A Lawsuit for the CA Term Limits Initiative

Robert Salladay reports that a group called U.S. Term Limits is announcing a lawsuit today over the term limits initiative, and particularly Attorney General Brown's "Title and Summary." You'll recall that the title and summary goes like this:

"LIMITS ON LEGISLATORS' TERMS IN OFFICE. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Reduces the total amount of time a person may serve in the state legislature from 14 years to 12 years."

Because the measure would actually extend the amount of time one legislator can spend in the Assembly or Senate, and because the measure would allow current legislators to extend their time in office (particularly the Speaker and the Senate President Pro Tem), U.S. Term Limits considers this a weakening of the law, and wants the wording changed.

Wording like this is always slippery, and whether there's "right" or "wrong" language is debatable. I bring this lawsuit up, however, because it was obvious that there would be a coordinated effort to derail this initiative. Term limits are one of the backbone principles of the conservative movement, and while across the country that movement is breaking down, in this state it still means something, even if it's marginalized. I don't know if U.S. Term Limits will be successful, but to me it's a sign that there will in fact be vigorous opposition to the initiative.