AB 2943 was heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on April 30, and is now being held in that committee's suspense file to assess its financial impact. Penal Code 273a currently makes it a crime to cause unjustifiable pain, harm, or injury to any minor child. AB 2943 would amend PC 273a to say that any spanking with an implement is unjustifiable. Parents would be arrested and face trial in criminal court for swatting their kid with a rolled up newspaper. They could be sent to jail for a year or prison for six. They could lose custody of their children.

Such cases would severely overburden Child Protective Services and Juvenile Court, and make it harder for them to concentrate on cases of real child abuse. Now, I have a lot of respect for mothers. I think that a mother is the best person to decide if a child needs a stern look, or a hug and a kiss,or a swat on the tush at any given instant. Research by Robert E. Larzelere, Ph.D., of Oklahoma State University, shows that spanking, when used to back up other disciplinary methods, is effective in curbing anti-social behavior in children as they grow up.

Diana Baumrind, Ph.D., of the University of California, found that children who are occasionally spanked score higher on measures of adjustment than children who have never been spanked. But Sally Lieber thinks that spanking - all spanking - is child abuse. She wants to outlaw it, and she thinks the place to start is by outlawing spanking with an implement. So pick one of the members of the committee listed below to write or call.

Of course, writing and calling assembly committee members is just damage control. We would not have to do this if Sally Lieber would give up her crusade to ban spanking, or if the voters of Mountain View had enough sense to quit re-electing her. Similarly, we would not have to vote for Prop 98 if the Supreme Court had not crippled private property rights in Kelo vs. New London. Alas, they did, and now we have to try to pass bandage legislation to keep governments from forcing the sale of private property to other private enterprises that bring in more tax revenue or look more upscale. Kelo was affirmed on a 5 to 4 vote. The justices voting for Kelo were Stevens, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsberg, and Breyer. The justices who dissented, who wanted to maintain the traditional, constitutional protection of private property rights were O'Conner, Rhenquist, Scalia, and Thomas. Let's look at how the Democratic and Republican appointees stack up in their protection of constitutional liberties. Bush appointed Souter and Thomas. Ford appointed Stevens. Reagan appointed Kennedy, Rhenquist, O'Conner, and Scalia. Clinton appointed Ginsberg and Breyer. So Bush made one good appointment and one bad. Ford made one bad. Ronnie made three out of four good, and Clinton made two, 100%, bad. Appointing good Supreme Court justices is one of the most important functions of a president. Clearly, we need to elect a president who will appoint strict constructionist judges. That means not only a Republican,but a conservative Republican. Otherwise, we will be working very hard to pass bandage legislation. Have a happy Mother's Day anyway.

You make the call

So pick one of the members of the committee listed below to write or call. (Do not email; emails are too easily ignored.) Ask the assembly member to vote no on AB 2943. Address: State Capitol, Sacramento, CA, 95814.

■ Mimi Walters (Vice Chair): 916-319-2073,

fax: 916-319-2173;

■ Mark Leno (Chair): 916-319-2013, fax: 916-319-2113

■ Anna Caballero: 916-319-2028, fax: 916-319-2128

■ Mike Davis: 916-319-2048, fax: 916-319-2148

■ Mark DeSaulnier: 916-319-2011, fax: 916-319-2111

■ Warren Furutani: 916-319-2055, fax: 916-319-2155

■ Jared Huffman: 916-319-2006, fax: 916-319-2106

■ Betty Karnette: 916-319-2054, fax: 916-319-2154

■ Paul Krekorian: 916-319-2043, fax: 916-319-2143

■ Ted Lieu: 916-319-2053, fax: 916-319-2153

■ Fiona Ma: 916-319-2012, fax: 916-319-2112

■ Pedro Nava: 916-319-2035, fax: 916-319-2135

■ Jose Solorio: 916-319-2069, fax: 916-319-2169

Cynthia Walker Cynthia Anne Walker is a homeschooling mother of three and former engineer. She is a published independent author. Her column is published in The Dispatch every Friday.