ANEW LAWwould require President Trump to release tax returns to appear on California’s primary ballot.
Evan VucciAssociated Pressdealt with a state require-
ment that categorically pre-
vented some incumbents
from appearing on the bal-
lot, while the California law
has created a condition
“that can be easily met,” he
said.
The Supreme Court has
ruled that states may have
ballot qualifications as long
as they don’t discriminate
based on wealth or ideology,
he said, and the state has an
important interest in having
its electorate informed.
“The Supreme Court has
repeatedly and emphati-
cally upheld disclosure re-
quirements, saying the the
interest in having voters in-
formed justifies the burden
on candidates,” said Wink-
ler, the constitutional law
professor.
Douglas W. Kmiec, pro-
fessor emeritus at
Pepperdine Law School,
generally agreed, “given the
unqualified power of the
state legislatures to deter-
mine the method by which
electors to the electoral col-
lege are chosen.”
Still, he said, the out-
come of litigation over the
law was hard to predict.
“Overall, this has been an
area of the Constitution
where the court has not
often given definitive guid-
ance,” he said.
The prospects for the law
would be better if it took ef-
fect after the 2020 presi-
dential election, he said.
“Applying it beforehand
gives it a rather distinct anti-
Trump frame of reference
that the court could find ob-
jectionable,” he said.
Theodore B. Olson, a
high-profile lawyer who has
argued frequently before the
Supreme Court, said he be-
lieved the California law was
unconstitutional.
“California can’t come
along and say to get on the
ballot, you have to disclose
your tax returns,” Olson
said. “And then Iowa might
say you have to disclose re-
cords of domestic [litiga-
tion] with an ex-wife, and Al-
abama might say you have to
disclose whether you have
any illegitimate children.”
Such requirements could
be aimed at a particular can-
didate and would amount to
an unconstitutional interfer-
ence by the states in the fed-
eral election process, he
said.
Gene Schaerr, a constitu-
tional lawyer who also prac-
tices before the Supreme
Court, said federal law keeps
tax returns confidential, and
California cannot force acandidate to waive his or her
rights under that law.
“I see it as a serious prob-
lem on both constitutional
grounds and especially on
policy,” Schaerr said. “You
can imagine a host of other
disclosures that states
might want to adopt.”
“If California could do
this,” he said, “some people
would undoubtedly want to
know whether candidates
have ever been treated for a
mental illness or denied in-
surance.”
California was among 18
states this year with bills to
require presidential candi-dates to disclose their tax re-
turns, but it was the only
state to enact the rule.
Ten bills remain active in
other states to create the re-
quirement, said Mick Bull-
ock, spokesman for the Na-
tional Conference of State
Legislatures.
Jan W. Baran, a Washing-
ton, D.C., attorney who has
practiced political law for
more than 40 years, said Cal-
ifornia can create tax disclo-
sure requirements for state
candidatesbut not for fed-
eral officeseekers.
“We can amend the U.S.
Constitution to require can-
didates for president to dis-
close their income tax re-
turns, but you can’t do it by
passing a single state law,”
he said.
David Keating, president
of the Virgnia-based Insti-
tute for Free Speech, said
Trump could mount a write-
in campaign in California or
just skip the state.
Because no one signifi-
cant is running against him,
he will most likely have
enough electors to win the
nomination without Califor-
nia’s, Keating said.
“Whether it is constitu-
tional or not, I don’t think it
is clear,” said Keating, whose
organization is part think
tank and part law firm.Election law faces a battle
[Law,from B1]
‘We can amend
the U.S.
Constitution to
require candidates
... to disclose their
income tax
returns, but you
can’t do it by
passing a single
state law.’
—Jan W. Baran,
political law expertL ATIMES.COM THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2019B
Aformer Laguna Beach
resident previously found
guilty of plotting to put a
judge through a wood chip-
per had his conviction over-
turned this month after a
federal court ruled a lower
court had wrongly deter-
mined he was incapable of
representing himself at trial.
The July 24 ruling from
the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals allows a new trial
for John Arthur Walthall.
In 2016, District Judge
Cormac Carney sentenced
Walthall— who was already
serving a 14-year prison term
for fraud — to 20 additional
years after he was convicted
of hatching a plan to kill the
federal prosecutors, agents
and judge who oversaw his
earlier case.
That case began in 2007
when Walthall scammed an
elderly couple into investing
$5.5 million into a proposed
business plan to extract gold
from abandoned mines.
