Your Tax-Deductible Contribution Needed:
Campaign Laws Aim to Stifle Pro-Gun Activist
Gun Owners Foundation E-Mail/FAX Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.com
by Larry Pratt
December 12, 2000
Russ Howard, a former NRA director, was one of the principal
architects of ending the political career of rabidly anti-gun State
Senator David Roberti of California. Howard now faces an $808,000
fine.
Roberti and Assemblyman Mike Roos were the chief sponsors of the
legislation that banned semi-automatic firearms. They pushed it in
the name of fighting crime, even though then Attorney General Van de
Kamp had found that the targeted weapons were involved in less than
one percent of the state's homicides.
Howard was a volunteer with Citizens Against Corruption (CAC) in
1990 when the group spearheaded a campaign against Roos. While Roos
was re-elected, his amazingly small margin prompted his resignation
a few months later after CAC announced preparations for a recall
campaign.
CAC employed a re-mail technique to leverage the relatively scarce
grassroots dollars they had raised to use against Roos. They made
voter names in Roos' district available to volunteers, with a letter
explaining why Roos should be voted out of office. The volunteers
mailed the letters in their own envelopes into Roos' district.
CAC volunteers bore all the expenses themselves. These donations
were independent expenditures that were way less than what would be
required to be reported to the state's speech police, the Fair
Political Practices Commission (FPPC). Later the Commission would
include non-reporting of unknowable independent volunteer expenses
as part of the unconstitutionally draconian fine (the Eighth
Amendment bars excessive fines).
In 1992, Howard became executive director of Citizens Against
Corruption. Because redistricting had unfavorably shifted David
Roberti's old Hollywood district, he ran that year in a special
election for a Senate seat that was vacated when one of his cronies
went to prison for extortion. It was a safe Democratic district,
but the hope was to force him to spend enough in the primary to
wound him. CAC's efforts indeed resulted in Roberti spending
$2,500,000 on the primary and the runoff.
Roberti raised so much money that other campaigns around the state
were harmed because money they might have raised went to Roberti
instead. Partly because Democrats worried that he might do it
again, he later had to step down as President of the Senate.
Immediately after Roberti limped into the runoff primary victory
circle, CAC began planning a recall campaign on him. The April 1994
legislative recall was the first to qualify for the ballot since
1914. Roberti had about maxed out his political credit card with
Democrat donors. And what made them even less inclined to extend
him more political financing was the fact that he was to be
term-limited out at the end of 1994.
Moreover, Roberti had announced his candidacy for the State
Treasurer's office. That primary was scheduled for June 1994, just
a few weeks after the recall. This jacked his need for campaign
funds much higher, even while his credit limit with fellow-Democrats
was being exhausted.
Roberti survived the recall, but only by a small margin. The
primary election for Treasurer was just a few weeks away, and
Roberti lost. He blamed the "gun lobby" for ending his career by
exhausting his resources.
But Howard learned that fighting people like Roberti was a contact
sport. During the petition campaign to force the recall election,
the firm getting signed petitions for Citizens Against Corruption
explained that Roberti had made them too good an offer.
Moreover, the recall Chairman, Bill Dominguez, was personally
victimized. His firearms collection was stolen from his house.
Even though Dominguez never reported the theft to the press,
Roberti's campaign began gloating within hours that an "arsenal" had
been stolen.
Howard received death threats. CAC Chairman Richard Carone and his
wife received lewd and threatening calls. Donors complained of
harassment. CAC headquarters was burglarized, and Roberti claimed to
have a "mole" in the campaign. It appeared that part of CAC's
mailing list had been stolen and that political hate mail was being
sent to members.
In view of Roberti's great power, his dirty colleagues and the very
real threats being made, Howard chose to withhold the full
identities of CAC's donors, although the donation amounts were
reported. This decision was consistent with Supreme Court rulings
that have held that disclosure must be waived in such conditions.
The Fair Political Practices Commission did not see it that way. It
held that donor identities should have been reported along with all
the volunteers who re-mailed anti-Roberti letters. Contrary to the
law that prohibits stacking by one party, two of the five Commission
seats were vacant during the time in question, enabling Roberti's
pals to do their evil deeds in darkness.
Now Howard is in court. The FPPC wants to make the $808,000 fine a
court judgment. The trial judge is none other than Lloyd Connelly,
a former anti-gun assemblyman and political ally of Mike Roos and
David Roberti. Connelly has admitted that Roos donated $5,000 to
one of his campaigns, and that Roberti paid $12,000 to Connelly's
law firm.
