Local News in Brief : Bork Speaks to Landlords

Former Judge Robert Bork told landlords and property owners that the law of the Constitution--not political considerations that bend the Constitution--must govern society.

“A war is going on, a war for our legal culture,” Bork said Tuesday night. “Political victories that overcome constitutional rights . . . are undemocratic.” Bork’s comments were enthusiastically received by about 350 people at Santa Monica’s Sheraton Miramar hotel.

Bork struck a common chord for landlords and property owners unhappy over rent controls and received several standing ovations. The appearance of Bork, the man the U.S. Senate rejected last year as President Reagan’s nominee to the Supreme Court, was sponsored by the Foundation for the Defense of Free Enterprise, a year-old organization of landlords and property owners formed to challenge rent control laws in the federal courts.

Outside the hotel, a handful of protesters implored arriving guests not to attend. They waved placards: “The Congress rejects. Santa Monica landlords accept.”