High Court Asked to Overturn Term Limits

SAN FRANCISCO — California lawmakers of both parties Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down Proposition 140, the state’s legislative term-limit initiative, as a violation of the right to vote for the candidate of one’s choice.

In a petition filed with the high court in Washington, legislative leaders urged the justices to overturn a ruling last October by the California Supreme Court that upheld the measure as a valid means of curtailing “an entrenched, dynastic legislative bureaucracy.”

In their petition, the legislators cited the recent growth of the term-limitation movement and said the issue is a “matter of immense national concern.” The federal high court has never ruled on the question and, it if agrees to hear the case, its decision could have broad impact.

Colorado and Oklahoma passed legislative term limits in 1990, and efforts to enact such laws are under way in at least 20 other states. In California, a new initiative is being circulated to expand term limits to include members of Congress and local officeholders.

The lawmakers’ petition, submitted by San Francisco attorney Joseph Remcho, said Proposition 140 unfairly infringes on the constitutional rights of voters in individual legislative districts to return incumbents to office.

“The very reason for which many voters are attracted to their representative--the fact that he has served them well in the past--makes him ineligible to be their candidate again,” the lawmakers said.

The right of experienced candidates to free political speech is effectively muffled under the measure by preventing them from seeking a return to office after their limits expire, the petition said.

The legislators also charged that the initiative was improperly designed to target certain legislative leaders--including Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco)--and violates a constitutional provision barring the use of legislative acts to punish individuals.

Proposition 140, co-sponsored by former Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum, passed with 52% of the vote in 1990.