Professor Feeney Co-authors Op-Ed on Initiative Process for L.A. Times
Professor Floyd Feeney co-authored an opinion piece arguing that California's Constitution is too easily altered through the state initiative process and suggesting that "major change is needed."
Feeney and his co-authors, Sacramento State University Political Science Professors Edward L. Lascher, Jr. and Tim Hodson, assert that because state constitutions "outline basic, enduring principles, change and modification should be rare." Yet California's Constitution can be altered relatively easily through the initiative process, which requires only the signatures of 8 percent of the number of those voting in the last gubernatorial election to reach the state ballot, and then only a simple majority for passage. The result has been numerous amendments, and a document that has become "a bloated mishmash," the authors argue, suggesting that California should consider safeguards other states have in place.
Floyd Feeney is the Homer G. and Ann Berryhill Angelo Professor of Law at the UC Davis School of Law and the winner of the Law School's Distinguished Teaching Award in 1986 and 2008. The author of seven books and numerous articles, Feeney has received awards from the National Institute of Justice and the California Probation, Parole, and Correctional Association, and is a nationally recognized scholar on election law.