Lewis Case Sparks an Effort to Reform Election Law : Politics: Dismissal of forgery charges against assemblyman shocks two legislators into seeking a law that would make such a political tactic illegal.

SACRAMENTO —  A day after the dismissal of felony charges against Assemblyman John R. Lewis (R-Orange) for faking former President Ronald Reagan’s name on campaign literature, two legislators vowed to introduce legislation making similar political tactics illegal.

Sen. William A. Craven (R-Oceanside) and Assemblyman Trice Harvey (R-Bakersfield) said Wednesday that they were shocked by the ruling that threw out the felony forgery charges against Lewis. The ruling was based on the fact that Lewis didn’t intend to defraud anyone of money or property by putting the phony Reagan signature on a political mailer more than three years ago.

“It seems to me to be an absolute gross violation to do what was done,” Craven said. “It just seems that to do things like that and not be subject to prosecution, in my judgment, is wrong.

“There shouldn’t be an opportunity with impunity to falsify things in such an overt . . . manner,” he said. “I know people play a little loose with the truth, but this goes way beyond that as far as I’m concerned.”

The felony charges were brought by the state attorney general’s office against Lewis for allegedly ordering Reagan’s signature affixed to letters, sent on behalf of Republican candidates in six 1986 Assembly campaigns, although he knew that the White House had declined to give its permission for use of the President’s name.

Lewis’ attorneys, however, argued that even if Lewis forged the names, felony charges could not be sustained in court because no one was defrauded of money or property--a necessary ingredient required by the law.

On Tuesday, the 3rd District Court of Appeal agreed with that assertion, although it said that Lewis was “guilty of misconduct which impinges on the public’s interest in the integrity of its governmental institutions” if the charges were true. But since the state’s Elections Code is silent on the subject of forgery, the three-judge panel ordered charges against the Orange County legislator dismissed.

Lewis and his supporters hailed the decision as a vindication, and they accused Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp of trying to use the forgery charges as a way to bolster his image as a corruption fighter during the early stages of the 1990 gubernatorial campaign.

A spokesman for Van de Kamp said Wednesday that the attorney general had not decided whether he would appeal Tuesday’s ruling to the state Supreme Court.

But both Harvey and Craven said Wednesday that they want to close a loophole in the state Elections Code by making forgery on campaign materials a felony. Van de Kamp’s spokesman said the attorney general would help draft the proposed legislation.

“I was shocked to see that California forgery statutes don’t apply to political letters,” said Harvey, adding that he would introduce the proposed legislation in the Assembly concurrently with Craven’s measure in the Senate.

Craven said Wednesday that he is planning a press conference with Van de Kamp next week on the proposed law.

Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson), one of the targets of the 1986 letters, said he tried unsuccessfully to get a similar law passed. The letter bearing the phony Reagan signature accused Floyd of “caving in to the powerful underworld drug industry.”

“I tried to run such a bill right after this thing happened and I didn’t get very far with it,” Floyd said Wednesday.

But the court ruling may persuade his reluctant colleagues to back such a bill by Craven and Harvey.

“Now they (legislators) see the real evil in this thing,” Floyd said. “Here’s a guy who is being congratulated by some of his right-wing colleagues for beating the dealer.”

Lewis did not return a reporter’s telephone call Wednesday.