Signatures on Petitions
Washington, D.C., does not have a corner on such things as lapses of memory or unintended errors. Right here in California we have one of those donnybrooks that even Washington would be proud to call its own.
The Trial Lawyers Assn. wants to disqualify 50,000 signatures on an insurance initiative because an assistant to Atty. Gen. John Van De Kamp used the words “non-economic” instead of “economic” in the petition he prepared (Part I, Feb. 20 and Feb. 27).
This was not your typical error of omission. It was an error of addition. To make this mistake, the guy had to actually add a word! What a convenient glitch for Van De Kamp, who is on the steering committee of a competing insurance initiative!
The bottom line is that 50,000 people may have had their political voices erased in their expressed desire to mitigate the outlandish awards and legal expenses that make auto insurance rates a luxury that many people cannot afford.
HARRY MASS
Tarzana
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