A Pacifist, Yes, but He’s Not Giving Up Without a Fight

The final battle in a 3-year-old war over Westside peace activism may end up being fought in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Veteran peace activist Jerry Rubin filed a writ with the high court Thursday in an attempt to force Santa Monica elections administrators to list him on the ballot as a “peace activist” if he runs for the City Council next year.

The city has twice refused to print the “peace activist” designation next to Rubin’s name when he unsuccessfully sought a council seat. City officials contend that such a designation violates state rules designed to prevent misleading occupational descriptions from confusing voters.

But Rubin argues that peace activism, including the sale of peace bumper stickers at Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, has been his sole occupation and source of income for more than 20 years.

He sued the city after the description was rejected for the 2000 election’s ballot. He lost at both federal district court and appeals court levels.

Last month Rubin, 59, emptied his savings account to pay for his petition for a writ of certiorari to be printed in proper legal form and submitted to the Supreme Court. The court will likely take several months before deciding whether to hear it.

“It cost $1,600 for the printing. I now have $2.03 left in my bank account,” Rubin said Wednesday as he stood next to his bumper sticker table on the Promenade and displayed a savings and loan withdrawal slip.

“I thought I owed it to myself to see this through. This is my occupation. Not only is peace activism a job, it’s a real hard job. Don’t I have the right to be listed on the ballot as what I am, a peace activist?”

The city says no.

Santa Monica City Clerk Maria Stewart ruled that “peace activist” does not fit the state’s rules for listing a candidate’s profession, occupation or vocation on ballots.

Rubin’s Supreme Court petition asserts that Stewart had a wide latitude in interpreting state guidelines at the time his “peace activist” description was rejected in 2000.

“They say ‘activist’ is not a vocation. But you find thousands of listings of ‘activist’ jobs on the Internet,” said Hawaii-based lawyer James H. Fosbinder, who has handled Rubin’s case for free.

Stewart is cited in the writ as acknowledging that she was allowed discretion in approving candidates’ occupational listings on city ballots. It quotes a pretrial deposition in which she suggested she would list a weapons dealer as a “businessman” and would reject the more accurate professional designation of “arms merchant” because it would be “politically unacceptable” in Santa Monica and might “be inflammatory to members of the public.”

On Thursday, Stewart said she still feels she acted properly with Rubin’s ballot designation.

City Atty. Marsha Moutrie said that although “1st Amendment law changes fairly rapidly,” she feels “the odds are long” that the court will take up Rubin’s case.

Rubin, who for years has been listed in his local telephone book as “Jerry Peace Activist Rubin” to avoid confusion with another Jerry Rubin, said he hasn’t decided whether he will run for City Council again next year.

But he said he will continue as a peace activist, even though he’s never earned more than $6,000 a year from selling the 100 peace bumper stickers he displays on his folding table. His wife Marissa, an art therapist, helps with finances, and Rubin said he lives frugally, with no car, no credit cards and no checking account.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Promenade shopper Joe Paquette, a security company worker from West Los Angeles, told Rubin on Wednesday. “I’m concerned about the world situation. But I’ve never been to a protest. I’m not an activist.”

You should become one, Rubin replied. “Don’t let anyone tell you that being an activist is negative.”