Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1988. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (SF) - TUESDAY August 9, 1988 Edition: FINAL Section: NEWS Page: A9 Word Count: 391
Greg Lucas, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Arguments by attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and National Gay Rights Advocates were unable to convince Superior Court Judge Roger K. Warren that the initiative violates the state constitution's rule that propositions address only one subject.
"Each of the four provisions challenged . . . is, in fact, logically and reasonably germane" to the initiative's purpose, Warren said.
In addition to banning anonymous testing for the HIV antibody, the proposition would require anyone testing positive to supply public health officials with the names and addresses of all sex partners.
"Whether the means the initiative adopts to accomplish its overall objective is proper . . . is not for this court to decide," Warren said. That is "for the people to vote on in November."
Warren also rejected the argument by ACLU attorney Matthew Coles that the title and summary given the initiative by the attorney general did not include important parts of the proposition, including granting insurance companies and employers the right to demand AIDS tests.
A separate lawsuit, which seeks to change the ballot pamphlet and voter handbook summary of the initiative's key provisions, is scheduled for a Sacramento court hearing tomorrow.
After yesterday's hearing, Gann said he was happy with the decision.
He branded accusations that it mirrored previous initiatives by political extremist Lyndon LaRouche calling for mandatory AIDS testing a "vicious, damn lie." Filed on behalf of the California Medical Association and the California Nurses Association, the suit claimed Proposition 102's requirements that insurance companies could use HIV tests to determine whether to insure someone and that employees be allowed to wear whatever protective clothing they want in the workplace, even if there is no risk of contracting the virus, were not questions of public health.
Coles also challenged the increase of three years in the prison sentence for any HIV-positive person who commits rape with a foreign object or assault with a deadly weapon.
Although Warren agreed that the summary of the initiative should include the fact that insurance companies and employers could demand AIDS tests, the judge said there was no evidence to suggest that not including it served to confuse those who signed petitions for the measure.
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