But, Judge Connelly says that there is no conflict here, and that is
why he said nothing of it until he was confronted with it. And of
course, he is not willing to recuse himself.
The anti-gun extremists in California are trying to do to Howard
what he did to Roberti. But whereas Howard worked through the
electoral process with money voluntarily given for the cause,
Roberti, Roos and Connelly are using tax money to conduct a vendetta
through the machinery of government.
Please step up to the plate. Don't let Russ Howard be hung out to
dry. He desperately needs funds to pay his legal bills.
You can get a tax deduction for helping Howard by writing out a
check to Gun Owners Foundation and writing Howard on the memo line.
Every dollar that comes in for Howard will go towards his legal
expenses.
You can donate at http://www.gunowners.com/ldfhoward.htm on the GOF
website, or by calling GOF (using GOA's toll free number) at
888-886-GUNS. Or, you can print out the response form below.
Please give as much as you can. Russ Howard desperately needs your
help. And, please, forward this message to as many others as you
can. To make a tax-deductible contribution through Gun Owners
Foundation for Russ Howard, go to
http://www.gunowners.com/ldfhoward.htm and use the secure server.
To contribute by mail or fax, please print out the form below.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply Form
To: Larry Pratt
Gun Owners Foundation
8001 Forbes Place
Springfield, VA 22151
703-321-8585
fax: 321-8408
gofmail@gunowners.org
From:
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
___ Yes, I want to stand with Russ Howard so that others will dare
to challenge anti-gun politicians.
___ I understand that my contributions for Russ Howard to Gun Owners
Foundation are tax deductible.
___ I am enclosing a check for ___ $25, ___ $50, ___ $100,
___ Other_____
___ I want to use my credit card: ___ Amex, ___ MC, ___ Visa,
___ Discover
Account Number_________________________________________________
Expiration Date_______________________________
Signature _____________________________________________________
**************
Do not reply directly to this message.
To subscribe to free, low-volume GOA alerts, go to
http://www.gunowners.org/ean.htm on the web. Change of e-mail
address may also be made at that location.
To unsubscribe send a message to gunowners_members@mailmanager.net
with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.
Problems, questions or comments? The main GOA e-mail address
goamail@gunowners.org is at your disposal. Please do not add that
address to distribution lists sending more than ten messages per
week or lists associated with issues other than gun rights.
Campaign Laws Aim to Stifle Pro-Gun Activist
Gun Owners Foundation E-Mail/FAX Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.com
by Larry Pratt
December 12, 2000
Russ Howard, a former NRA director, was one of the principal
architects of ending the political career of rabidly anti-gun State
Senator David Roberti of California. Howard now faces an $808,000
fine.
Roberti and Assemblyman Mike Roos were the chief sponsors of the
legislation that banned semi-automatic firearms. They pushed it in
the name of fighting crime, even though then Attorney General Van de
Kamp had found that the targeted weapons were involved in less than
one percent of the state's homicides.
Howard was a volunteer with Citizens Against Corruption (CAC) in
1990 when the group spearheaded a campaign against Roos. While Roos
was re-elected, his amazingly small margin prompted his resignation
a few months later after CAC announced preparations for a recall
campaign.
CAC employed a re-mail technique to leverage the relatively scarce
grassroots dollars they had raised to use against Roos. They made
voter names in Roos' district available to volunteers, with a letter
explaining why Roos should be voted out of office. The volunteers
mailed the letters in their own envelopes into Roos' district.
CAC volunteers bore all the expenses themselves. These donations
were independent expenditures that were way less than what would be
required to be reported to the state's speech police, the Fair
Political Practices Commission (FPPC). Later the Commission would
include non-reporting of unknowable independent volunteer expenses
as part of the unconstitutionally draconian fine (the Eighth
Amendment bars excessive fines).
In 1992, Howard became executive director of Citizens Against
Corruption. Because redistricting had unfavorably shifted David
Roberti's old Hollywood district, he ran that year in a special
election for a Senate seat that was vacated when one of his cronies
went to prison for extortion. It was a safe Democratic district,
but the hope was to force him to spend enough in the primary to
wound him. CAC's efforts indeed resulted in Roberti spending
$2,500,000 on the primary and the runoff.
Roberti raised so much money that other campaigns around the state
were harmed because money they might have raised went to Roberti
instead. Partly because Democrats worried that he might do it
again, he later had to step down as President of the Senate.
Immediately after Roberti limped into the runoff primary victory
circle, CAC began planning a recall campaign on him. The April 1994
legislative recall was the first to qualify for the ballot since
1914. Roberti had about maxed out his political credit card with
Democrat donors. And what made them even less inclined to extend
him more political financing was the fact that he was to be
term-limited out at the end of 1994.
