Dana Cody, plaintiffs' attorney in anti-Proposition 71 lawsuit
Proposition 71 opponents rebuffed by California Court of Appeals
California Politics Today reported on
April 24, 2006 that "Disappointed, but not surprised, Dana Cody, anti-Proposition 71 lawsuit attorney, says she'll appeal last week's Alameda County Superior Court decision upholding the constitutionality of Proposition 71."
Yesterday, February 26, 2007, the California Court of Appeal for the First District denied that appeal. According to an article entitled
"California Stem Cell Research Is Upheld by Appeals Court," by Andrew Pollack in the
New York Times:
"California's stem cell research program is legal, a state appeals court ruled Monday in a decision that could hasten the day when the state’s $3 billion research effort can get fully under way.
"The San Francisco-based court upheld a decision made by a lower court last spring that found that the program did not violate laws concerning state spending, the structure of ballot initiatives or rules regarding conflicts of interest."
The
New York Times article quotes Ms. Cody on the case:
"Dana Cody, one of the lawyers representing the opponents of the stem cell program, said: 'We probably will appeal but can’t say for certain until we’ve seen the decision.' She conceded that the Supreme Court did not take many cases."
a loan of state money by Governor Schwarzenegger is providing funding for hESC research in California
Although the $3 billion in bonds authorized by Proposition 71 (to be repaid from the California General Fund with $6 billion in taxpayer funds) cannot be sold to wealthy individual and institutional investors as long as a legal cloud hangs over the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) established by that initiative, funds for embryonic stem cell research were recently granted by the CIRM from the
$150 million loan of state funds arranged on July 20, 2006, by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
According to an article in the
Los Angeles Times entitled
"Loans launch state's stem cell ambitions--California draws on public money, awarding about $45 million to 20 research institutions," published on February 17, 2007:
"The grants were a bonanza for the UC system, with UC San Francisco receiving eight; UCLA seven; UC San Diego and UC Irvine six each; and UC Riverside, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis and UC Berkeley receiving two each. Even the new UC Merced got one. The biggest winner was Stanford University, which took home 12 grants. USC received four. The private nonprofit Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla received eight."
institutions receiving the lion's share of grants are constitutionally entitled to seats on the CIRM's governing board by Proposition 71
According to Chapter 3, Section 125290.20 ("ICOC [Independent Citizens Oversight Committee] Membership; Appointments; Terms of Office"), enacted into law through the passage of
Proposition 71:
"(a) ICOC Membership
"The ICOC shall have 29 members, appointed as follows:
"(1) The Chancellors of the University of California at San Francisco, Davis, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Irvine, shall each appoint an executive officer from his or her campus.
"The Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Treasurer, and the Controller shall each appoint an executive officer from the following three categories:
"A California university, excluding the five campuses of the University of California described in paragraph (1), that has demonstrated success and leadership in stem cell research [followed by three criteria excluding every institution but Stanford University]."
According to the above-cited article by Andrew Pollack in the
New York Times:
"The opponents also said the program violated rules prohibiting conflicts of interest because the stem cell board contains officials of universities and research institutes that can receive grants. The judges noted that board members are forbidden from voting for a grant to their own institution."
listen to an up-date on the case and access previous stem cell reporting on the Stem Cell Channel
Dana Cody spoke this afternoon with
California Politics Today about this latest, and perhaps final, set-back to efforts by her clients and others to block the implementation of Proposition 71.
You can listen to that conversation, and access additional content relating to stem cells and their political status, in the
Stem Cell Channel below.
more on embryonic stem cells and Proposition 71 from Etopia News
You can access two volumes of the
Stem Cell Wars, covering the subject from the campaign to pass Proposition 71 to roughly one year after it was approved by California voters in November, 2004, by clicking
here.
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