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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 21, 2006
Contact: Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights
Nicole Spencer, Media Coordinator 444-0407 nicole@VoteLocalControl.org

Legal Experts Support Local Control Effort

EUREKA - This June Humboldt voters will decide if they support locally controlled elections. A myriad of legal experts and constitutional scholars hope they do.

Last week the Department of Elections assigned Measure T to the "Ordinance to Protect Our Right to Fair Elections and Local Democracy." If passed, Measure T would prohibit non-local corporations from making financial contributions to Humboldt County elections.

Some have expressed concern that the law might not be constitutional. Peter Gabel, President Emeritus and Professor at New College of Law School in San Francisco said, "The Supreme Court has ruled that a community can limit corporate contributions if it is shown that such contributions undermine citizen's confidence in their own government. Measure T is carefully crafted to meet that requirement by literally building the finding into the law itself. I believe this law would withstand a legal challenge."

"Research shows that 78% of registered voters in Humboldt County believe that non-local corporate contributions threaten the integrity of our local elections," stated Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, HCCR Campaign Manager. "We have identified a very real problem and this is a legally-sound and common-sense way to restore citizen confidence in elections at the local level," she said.

Robert Benson, Professor of Law at Loyola University in Los Angeles, has also endorsed the effort. "Citizen activists play a vital role in our society when they challenge the courts to justify judicial doctrines that have lost touch with fundamental democratic values," he said. "Measure T does just that. If I lived in Humboldt County I would proudly vote for it."

John Bonifaz, founder of the National Voting Rights Institute and recipient of the MacArthur "Genius Award" for his innovative litigation and organizing strategies on behalf of campaign finance reform, has also weighed in on the measure. "The real issue at stake is whether Humboldt voters support community rights or the idea that Wal-Mart and other large corporations should be able to distort the political process," he said. "This initiative is critical to ensuring local democratic control of elections."

For more information visit www.VoteLocalControl.org or call 707-444-0407.

Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights
Mailing Address: PO Box 610, Eureka, CA 95502-0160
(707) 269-0984 | info@VoteLocalControl.org