Court Strikes Candidate Statements Of CUSD Trustees Targeted For Recall
Posted by: Jubal | 04/28/2008 5:11 PM
This just came over the transom from the CUSD Recall Committee:
Court Strikes Illegal Campaign Statements "in their entirety"
Recall Targets Had Been Sued Over False, Misleading and Illegal Statements
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. -- An Orange County Superior Court has stricken "in their entirety" the 200-word candidate statements filed by recall targets Marlene Draper and Sheila Benecke, two trustees of the Capistrano Unified School District. A copy of the court order is attached hereto.
The court's action ensured Draper and Benecke's illegal campaign statements will not be published in the sample ballots to be sent to all voters prior to the June 24th special election.
Leaders of the CUSD Recall Committee filed the lawsuit seeking court intervention to strike numerous "false, misleading and illegal statements" made by Draper and Benecke in their optional "Candidate Statement of Qualifications."
California law requires a Candidate Statement of Qualifications contain only a brief description of the candidate's "education and qualifications" and expressly prohibits a candidate from including in her Candidate Statement of Qualifications any reference to the "qualifications, character or activities" of her political opponents. In addition, California law prohibits including in any such statements "any material that is false or misleading."Wow. I think that ruling qualifies as a final nail in Draper's and Benecke's respective political coffins -- as if they needed any more.
The Statement of Qualifications filed by Draper and Benecke violated California law in several respects. For a specific description of the numerous illegal statements made by Draper and Benecke, please see a copy of the attached Memorandum of Points and Authorities that was filed with the court.
CUSD Recall Committee spokesperson Tom Russell commented, "In effect, we obtained greater relief than we requested, because we had only asked the court to strike certain false, misleading and illegal statements - but the court ordered that the 200-word statements be "stricken in their entirety."
The CUSD Recall Committee is leading the current campaign to recall CUSD Trustees Benecke and Draper for creating a culture of corruption at CUSD and for gross fiscal mismanagement.
Earlier this year, the CUSD Recall Committee submitted 66,000 petition signatures - 60% more than required, to recall the two embattled CUSD Trustees. The O.C. Registrar of Voters certified the recall petitions. As a result, voters will have the opportunity to remove Draper and Benecke from office in a special election on Tuesday, June 24, 2008.
Tom Russell added, "This is a great victory for the voters of South Orange County. By striking the illegal statements in their entirety, the court assured that Draper and Benecke will not be permitted to deceive the voters and the June 24th special recall election will be fair."
To learn more about these important issues, please visit our website at www.cusdrecall.com.
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CUSD Recall
Jubal, thanks for posting the court documents so we can see the details. Draper and Benecke's candidate statements were so far over the line that today's final court decision was an absolute no brainer. They just couldn't stop themselves from illegally attacking their political opponenents -- when all they could legally do is discuss their own education and qualifications. I agree when you say, "I think that ruling qualifies as a final nail in Draper's and Benecke's respective political coffins..." They're toast.
When will these bad apples ever go away. I feel sorry for the kids of capousd and the hell they have been thru. Girls it is time to do the right thing, pack up and leave so the district can rebuild.
Maybe, the heroes at the recall committee have shown us the way.
Perhaps, the New Majority should start recruiting latino Republicans to run for Santa Ana Unified school board as part of their GROW project.
Has a court ever stricken in its entirety a candidates statement?
I can think of numerous examples where an illegal word or phrase was stricken -- but never the entire statement. For the political history and legal experts out there, was yesterday's court action on the CUSD race unprecedented?
I can't remember a single example in the past 10 years of a court striking a candidate's entire ballot statement. Not here in OC, and not anywhere else in the state for that matter.