John

John Eastman is running for Attorney General because California needs an Attorney General who first and foremost will make law enforcement and public safety his top priority, defending the rights of law-abiding citizens and victims over those of criminals.

John also understands that, if faithfully applied, the law can be used to enhance Californians’ liberties, freedom, and prosperity, if “the Peoples’ Lawyer” uses it to serve that purpose.

He will make it his top priority to defend voter-enacted measures that get tough on sentencing for repeat offenders and those who commit the very worst offenses.  This includes California’s Three Strikes Law, which both the current Attorney General and District Attorneys from some of our largest counties have sought to undermine.

At Chapman University, John established a new program within the Law School to train young lawyers who choose to serve society as prosecutors and deputy district attorneys. 

With a firm grounding in constitutional law, John also has a long track record in using the law to defend our basic freedoms, protect liberty, and help create a society in which hard work and respect for the law is rewarded.

John’s record shows that he can use the law to defend taxpayers, religious freedom, and property owners from both liberal judges and elected officials.

• John protected taxpayers in landmark cases in which judges tried to impose taxes over an existing requirement for a two-thirds vote to raise taxes. He also filed suit to prevent the California Legislature from doing the same thing. (Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v. Legislature of the State of California; Angle v. The Legislature of the State of Nevada and Guinn v. The Legislature of the State of Nevada). 
• John protected the First Amendment rights of groups to participate in local elections over unconstitutional ordinances designed to keep incumbents in office. (The Lincoln Club v. Irvine; Long Beach Chamber of Commerce v. City of Long Beach).
• John defended religious freedoms in numerous cases, including cases involving defending the Boy Scouts, the Pledge of Allegiance, the appearance of religious documents such as the Ten Commandments in public buildings, and in fighting IRS attempts to regulate how churches provide housing to pastors.  (Warren v. Commissioner; Boy Scouts of America v. Dale; Newdow v. U.S. Congress; Hamdi v. Rumsfeld; and Van Orden v. Perry)
• John has also fought to defend private property rights by ensuring that property rights advocates and land owners have a seat at the table in litigation involving land use issues when a government agency and environmental group are the litigants. (Southwest Center v. Berg).  And he has defended churches against eminent domain proceedings (Filipino Baptist Church in Long Beach) and restrictive zoning (Grace Church of North County v. City of San Diego).
• John has spoken and written extensively over the current Attorney General’s politicization of the office in choosing not to defend voter-approved initiatives  and his attempts to influence elections by writing ballot measure Titles & Summaries to steer voters in his favor. (Proposition 8, 2008)