Moreover, Roberti had announced his candidacy for the State
Treasurer's office. That primary was scheduled for June 1994, just
a few weeks after the recall. This jacked his need for campaign
funds much higher, even while his credit limit with fellow-Democrats
was being exhausted.
Roberti survived the recall, but only by a small margin. The
primary election for Treasurer was just a few weeks away, and
Roberti lost. He blamed the "gun lobby" for ending his career by
exhausting his resources.
But Howard learned that fighting people like Roberti was a contact
sport. During the petition campaign to force the recall election,
the firm getting signed petitions for Citizens Against Corruption
explained that Roberti had made them too good an offer.
Moreover, the recall Chairman, Bill Dominguez, was personally
victimized. His firearms collection was stolen from his house.
Even though Dominguez never reported the theft to the press,
Roberti's campaign began gloating within hours that an "arsenal" had
been stolen.
Howard received death threats. CAC Chairman Richard Carone and his
wife received lewd and threatening calls. Donors complained of
harassment. CAC headquarters was burglarized, and Roberti claimed to
have a "mole" in the campaign. It appeared that part of CAC's
mailing list had been stolen and that political hate mail was being
sent to members.
In view of Roberti's great power, his dirty colleagues and the very
real threats being made, Howard chose to withhold the full
identities of CAC's donors, although the donation amounts were
reported. This decision was consistent with Supreme Court rulings
that have held that disclosure must be waived in such conditions.
The Fair Political Practices Commission did not see it that way. It
held that donor identities should have been reported along with all
the volunteers who re-mailed anti-Roberti letters. Contrary to the
law that prohibits stacking by one party, two of the five Commission
seats were vacant during the time in question, enabling Roberti's
pals to do their evil deeds in darkness.
Now Howard is in court. The FPPC wants to make the $808,000 fine a
court judgment. The trial judge is none other than Lloyd Connelly,
a former anti-gun assemblyman and political ally of Mike Roos and
David Roberti. Connelly has admitted that Roos donated $5,000 to
one of his campaigns, and that Roberti paid $12,000 to Connelly's
law firm.
But, Judge Connelly says that there is no conflict here, and that is
why he said nothing of it until he was confronted with it. And of
course, he is not willing to recuse himself.
The anti-gun extremists in California are trying to do to Howard
what he did to Roberti. But whereas Howard worked through the
electoral process with money voluntarily given for the cause,
Roberti, Roos and Connelly are using tax money to conduct a vendetta
through the machinery of government.
Please step up to the plate. Don't let Russ Howard be hung out to
dry. He desperately needs funds to pay his legal bills.
You can get a tax deduction for helping Howard by writing out a
check to Gun Owners Foundation and writing Howard on the memo line.
Every dollar that comes in for Howard will go towards his legal
expenses.
You can donate at http://www.gunowners.com/ldfhoward.htm on the GOF
website, or by calling GOF (using GOA's toll free number) at
888-886-GUNS. Or, you can print out the response form below.
Please give as much as you can. Russ Howard desperately needs your
help. And, please, forward this message to as many others as you
can. To make a tax-deductible contribution through Gun Owners
Foundation for Russ Howard, go to
http://www.gunowners.com/ldfhoward.htm and use the secure server.
To contribute by mail or fax, please print out the form below.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply Form
To: Larry Pratt
Gun Owners Foundation
8001 Forbes Place
Springfield, VA 22151
703-321-8585
fax: 321-8408
gofmail@gunowners.org
From:
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
___ Yes, I want to stand with Russ Howard so that others will dare
to challenge anti-gun politicians.
___ I understand that my contributions for Russ Howard to Gun Owners
Foundation are tax deductible.
___ I am enclosing a check for ___ $25, ___ $50, ___ $100,
___ Other_____
___ I want to use my credit card: ___ Amex, ___ MC, ___ Visa,
___ Discover
Account Number_________________________________________________
Expiration Date_______________________________
Signature _____________________________________________________
**************
Do not reply directly to this message.
To subscribe to free, low-volume GOA alerts, go to
http://www.gunowners.org/ean.htm on the web. Change of e-mail
address may also be made at that location.
To unsubscribe send a message to gunowners_members@mailmanager.net
with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.
Problems, questions or comments? The main GOA e-mail address
goamail@gunowners.org is at your disposal. Please do not add that
address to distribution lists sending more than ten messages per
week or lists associated with issues other than gun rights.