Word: california
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...California's Supreme Court was once held in high repute for its innovative and wise decisions. Keeping well above politics, the court carried out deliberations in the quiet privacy of its stately chambers. So much for tradition. The current court, headed by Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird, 42, is about to have its linen laundered in public, black robes, starched collars and all. Last week the state's commission on judicial performance (a nine-member board established in 1960 to hear complaints against California judges) began televised hearings into alleged improprieties surrounding the court's handling...
...Under California law, such appointments are confirmed on a straight yes or no ballot at the next statewide election. Although the confirmation vote is usually a rubber stamp, in Bird's case it became the occasion for pointed political protest. Contending that she was "soft" on crime, conservatives launched a $300,000 effort to oust her from the court. Bird survived the election with 52% of the vote, even though details of the court's potentially unpopular decision on an armed robbery case were leaked to the Los Angeles Times and appeared on the day of the election...
Within six weeks, the court released its actual decisions on this and three other controversial cases. Of the four, the robbery case became most notorious because of the apparent accuracy of the leaked information and the law-and-order aspects of the case. California's "use a gun, go to prison" law, signed by Governor Brown in 1975, mandates prison sentences for certain specific crimes in which a gun is used. In the case at issue, Harold Tanner used a gun in the robbery, but the weapon was not loaded. The trial judge dismissed the gun charge and placed...
...commission will determine whether charges should be brought against any justice. Whatever the outcome, the legal community frets that public airing of the matter may hurt the California judicial system. Says Stanford Law Professor Gerald Gunther: "In an immediate sense, it will add to the court's already damaged prestige." But, Gunther concludes, "in the long run, the hearings may help some of the justices search their souls and try to do better in their personal relations and at the quality level...
...school students, a move taken to offset a decline in enrollment dating back to the early '70s. Michael Shinagel, director of the Summer School, said he expects over 550 secondary school students to attend the school this summer. By far the largest groups of students come from New York, California, Massachusetts and New Jersey, but the group includes eight students from Iran, as well as students from Japan, Nicaragua, Greece, Italy, Korea, China, Taiwan, France, Venezuela, Canada and other countries...