When the Supreme Court late yesterday ordered expedited preliminary briefing on Governor Brown’s writ petition seeking to get his Justice and Rehabilitation Act initiative into circulation for voter signatures, the court did not act on the governor’s request for an immediate stay, which would apparently have cleared the way for signature gathering.
Today, the Governor’s attorneys sent the court a letter saying an immediate stay really is needed, well, immediately. The there’s-no-time-to-lose letter included a declaration from the owner of a petition circulation firm, explaining how it “has become increasingly difficult to gather signatures for initiative measures.” The real parties in interest responded with their own letter. The court also received five amicus letters in support of the governor.
Late today, the court issued a temporary stay order pending final determination of the writ petition. The Attorney General is thus now apparently free to issue the circulating title and summary for the proposed initiative so that voters can start signing petitions. We don’t know if that part of the Attorney General’s office will be working this weekend.