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| News Flash - Lawyer ’Misuses’ Lawsuit Proceeds | |||
| 2004-06-13 | |||
A Rocklin nonprofit organization used money it won in environmental lawsuits against businesses to pay off personal credit card debt, taxes and mortgage payments, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. The lawsuit calls for the dissolution of California Community Health Advocates, which has not been active recently, and the distribution of its money to further the health causes that the nonprofit originally was formed to advocate. The attorney general also sued two other groups, Consumer Cause and Consumer Advocacy Group, both of Los Angeles, saying they misused funds that were won in lawsuits enforcing Proposition 65. The groups had sued businesses for allegedly violating Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, which requires companies to stop polluting water supplies and to post warnings if people may be exposed to cancer-causing chemicals. In the name of public health, California Community Health Advocates collected $538,397, plus attorney and court costs, from settlements with 22 businesses in Southern California courts between 2000 and 2002, according to the lawsuit. The attorney general alleged that, instead of using the funds for environmental causes as the settlements required, $134,000 went to Penryn resident Lorell Long, who was executive director of the organization; $34,000 paid off credit card debt; and $34,000 went to buy musical equipment and sheet music, among other expenses. Long, a singer who opened a Loomis recording studio in 2000 and ran unsuccessfully for Placer County supervisor in 1994, did not return phone calls. "To my knowledge, those monies were used for environmental purposes," said her son, Ethan Long. "The books probably weren’t kept correctly." I know nothing, NOTHING!! He and Lorell Long’s stepdaughter, Pauline Wales, are co-defendants in the lawsuit in their role as board members of the organization. Ethan Long, a New York resident, said the organization dissolved two years ago. "The state of California seems to be cracking down on environmentalists," he said. Seems to be? More like ’is’. Remove all sharp objects from your pants before grabbing the ankles...
Red flag at night, red flag at night, whoa, uh uh... But the attorney general is not questioning the legitimacy of the original lawsuits the group won, or the settlements reached, he said. Jeff Margulies, a Los Angeles attorney who has defended companies in Proposition 65 litigation brought by Consumer Cause and Consumer Advocacy Group, said more safeguards are needed to prevent abuse of the law. "I’ve always said that it allows people who are motivated by things other than the public interest to use the public interest as an excuse to make money," he said. What else is a leftist good for, except to suck on the teat public? Such misconduct should be prosecuted, said Michael Green, executive director of the Oakland-based Center for Environmental Health, which also does Proposition 65 litigation. Jail and disgorgement work for me, what about you? "If anyone’s using this public-interest law for private gain, we think it’s a really good thing that (the attorney general) is doing something about it," Green said. As an activist, Lorell Long has fought developers in Placer County for years, campaigning for anti-growth measures and helping defeat a shopping center project. "Her heart’s in the right place," Ethan Long said. The perfect summarizing sentence for the Left’s self-justification for their philosophy.
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| Posted by:Raj |
| #2 Cracking down on environmentalists or cracking down on crooks? I'd say both, Fred. Earth First types are not treated with the same level of seriousness as are other terrorists (eco-terrorism and all that), and I'm well aware of non profit organizations rarely, if ever, being audited / investigated because such audits are deemed 'politically sensitive' as I was 1) told so and 2) never granted permission to conduct those audits back in my Mass. DOR field auditing days, regardless of the audit issues I raised (and there were plenty). |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-06-13 6:54:53 PM |
| #1 Yep, they're getting abou $25K per settlement. Some might call it legalized extortion -- pay a settlement or go to court and pay much more just to defend oneself. Nice work if you can get away with it. Asshats. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-06-13 4:30:53 PM |