Updated at 6:35 p.m. March 25, 2015
Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) on Wednesday praised Attorney General Kamala Harris after she moved to prevent the proposed “Sodomite Suppression Act” ballot initiative, which would authorize the murder of LGBT individuals.
“Attorney General Kamala Harris is doing the right thing by asking the court to allow California to reject an obviously unconstitutional and dangerous initiative proposal that actually promotes murder,” said Atkins, who is lesbian.
“The proposal represents either the depth of bigotry and hatred or the height of sick publicity stunts—either way it should not be dignified by becoming an official part of the process Californians have to amend the state Constitution.
“Having discussed options with Attorney General Harris, I know how seriously she takes her responsibility to the law and how seriously she takes her responsibility to protect the public’s safety. I urge the court to grant the Attorney General’s request and prevent the state’s initiative process from being abused in this egregious manner.”
Many media outlets are covering the proposal, but the Los Angeles Times editorialized to preserve the ballot initiative process that led to it:
It is hard to imagine a more revolting ballot measure than the “Sodomite Suppression Act,” which, if approved, would criminalize sodomy and put to death those convicted of it. Its proponent, Huntington Beach lawyer Matt McLaughlin, wants to qualify the initiative for the statewide ballot in November 2016. …
Some have suggested that … Harris should quash the proposed initiative before it is cleared for petition circulation this week. But she doesn’t have the authority to do that — and she shouldn’t. It’s not the job of a state official to block an unpopular ballot measure; that’s the job of voters. The state Supreme Court in 1978 ruled that then-state Atty. Gen. Evelle J. Younger didn’t have the right to decide if a proposed initiative would be “valid if enacted.”
Earlier Wednesday, Harris said:
“As attorney general of California, it is my sworn duty to uphold the California and United States Constitutions and to protect the rights of all Californians. This proposal not only threatens public safety, it is patently unconstitutional, utterly reprehensible, and has no place in a civil society.
“Today, I am filing an action for declaratory relief with the court seeking judicial authorization for relief from the duty to prepare and issue the title and summary for the ‘Sodomite Suppression Act.’ If the court does not grant this relief, my office will be forced to issue a title and summary for a proposal that seeks to legalize discrimination and vigilantism.”
Harris is an announced Democratic candidate for U.S. senator.
The proposed initiative was submitted to the state by Huntington Beach attorney Matthew McLaughlin. After proposed initiatives are submitted, the Attorney General’s Office generally gives them a name and provides a summary of the proposal so supporters can begin collecting signatures required to get the issue on a future ballot.
McLaughlin’s proposal calls for “any person who willingly touches another person of the same gender for purposes of sexual gratification to be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method.” It would also ban the distribution of “sodomistic propaganda” and bar gays and lesbians from holding public office.
McLaughlin would need to collect more than 365,000 petition signatures to get the initiative on the ballot.
The proposal has been met with outrage from elected officials, who have been searching for ways to block it. An online petition at www.change.org seeking to have McLaughlin disbarred has already collected 41,380 signatures.
McLaughlin could not be reached for comment.
Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, proposed Wednesday that the state enact legislation making signatures on initiative petitions open to public review, and requiring petitions to include the line, “Your information as a signatory to this petition is subject to the California Public Records Act.”
“Voters must be informed when a petition they sign violates the United States Constitution,” Rendon said. “My proposal is simple: initiative signatures — particularly those that give permission to violate constitutional rights — shall be subject to the California Public Records Act.”
— City News Service contributed to this report.
