Lockyer Role in Measure H Suit Is a First

State Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer will make a unique appearance in an Orange County courtroom today, battling county supervisors over a health-care initiative that voters approved overwhelmingly in November.

The court fight over Measure H marks the first time Lockyer has personally handled a case since becoming attorney general, and it shows the significance he attaches to the Orange County case, his aides said.

At stake are millions of dollars in tobacco-settlement funds, money that county supervisors wanted to spend partially on paying off the county’s bankruptcy debt. County voters, however, approved a measure calling for spending most of the $750 million in tobacco-settlement funds, which the county will receive over the next quarter-century, on health care.

The supervisors, saying the initiative was unconstitutional, filed suit to overturn the vote--naming not the voters themselves but one Newport Beach physician as the defendant. Dr. J. Brennan Cassidy, immediate past president of the Orange County Medical Assn., was a supporter of the initiative.

Today’s hearing determines whether the case will proceed or, as Lockyer will urge, be dismissed.

State Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) said he will join Lockyer in opposing county officials’ case today.

On previous occasions, Lockyer has said he wanted to intervene to protect the rights of county voters and the initiative process, but had never received the necessary court approval until Monday afternoon.

Nathan Barankin, Lockyer’s spokesman, said the Orange County case is meaningful to the initiative process and the right of voters to support such measures without being dragged to court. The case is also significant because it deals with the state’s role in the national tobacco industry settlement and how that money is ultimately spent, Barankin said.

After Measure H passed, a majority of three county supervisors authorized a lawsuit to test the measure’s constitutionality, arguing that it robbed the board of the capacity to make budget decisions on tobacco funds.

But rather than take aim at the voters of Orange County, the county’s suit listed Dr. Cassidy as the sole defendant.

Lockyer’s office took exception to naming Cassidy, saying it imposed on a private citizen, who has no enforcement responsibility for Measure H, “the monetary, time and emotional burdens of defending a lawsuit brought by the very public officials who are responsible for implementing Measure H.”

In Lockyer’s opinion, the county’s suit was nothing more than a “strategic lawsuit against public participation.” Such suits are brought against individuals to chill civic participation. As a state senator, Lockyer wrote legislation to ban such suits.

Cassidy said he has mixed feelings about the matter. He wanted the case dismissed but also wanted it argued on the merits.

“The worst scenario is that the county does not implement the measure because this lawsuit gets dismissed,” Cassidy said. “Then someone or some entity will have to bring a lawsuit against the county to implement the measure, and I don’t think that’s in the best interests of the voters.”

The county counsel’s office did not return phone calls seeking comment.