Terry Friedman

State Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood) will retire from the state Legislature at the end of his current term, The Times has learned. Friedman, whose 41st District runs from Santa Monica to Agoura Hills, is telling supporters he wants to become a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. He is expected to seek the seat of Superior Court Judge Barnet M. Cooperman, who is retiring. That seat will be on the June ballot. An announcement is expected on Monday.

Each year, thousands of bills are introduced in the Legislature by state lawmakers whose names or track records may mean little to the average voter. While the decisions made in Sacramento may seem distant to Southern California residents, it is the state Capitol where many critical local issues get resolved.

Party: Republican. Age: 61. Family: Wife Patricia, three grown children. Residence: Lakewood. His district: The 54th, which includes Bellflower, Compton, Lakewood, Paramount and a portion of Long Beach. Formerly represented by Democrat Frank Vicencia, who retired. Background: Zeltner, a native of Philadelphia, served as a Navy seaman during World War II and spent 26 years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department before retiring as a captain in 1974.

An election campaign that's shaping up as one of the most expensive Superior Court judgeship races in state history has mushroomed into a fracas that may give new meaning to the term "judicial temperament." The battle features John L. Moriarity, a Van Nuys-based personal-injury attorney who runs half-page ads in the Yellow Pages and promises to be tough on criminals, and state Assemblyman Terry B.

A Van Nuys tenant-screening firm whose policies have spurred lawsuits and state legislation aimed at protecting renters from being unfairly denied housing is deliberately flouting the intent of the law, according to a state assemblyman and housing advocates. The aim of the law, which became effective Jan. 1, was to make it illegal for firms such as the U. D. Registry to continue reporting to landlords pending or dismissed eviction actions involving potential tenants.

An Assembly committee on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected legislation intended to limit the amount of money taxpayers would have to spend to acquire valuable Soka University land in the Calabasas area of the Santa Monica Mountains. The Assembly Judiciary Committee squashed a measure introduced by Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood) on behalf of the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation.

His bill to ban job and housing discrimination against gays and lesbians had just narrowly won passage in the Assembly, and Democratic lawmaker Terry B. Friedman was hurriedly shaking hands and hugging supporters. Then he took an unusual step.

I don't believe that anyone who knows or has worked with Terry Friedman will consider him a political opportunist, in a negative sense, now that he is running for the 43rd District Assembly seat currently held by Gray Davis. After graduating from law school, I worked with Terry as a volunteer attorney at Bet Tzedek Legal Services. I found him to be hard-working, down to earth and dedicated to the kind of legal and social issues that affect the lives of the poor, the weak and the dispossessed.

I was disturbed to read the article in the Valley Section concerning the residency question in the 43rd Assembly District (March 19). As someone who ran for Assembly myself at a time when Rosemary Woodlock was a candidate, I can testify that Ms. Woodlock has a history of attacking Democrats and has a history of running for office and disappearing in between elections. Terry Friedman, on the other hand, has a 20-year history of service of his community, most recently as executive director of a legal service for poor senior citizens.

I read with interest your story regarding Yaroslavsky's proposed ordinance regulating health and safety standards for video display operators. Much of the story concerned an opinion issued by the city attorney's office that local governments are preempted by the state. As chair of the Assembly Labor Committee, and as a lawyer, my view is that state preemption of local ordinances in this area is very much open to legal question. In fact, the same city attorney's opinion cited in your story concedes that there is "confusion" over the question of preemption, and notes "Section 6313 of the Labor Code states that county and city governments retain power of jurisdiction over or relative to any place of employment."

Culminating a long legislative battle, the Assembly on Thursday approved a strong statewide ban on smoking in restaurants and most other indoor workplaces. After more than a year of lobbying, arm-twisting and arguing, the smoking prohibition cleared the Assembly on a 48-22 vote, and now heads to Gov. Pete Wilson. His office declined to say whether the governor will sign the measure. The bill was authored by Assemblyman Terry B.

After a year of hard politicking, the state Senate gave its approval Thursday to a statewide indoor workplace smoking ban that could become one of the nation's toughest. The bill, which passed on a 22-9 vote, seeks to prohibit smoking in restaurants and most other indoor commercial and public buildings. But it was watered down during its tortuous path through the Senate and would allow smoking in bars and hotels, at least temporarily. The legislation must return to the Assembly for its approval.

Portending a major legislative victory for the tobacco industry, the author of potentially landmark anti-smoking legislation said Wednesday that he will drop his bill to ban smoking in almost all indoor workplaces unless he can remove controversial amendments added by a Senate committee. In a Tuesday night session heavily attended by tobacco lobbyists, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill by Assemblyman Terry B.

State Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood) will retire from the state Legislature at the end of his current term, The Times has learned. Friedman, whose 41st District runs from Santa Monica to Agoura Hills, is telling supporters he wants to become a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. He is expected to seek the seat of Superior Court Judge Barnet M. Cooperman, who is retiring. That seat will be on the June ballot. An announcement is expected on Monday.

It dismays me to read news such as Assemblyman Terry Friedman's (D-Brentwood) proposed absolute ban of handguns (Dec. 4). Apparently his constituents in Brentwood are of the opinion that by removing the tool that is used in a good number of crimes, the fatalities will be stopped. Mr. Friedman, if your methods were applied, am I to assume that we should also ban knives and heavy objects? It is the lack of values which is "rupturing the social fabric of California," not handguns.

An Assembly committee on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected legislation intended to limit the amount of money taxpayers would have to spend to acquire valuable Soka University land in the Calabasas area of the Santa Monica Mountains. The Assembly Judiciary Committee squashed a measure introduced by Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood) on behalf of the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation.

Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood) has been named "legislator of the year" by groups representing women and environmentalists. The California chapter of the National Organization for Women cited Friedman for his efforts to preserve funding for family planning clinics after former Gov. George Deukmejian tried to make deep cuts.

The 41st Assembly District Republican primary is winding down in much the way it began: as a party credentials battle in which four men are attempting to portray front-runner Christine Reed of Santa Monica as too far removed from the conservative wing to be a "real Republican." She has even taken a few dollars from the enemy--registered Democrats or those who have donated money to other Democratic candidates.

Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood) has been named "legislator of the year" by groups representing women and environmentalists. The California chapter of the National Organization for Women cited Friedman for his efforts to preserve funding for family planning clinics after former Gov. George Deukmejian tried to make deep cuts.

George Bush is proving to be a problem for Republican Christine Reed as she wages an uphill battle for the state Assembly. California's economy remains mired in the worst downturn since the Great Depression, a fact of life that seems destined to cost Bush the nation's biggest electoral prize and hurt Reed in the process.