Wilson Rips Van de Kamp in Drive for Initiative

Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson opened a Northern California signature drive for a proposed crime initiative Monday by attacking Democratic Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp’s assertion that the measure could endanger women’s abortion rights.

Accusing the attorney general and others who have linked the proposal with abortion rights of creating a “phony” political issue, Wilson vowed to press forward with the campaign to put the measure on the June, 1990, ballot.

The initiative would make it easier for prosecutors to seek the death penalty, speed up criminal trials and shield victims from some court appearances. Wilson is honorary chairman of the campaign to place it on the ballot.

“We aren’t going to . . . allow a cynical political ploy and one that is totally bogus to discredit that initiative,” Wilson said.

Meanwhile, Republican Gov. George Deukmejian echoed similar sentiments, telling reporters after a celebration of the California Highway Patrol’s 60th anniversary that he could see no need for revisions to the initiative.

“I haven’t seen anyone other than the attorney general who has indicated that he thinks it’s a problem,” the governor said. “Most other lawyers who have reviewed it do not see that it in any way affects the issue of privacy as it relates to the abortion issue.”

Van de Kamp, who like Wilson is seeking his party’s nomination for governor, has contended that the crime initiative could weaken the California Constitution’s guarantee of privacy--a guarantee that has been interpreted by the courts as a protection of abortion rights.

He referred specifically to provisions that say, “In criminal cases, the right of a defendant . . . to privacy . . . shall be construed by the courts in this state in a manner consistent with the Constitution of the United States.”

Since the U.S. Constitution, unlike the California document, has no explicit right to privacy, Van de Kamp argued that the change in the privacy clause could clear the way for a future Legislature to outlaw abortion.

Richard Ross, Van de Kamp’s campaign manager, said the attorney general reached his legal conclusions after consulting with many law professors who held similar concerns about the abortion issue.

“It (the issue) deserves serious and careful consideration. This press conference today did not do that. It’s defensive at best,” he said. “Coming up with glib one-liners . . . which is what they are attempting to do is not going to wash away the serious nature of the legal question that has been raised,” Ross said.

Pledging to contribute $25,000 to a new signature campaign, Van de Kamp has suggested that the initiative be rewritten to exclude the privacy provisions. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner proposed another alternative--that the Legislature place the initiative on the ballot “word for word” after removing the privacy provisions.

But Wilson contended that either move would kill the initiative. He said there would not be enough time to collect the 650,000 signatures needed to get the measure on the ballot if sponsors were forced to start their campaign again. And he predicted that if left to the Legislature, the initiative would surely die.

“We’re not going to let them (lawmakers) fuzz it up,” he said. “If they want to try to put something on the ballot obviously no one can stop them, but we are going forward because this initiative contains no defect.”