Judge Rules ‘Slate’ Mailer Illegal

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered a political consultant on Thursday to try to stop the Postal Service from sending out 1.6 million illegal campaign mailers opposing Proposition 56, a measure that would make it easier for state lawmakers to pass budgets and raise taxes.

Judge David P. Yaffee ruled that the mailers violated the Political Reform Act because they failed to disclose that the “No on 56” campaign had paid to put its message on them.

Yaffee ordered Sherman Oaks political consultant Larry Levine’s firm to “use their best efforts to recover any slate mail” from the postal distribution center in Santa Ana.

Levine said, however, that the mailers had long since left the distribution center and could not be stopped. “They were deemed delivered to households yesterday,” he said.

A “slate” campaign mailer is one that endorses or opposes more than one issue or candidate. In this case, some of Levine’s mailers also endorsed U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat who supports Proposition 56.

“He puts people like Boxer on them to make it look like an official Democratic party mailing,” charged Lance Olson, an attorney for the “Yes on 56” campaign. “It is completely misleading to voters.” The mailers go out under such names as Golden State Senior Election Guide and Independent Voters Guide 2004.

“It is my right to endorse Sen. Boxer without asking her permission,” Levine said. “In no way did I imply my endorsement of her had anything to do with Proposition 56.”

Missing from the mailers, next to the message opposing Proposition 56, is an asterisk with a note stating that the message had been paid for by the “No on 56” campaign. Levine said that he had had no intention of deceiving anybody, and that the disclosure had been left out as a result of a “minor” production error.

“At worst it was a technical violation,” Levine said. “But if I were on their side I would do exactly the same thing.”

Polls, he said show that supporters of Proposition 56 “are failing badly, and they thought they had a chance of stopping the message of the opposition from going into the hands of voters.”