
About 70 members of the Democrats of Greater Irvine welcomed the great Erwin Chemerinsky to their club last month as part of a special event where the Dean of the UCI Law School talked about the status of the Supreme Court.
Dr. Chemerinsky, the dean of UCI’s Law School, started off by talking about recent cases the Supreme Court has heard in the past couple years as well as the direction that he feels they are headed in. He spoke about the importance of Justice Kennedy, adding that his vote would be the most crucial in upcoming cases as he has been in the majority decision more than any other Supreme Court Judge. Chemerinsky then talked about a recent free speech case that he argued in front of the Supreme Court himself just this last December. This was the first time I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Chemerinsky speak and I was blown away by how eloquent he was in describing the complexities of various Supreme Court cases and rulings, including the most recent Voting Rights Act decision.
The club then announced some changes in leadership. The club had appointed an interim board after it was re-chartered a few months ago and has now made a few changes to the board. Nevertheless, the Duck Club on Sunday was full of enthusiastic Irvine residents who were encouraged by not only City Council Members Beth Krom and Larry Agran, but also DPOC Executive Director Nick Anas to stay involved this upcoming year as it is going to be a very important year for Democrats in Irvine.
Anas also revealed that the voter differentiation for Irvine is nearly evenly split. Republicans once had a dominant position in voter registration and today, less than 1,000 voters separate the two main parties. Voter registration and voter turnout are key to taking back the council majority from the Republicans.
The new leadership of the Democrats of Greater Irvine Club is as follows:
Chair: Dinah Frieden (previously the club’s Secretary)
Vice-Chair: Carl Mariz (previously the club’s Treasurer)
Secretary and Treasurer: Greg Conway
You can visit their website at http://www.irvinedemocrats.org for more information on this growing Democratic Club in Irvine.