Computers Churning Out Anti-Bird Letters to Press

Hoping to impress the press with a show of a grass-roots strength, a campaign organization seeking to defeat California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird has undertaken a statewide computer letter-writing effort and deluged newsrooms with eye-catching volumes of virtually identical letters to the editor.

At the Los Angeles Times, a nearly two-foot-high stack has accumulated in recent days, 2,230 letters at last count with more arriving. Eighteen other papers around the state also received the letters.

Behind the effort are familiar names in California conservative politics, such as tax crusader Howard Jarvis, state Sen. and Republican U. S. Senate candidate Ed Davis and Orange County campaign direct mail specialists William Butcher and Arnold Forde. Their group, Californians to Defeat Rose Bird, is trying to rebut accusations from Bird’s camp that the effort to defeat her is driven primarily by the right-wing ideology and hope for financial profit of a cadre of political professionals.

A spokesman for the chief justice branded the letter-writing effort “a clear attempt to manipulate the editorial pages of California’s newspapers.”

Bird and five other justices of the seven-person court are up for election in November, 1986.

The nine-paragraph computer-written letters to the editor, personalized with the sender’s name and hometown, complain that Bird and “vote-alike fellow justices Joseph Grodin, Cruz Reynoso and Stanley Mosk, are handing down decisions which endanger every law-abiding citizen.” (The letter is printed in full on page 4 of today’s Times’ Opinion Section.)

According to Stewart Mollrich, director of Californians to Defeat Rose Bird, Butcher-Forde prepared a package of materials including the letters to the editor and sent them to a total of 65,000 people who previously had contributed money to the campaign against the chief justice. The donors were asked to sign the letter and send it to their local newspaper. Additionally, the 65,000 were asked to make another contribution to Californians to Defeat Rose Bird, in amounts of $15, $25 or $30.

“We’re seeking to do the things campaigns do--in this case seeking publicity,” said Mollrich.

He added that the campaign hoped to “build credibility with the press” by proving “there are a lot of people in this organization willing to express their feelings . . . (and) if you’ve heard directly from someone you’re more likely to take what they have to say seriously.”

Bird’s supporters repeatedly have charged that professional consultants are in the race against her because of the money they can make. Steven M. Glazer, a spokesman for Bird’s Committee to Conserve the Courts, called them “political mercenaries.”

Terms for Payment

Mollrich said the direct mail contract signed with Butcher-Forde provided payment of a nickel for every letter they send out plus 15% for the costs of production.

Mollrich added: “Large campaigns are managed in California by professionals, and that’s true of Rose Bird’s own campaign. All consultants can do is try to get the public to do something. And that’s what we’ve done here.”

Robert C. Jensen, editor of letters to The Times, said the volume of computer-generated anti-Bird letters he received was unprecedented in the recent history of the paper.

In addition to The Times, papers such as the San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Sacramento Bee reported receiving the computer letters, although in far smaller quantities. A reporter for the Mercury News said his paper counted about 200 letters.

Called a Gimmick

Glazer noted that while the volume of letters may be large for a newspaper, such quantities of single-issue computer mailings are frequently received by elected officials. “The public and press will not be fooled by such public relations gimmickry,” said the spokesman for Bird’s committee.

He added, “Butcher-Forde should be required to take a distortion-detector test before sending out any more mailings.”

Philip R. Constantine of Northridge was one of those who sent the computer letter to The Times. In an interview Saturday, he explained his motive: “We’re trying to make our views somehow count.”

But Constantine also expressed some dissatisfaction with the Butcher-Forde operation. In a handwritten note directed to the Committee to Defeat Rose Bird but mailed to The Times inadvertently, Constantine wrote:

“SPECIAL MESSAGE: I am already a supporter of CDRB! Send mailing material to others. Do not waste limited resources. Send informational/campaign material without solicitation for contribution, for a change.”