Election-Year Politics Blamed for Defeat of Bill Limiting Police Holds

The unusual alliance between conservative Assemblyman Gil Ferguson and the American Civil Liberties Union would seem to guarantee success for legislation to limit police use of so-called “pain compliance” holds.

But not in an election year, ACLU legislative counsel Margaret Pena said ruefully.

The bill by Ferguson, a conservative Newport Beach Republican, would have barred law enforcement officers from using such holds on passive protesters.

When Ferguson introduced the measure, he had in mind protecting protesters such as Operation Rescue activists, who were subjected to pain compliance holds by Los Angeles police when they blocked access to family planning clinics during Easter week of 1990. The ACLU supported the bill with peace protesters in mind, such as those who were arrested during a demonstration outside a naval weapons station in Contra Costa County.

On Wednesday, the measure failed on a 6-13 vote of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee after testimony from an array of statewide law enforcement lobbyists who contended that the bill would tie the hands of local police and possibly result in more injuries to officers.

“We couldn’t hold on to moderate and liberal Democrats because the police groups are very powerful in Sacramento,” Pena said Friday.

It’s not that liberal or moderate Democrats don’t sympathize with the need for such legislation, which, Ferguson patiently pointed out, affects not only Christians but gays, environmentalists and any other groups that might demonstrate peacefully.

As a disappointed Ferguson told committee members after the vote, it has much more to do with the fact that the police lobbying groups provide key campaign donations, not to mention vital endorsements that play well with local voters, Pena said.