Walthall instead used the
money to cover his son’s film
school tuition, pay alimony
to his ex-wife and buy a
hyperbaric oxygen chamber,
prosecutors said.
In the middle of that case,
Walthall jumped bail and
fled to Nevada, where au-
thorities later found him
with a handgun, several cell-
phones and a copy of the
book “How to Be Invisible.”
Jurors convicted Walthall
in 2012 of four counts of wire
fraud and one count of fail-ure to appear in court. Dis-
trict Judge Andrew Guilford
sentenced him to 14 years in
prison.
While behind bars in
Lompoc, Walthall concocted
a detailed scheme to kidnap
Guilford and force the judge
to exonerate him.
Afterward, Walthall
planned to torture the judge
and shred him in a wood
chipper, according to court
papers.
Walthall enlisted two
other inmates to help carryout the mission, but they in-
stead informed the FBI of
his plans.
At Walthall’s 2016 trial,
the court, supported by two
psychologists’ evaluations,
denied his right to represent
himself — finding that, while
he was competent enough to
stand trial, his “antics dur-
ing court appearances dem-
onstrated that he was not
sufficiently capable of pre-
senting his own defense, ac-
cording to court documents.
Walthall alleged during
the trial that his defense at-
torney was conspiring to
send him to die in prison.
The 9th Circuit, however,
found that lacking legal
knowledge is not grounds
enough to deny a person’s
right to self-representation,
and that the district court
had committed a “structural
error” by not properly in-
forming Walthall of this
right, according to court
documents.
“Once the district court
determined that Walthall
was competent to stand tri-
al, the district court erred by
not making further inquiry
to support findings concern-
ing Walthall’s ability to rep-
resent himself,” the opinion
states.Pinho writes for Times
Community News.JUDGEAndrew Guilford was a target in the plot that
John Arthur Walthall had been convicted of hatching.Kevin ChangDaily PilotU.S. court overturns conviction
By Faith E. Pinho
Former Laguna Beach
man had been found
guilty of planning to
put a judge through a
wood chipper.
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placeanad.latimes.com/placeanad.latimes.com/placeanad.latimes.com/placeanad.latimes.com/Obituaries Obituaries Obituaries Obituaries
Stephen P. Klein
January 22, 1938 - July 29, 2019
Steve Klein passed away peacefully after a
long, brave journey with Parkinson’s. He was a
loving, and very loved husband and partner of Gail
Abarbanel. A longtime, avid sailor, he also loved
exploring our country’s beautiful national parks,
hiking and long outdoor walks.Steve was a scientist, a statistician and a highly
respected researcher. He applied his analytic skills
to examining many important social issues, always
striving to develop standards and practices to help
ensure “fairness and equity” in the administration
of diverse and complex processes such as bar
examinations, teacher testing, college admissions,
administration of the death penalty, the United
States census, and health care programs for
disadvantaged children.After earning a PhD from Purdue University in
1965, he worked as a Research Psychologist
at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) where
he developed tools for measuring creative
accomplishments in the arts and sciences.
He came to Los Angeles to work at UCLA in
1968, where he chaired the Research Methods
Division in the Graduate School of Education and
introduced students to the science of problem-
solving. He later served as the Associate Director
of the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation. In
1975, he became a Senior Researcher at the Rand
Corporation where he designed and led studies
in the !elds of health, education, and criminal
justice, including a major, longitudinal study of the
costs and bene!ts of school-based dental care for
children which was supported by the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation.In1974,Steveestablishedhisownconsulting!rm,
GANSK & Associates, which worked extensively
with Bar Associations throughout the United
States, both on the Multistate Bar Examination
(MBE) and state-speci!c Bar Examinations -- tests
which determine an individual’s admission to the
Bar. This research focused on issues of validity,
reliability, bias and fairness. He was also an expert
in assessing the impact of unexpected events on
testing results, such as earthquakes occurring
during the administration of licensing examinations.
