SAN FRANCISCO -- The Court of Appeal will hear oral argument in the case League of Women Voters v. Davis that challenges the constitutionality of Proposition 21, the Juvenile Crime Initiative that was passed by voters on March 7, 2000.    The ACLU of Northern California, the League of Women Voters of California, Children's Advocacy Institute, and Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth filed the lawsuit arguing that the juvenile justice initiative violates the California Constitution. The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco Superior Court on June 7, 2000.

            “This case exposes grave flaws in the initiative process,” said Steven Mayer, a partner with the law firm of Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin and co-counsel with the ACLU. “The text of Proposition 21 placed before the voters was not the same as the version of Proposition 21 on the initiative petitions themselves. Nor did the ballot pamphlet accurately reflect the provisions of state law that Proposition 21 changed.” Mayer will be arguing the case in the Court of Appeal.