State Bar considers ban on police donations to DA races

A State Bar ethics committee held a public hearing on Tuesday to receive input on a proposal that would ban an elected prosecutor or a candidate for office from seeking or accepting political or financial assistance from law enforcement unions.

The proposal, signed by three of California's 58 district attorneys, received support and resistance during the meeting, held via Zoom.

El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson, who is president of the California District Attorneys Association, opposed the proposal, calling it unconstitutional.

"To singularly identify one group and indicate that group is prohibited from political activism of any kind, is a stretch of constitutional interpretation and pretty extreme that way," Pierson said.

Brian Marvel, president of Peace Officers Research Association of California, argued the proposal is discriminatory against police officers and in violation of their First Amendment rights. He called the proposal a political ploy, designed to increase the authors' chances of winning elections by silencing political opponents, saying that police-related cases make up less than 1% of district attorneys' duties.

"If the authors were truly sincere in addressing conflicts of interest and ethics, they would have proposed eliminating contributions from the groups representing the 99% of what they do," Marvel said. "And at a minimum, proposed eliminating contributions from all organizations, irrespective of their viewpoint or politics."

One of the three DAs who made the proposal, San Francisco County District Attorney Chesa Boudin, said it "seeks to cure the conflict that exists when prosecutors accept support from law enforcement unions directly and then are asked to investigate and prosecute officers in those same unions. It also seeks to clear the appearance of that conflict, even when an actual conflict may not exist."

Boudin was opposed by law enforcement unions in his election last year.

The other two proposers, Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton and San Joaquin County District Attorney Victoria M. "Tori" Salazar, also received no law enforcement support in their 2018 elections, according to their election campaigns' financial disclosures. The bar's Rules of Professional Conduct already prohibit lawyers from representing clients when they have a conflict of interest, such as financial or personal relations. The proposal argues the rule should apply to elected prosecutors as well.

In a previous meeting, the committee raised concerns about whether the proposal could infringe on free speech.

During Tuesday's meeting, Boudin said the proposal is narrowly tailored to maintain the integrity of prosecutors.

"It also does not impinge on unions' ability to exercise speech around political issues," Boudin said. "Because those unions could, of course, still continue to spend their money on influencing campaigns. The rule would simply prohibit candidates for the office of district attorney from accepting support directly into their candidate controlled committees."

The meeting lasted three hours until the committee entered a closed session after listening to comments from the public. The committee is to report back to the State Bar Board of Trustees in November.