He served as a consultant to many other entities,
including the National Science Foundation, the
Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics,
the American Board of Dental Examiners, the Los
Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, and the
Attorney General of the State of California.Steve testi!ed as an expert witness in state and
federal courts and in legislative hearings in matters
related to employment, teacher testing, licensing
examinations, voting rights, criminal justice system
decisions, and business practices. He served as
an expert witness in the landmark Serrano v. Priest
case that dealt with equality of opportunity in K-
education, and the relationship between school
!nance and student performance. To illustrate a
point in his testimony, Steve gave the judge the
same written test that students were being given
and the judge did not pass the test.Steve also generously lent his knowledge and
skills to support his wife’s work as the Founder
and Director of the nationally recognized Rape
Treatment Center at UCLA Santa Monica Medical
Center. Together, in 1979, they developed the
!rst national training program on hospital-based
treatment for rape victims. The training materials
were disseminated by the National Institute of
Mental Health (NIMH) to health care professionals
in communities throughout the United States.He authored over 250 articles that appeared
in Science, Chance, American Journal of Public
Health, Journal of the American Statistical
Association, Journal of Educational Measurement,
The Bar Examiner, and Research in Higher
Education, amongst other publications.One of Steve’s most unique accomplishments
was training his cat, Zeke, to do tricks. Steve and
Zeke appeared in a special segment on KABC
News.In accordance with his wishes, there will be no
memorial service.Small but mighty Marie left
peacefully.
Feisty, loving, passionate, and funny
the planet will not be the same.
Survived by her daughter Laurel and
son Grant(Carol) and grandsons Gabriel
(Meagan) and James and Jim. She
is preceded in death by her husband
Lauren and her son Mark Rand.
Funeral will be held Friday August
2, 10:30a.m., St John Fisher Church,
5448 Crest Rd, Rancho Palos Verdes,
CA 90275March 25, 1924 - July 29, 2019HUNGERFORD, Catherine
MarieMount Sinai Memorial Parks -
Hollywood Hills 800-600-
http://www.mountsinaiparks.orgHOFFMAN, Jeffrey
Ruth Grahm, beloved widow of Alan
Grahm, mother of Randall, Bobby and
Isabelle, passed away on July 30, 2019,
at the age of 95. She was educated at
UCLA and New York University. Ruth,
who preferred to be called Ruthie,
was an accomplished songwriter and
actress. She was a secretary to the
sports journalist, Red Barber and an
assistant at the New Ideas Department
for CBS in New York. Ruthie was born
in Philadelphia and, with her family,
moved to Los Angeles, where she
worked in numerous films as a child
and young adult. (She maintained
her membership in the Screen Actors
Guild her entire life.) Among her
screen credits was the film, “Up in
Arms” with Danny Kay. Joining ASCAP
in 1952, her chief musical collaborator
was her father, Lou Herscher. Among
her popular song compositions were
“Orange Blossoms,” and “Fifty Games
of Solitaire.” After devoting much of
her adult life to the raising of a family
in Beverly Hills, she enjoyed a second
(or maybe third) career as a wine
salesperson, representing her family’s
winery. She was a valued member
of Les Dames d’Escoffier. Ruthie’s
ebullient and indomitable spirit was
truly extraordinary; she made a lasting
impression on everyone she met.
Funeral services are at 12:30 on Friday,
August 2, at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park
Hollywood Hills.April 4, 1924 - July 30, 2019GRAHM, Ruth
OBITUARY NOTICESPlace a paid notice latimes.com/placeobituary
Search obituary notice archives: legacy.com/obituaries/latimesTo place
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please go online to:latimes.com/placeobituaryor call1-800-234-Mount Sinai Memorial Parks -
Simi Valley 800-600-
http://www.mountsinaiparks.orgOLSAN, Barbara
Place an Obituary Online
go to latimes.com/placeobituaryMount Sinai Memorial Parks -
Simi Valley 800-600-
http://www.mountsinaiparks.orgLIEBERMAN, Alexander
Mount Sinai Memorial Parks -
Hollywood Hills 800-600-
http://www.mountsinaiparks.orgKOHN, Leonard Charles
David Richard Hartoch was born
and raised in Wichita, Kansas, with
his sister, Lynn. He then moved to LA
to finish his schooling. When David
became interested in the wholesale
insurance business, his hard work was
obvious as he worked his way up the
corporate ladder. In 1993, he served
as president of the NAPSLO trade
association. He served as president
and CEO of Sherwood Insurance
Services then served as chairman and
CEO of Swett & Crawford from 1997 to
2003, when he retired.
David touched so many hearts, in so
many ways, throughout his lifetime.
All those who met him, loved him.
He was a devoted husband and an
amazing father. David is survived
by his wife of 43 years, Kathy, his
daughters and spouses, Nicole & Ian,
Ashley & Erick, and our beautiful
granddaughter, Matilda.
Services will be held on Monday,
August 5th at 2pm at Valley Oaks
Mortuary, 5600 Lindero Canyon Road,
Westlake Village. In lieu of flowers,
donate to UCLA Neurology Research.
There will be no reception after.February 24, 1939 - July 29, 2019HARTOCH, David R.