Law School Rites : Deukmejian Only Smiles at Protesters’ Rosy Glow

They wore roses and he wore a smile. And this was the nature of protest politics Saturday at McGeorge Law School, where a few dozen graduating students pinned roses on their robes to protest commencement speaker Gov. George Deukmejian’s opposition to Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird and some of her colleagues.

“It’s not for Rose Bird but for an independent judiciary,” Allison Joffee, a Reno student, said about her corsage.

Said Janine Busch, a Sacramento graduate and rose wearer: “The governor is politicizing the judiciary in an inappropriate way.”

Governor Keeps Smiling

For his part, Deukmejian smiled and ignored the quiet protest, which had been two weeks in the organizing. Instead, he reassured graduates that mostly it is non-lawyers who are concerned about too many lawyers crowding into the state. He passed on some advice that had been given to him years ago: “There is always room for one more good person.”

A New York-trained lawyer who has spent most of his career in politics, Deukmejian described the legal profession as one “of service, fairness, honesty, civility, responsibility, compassion and common sense.”

But he was interrupted with applause when he added lightheartedly, “However, don’t overlook making money. Money isn’t everything, but it sure keeps the children in touch.”

Inappropriate Forum

Spokesman Kevin Brett said the governor chose not to recognize the protesters because he “does not believe this is the appropriate forum for discussing the court. But he also believes the students have a right to make their views known.”

Perhaps 50 of 426 graduates of the law school, which has produced several top-level Deukmejian Administration officials, wore roses. A banner decorating the commencement auditorium said, “A rose for judicial independence.”

Not all the students with flowers were expressing the same emotions, however.

“I’m in love,” cooed one graduate when asked why she was carrying a bouquet of roses.

Deukmejian is a fierce critic of the chief justice and what he argues is a too-liberal majority on the court. But he has attempted to separate himself from directly participating with any of several organized campaigns seeking to oust Bird and some of the other justices who must stand for confirmation in 1986.

Deukmejian Appointee

Five justices, including Deukmejian’s only appointee, Malcolm M. Lucas, are up for confirmation at that time. Besides Bird and Lucas, Justices Cruz Reynoso, Stanley Mosk and Joseph R. Grodin are on a ballot that allows voters to say yes or no on each for another term. The race shapes up as the most highly charged of 1986, when the governor also is up for reelection.

Deukmejian and court critics contend that Bird and other justices appointed by Democratic governors have led the court too far to the left. Court supporters believe the governor is injecting too much politics into the court in an effort to pack it with his own appointees. By law, the governor fills vacancies if voters oust a Supreme Court justice.

Earlier in the day, Deukmejian addressed another forthcoming political contest--that with Democrats in the Legislature over the pending state budget that must be enacted by July 1.

Veto Power Ready

In his weekly radio address, the governor told Californians he would veto “excessive spending” added to popular programs by the Legislature.

“When I do this, you may hear the inaccurate report that I have actually cut the budgets of some programs. Almost without exception, that will not be the case. Even after I use my blue pencil, those programs will still be receiving an increase,” Deukmejian said.

Among programs in this category, the governor listed education, mental health, transportation, hot meals for the elderly and toxic waste control.

Spokesman Bob Taylor explained that even though the current budget debate has not generated the sharp divisions of past years, Deukmejian nonetheless spoke out “because we want to stay in the driver’s seat.”