molestation, mugging, hate crimes, murder, attempted murder, assault, mayhem, armed or unarmed robbery, burglary (including automobile burglary), grand theft (including grand theft, auto), extortion, drive-by shootings, purse snatching,or any other attack or threat of attack against one's person or personal property;

8. Can demonstrate circumstances in which one is escorting or otherwise responsible for the safety of anyone in the previous categories;

will hereafter be granted an unlimited license to carry, concealed or unconcealed, loaded firearms, of any sort legally carried by any police officer, sheriff, judge or justice of the peace, elected or appointed public official, civil servant, government employee, or member of the organized or unorganized militia.

SECTION III.

A. Nothing in this article shall be construed to deny or limit the right of the people to keep and bear arms, as recognized by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and in other law.

B. In the event this article is held to infringe the right of the people to keep and bear arms by unconstitutionally limiting the license to carry firearms to certain limited categories of the people, then Section I. D. is hereby omitted, and the remainder of this article shall continue in full force as if Section I. D. had never been a part of it.

SECTION IV.

The use of a firearm or other weapon in protection of one's own life, safety from bodily injury, or in defense of property, or in defense of the life, safety from bodily injury, or property of another, or in an attempt by a citizen to prevent or bring to an end the commission of a violent crime, unless such use is otherwise part of the commission of a felony or proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be negligent of the safety of others, shall be deemed a legal defense from all criminal charges and civil liability.

SECTION V.

Any California legislator, judge, or elected or appointed public office-holder, state, country, municipal, or local, who attempts to obstruct the enactment of this Article or who otherwise fails to honor the intent of this Article, shall be immediately removed from office, and hereafter be forbidden to hold any office of honor or trust under the State of California, or any county or municipality. This disability may only be removed by a proposition enacted by the people.

J. Neil Schulman

August 10, 1991