[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Marie Lakin

WHEN STATE LEGISLATORS did their grand gerrymandering of legislative districts back in 2001, one of the most egregious errors was the odd mishmash that is Senate District 19. It encompasses Ventura County, Santa Barbara County and part of Santa Clarita.

The Santa Barbara coastline and Ventura, which were once represented by Jack O'Connell, fell under the vastly reconfigured district of Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), one of the most conservative members of the Legislature.

The more moderate voices of Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Barbara and Ojai have felt distinctly left out ever since. No wonder then that as McClintock leaves his seat after being termed out, a strong Democratic contender, Hannah-Beth Jackson, has emerged to take on the far-right Tony Strickland for SD-19.

I have been an admirer of Jackson's for a long time. She owned a business in Ventura for 22 years and was an extremely effective legislator while in the Assembly and a champion for every cause I value -- education, the environment, consumer protection, public safety and women's issues.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by berkeleygrad [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Andrea Foster filed a story with The Chronicle of Higher Education that should send a chill down students' spines everywhere.

As if the recent spike in bogus copyright infringement lawsuits gushing out of the RIAA and MPAA wasn't enough, it looks like these organizations are taking their fight to California's state legislators.

More below the fold...
Here's Foster's lede:

Higher-education officials say that the entertainment industry is pushing for state laws that would force colleges to police their networks for illegal trading of music and video files and to buy software to stem the problem.

Lawmakers in Tennessee and Illinois recently considered such legislation, and a similar bill may be brewing in California, according to officials who spoke at a technology-policy conference here on Thursday.

To be honest, I'm kind of surprised they haven't tried something like this in California already - after all, the RIAA and MPAA practically own L.A....

Foster continues:

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Torres to Governor: You're Not in Austria Anymore

Consider this an in case you missed it: "Torres to Schwarzenegger: 'This is not Austria'":

"Art Torres, the chair of the California Democratic Party, is taking a shot at Arnold Schwarzenegger for comments the governor made Wednesday about small towns in California.

According to the Sacramento Bee, Schwarzenegger told attendees at the infrastructure conference that it’s good for state legislators from “little towns” to see worldly things like "an airport" or even "a highway on top of a highway."

“The Governor’s comments are insulting,” Torres told PolitickerCA.com today. “California does not have villages. This is not Austria, this is California. Voters in Central California and others from small towns have more on the ball than Arnie! ..."

Go to PolitickerCA.com to see the rest of the story.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Linda Sutton

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Joanne McKray

Gerrymandering is a long-standing tradition in US political history. It is not a time-honored one, because it makes our government less representative of its citizens. Gerrymandering in the State of California means that certain cities, counties, and groups bound by common interests end up with diluted or nonexistent voice in Sacramento.

The situation is the result of the fact that in our state legislators draw the boundaries of their own voting districts, an obvious conflict of interest. Beyond Constitutional requirements to create districts with equal numbers of voting citizens, they are bound by few rules. So, with the goal (achieved with 99% success) of seeing that incumbents are reelected, legislators slice and dice cities and neighborhoods at will.

Gerrymandered districts are common, but not inevitable. In at least six states Independent Citizen Commissions do the redistricting once a decade following the census, with a mandate to create a map designed, not to favor incumbents or any political party, but rather to see that diverse voices have balanced and fair representation.

by paulhogarth [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

I wrote this for today's BeyondChron.

With no presidential primary on the statewide ballot, voter turnout in June is expected to be abysmal.  Which means that Proposition 98 - the extreme right-wing measure to abolish rent control, basic tenant protections, environmental regulations and water laws - could actually pass.  But with term limits forcing many state legislators out of office, there will also be a number of competitive June primaries - creating the potential to drive up voter turnout in the state's more progressive pockets.  If Democratic candidates for Assembly and State Senate make the defeat of Prop 98 a central part of their campaign, they could help it go down in flames.  Candidates who mobilize to defeat it would also benefit - as it will help them connect more strongly with the Democratic voters in their district.