A Sacramento Superior Court has ruled that Attorney General Kamala Harris does not need to advance the “Sodomite Suppression Act,” a proposed ballot initiative that would mandate the execution of homosexuals. Jeremy White, Sacramento Bee:
“Saying she did not want to be ‘in the position of giving any legitimacy’ to the initiative, Harris asked to be relieved of her official duty of preparing the measure’s title and summary, a necessary step before proponents can collect signatures. Judge Raymond M. Cadei granted that request in a Monday decision that became public on Tuesday, effectively halting the initiative’s progress.
The proposed initiative ‘is patently unconstitutional on its face,’ Cadei wrote, and forcing Harris to clear it for circulation ‘would be inappropriate, waste public resources, generate unnecessary divisions among the public, and tend to mislead the electorate.’”
That was only one bit of good news for the AG today: the Service Employees International Union California announced their endorsement of Harris in the race to succeed Barbara Boxer for U.S. Senate.
The California aid-in-dying bill that was inspired by the struggle of Brittany Maynard, a terminally ill Californian who moved to Oregon to take advantage of that state’s Death with Dignity Act, has met resistance in a key committee. Melody Gutierrez, SFGate:
“Bill supporters postponed the vote to July 7 after it became clear they did not have the 10 votes needed to pass the legislation out of the 19-member Assembly Health Committee. They’re now attempting to gain more support.
“The bill would require two California physicians to agree that a mentally competent person has six months or less to live before prescribing a lethal prescription to a patient seeking to hasten their death. SB128 cleared the state Senate this month and faces hearings in the Assembly’s health, judiciary and appropriations committees. If passed and approved by the full Assembly, the bill would head to Gov. Jerry Brown…
“Sources said six Democrats on the committee expressed reservations, five of whom are members of the Latino caucus. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, confirmed she is among those who oppose the bill, citing personal reasons.”
SB128 is one of two hot-button health bills this year; the other, SB277, which would eliminate most exemptions for vaccination of schoolchildren, has inspired talk of recalling the sponsoring legislators. Good luck with that, says Tony Quinn.
And here’s a story you’ve never heard before: new state tech project plagued with problems. This time, it’s the new prescription drug database. Melanie Mason, LAT:
“One week before California unveils an enhanced prescription drug database, some health providers say the upgraded program will be incompatible with their computer systems, hobbling their access to the tool that is meant to combat drug abuse.
“Nearly every state in the country operates a prescription drug monitoring program, which tracks when certain narcotics are prescribed and dispensed. After a Times investigation found California's existing drug database, the Controlled Substances Utilization Review and Evaluation System, or CURES, was woefully underused and underfunded, lawmakers passed a law in 2013 to increase funding for the system.
“The $3-million upgrade, known as CURES 2.0, is set to roll out July 1, but a compatibility issue with certain Web browsers may make it impossible for some doctors to use it.”
And speaking of drugs… on Monday we had a story about Cocaine being smuggled in a young woman’s breast implants. That was pretty awful. But at least they weren’t puppies. Puppies, for god’s sake.
“Spanish police have arrested a Venezuelan vet who allegedly tried to smuggle drugs from Colombia to the US by implanting them into puppies…
“He had been in charge of a veterinary clinic in the Colombian city of Medellin in which police found a number of puppies with bags of liquid heroin implanted into their stomachs….
“Colombian police found the Labrador and Rottweiler puppies with the drug implants in 2005 in a Medellin veterinary clinic.
“They said the puppies had been due to be shipped to the United States "as pets" to avoid arousing the suspicion of the customs authorities.”
What is the world coming to?