Calif. high court dismisses stem cell challenge

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The California Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed two lawsuits that sought to block the state’s publicly financed $3 billion stem cell research program approved by voters last year.

The court’s unanimous decision, however, does not rule out the possibility that a lower state court could get involved in the matter, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs said.

“It’s highly likely that some form of action in a lower court will be brought,” said David Llewellyn, a Sacramento lawyer representing Californians for Public Accountability and Ethical Science, a nonprofit group.

California had been unable to sell the initial bonds to launch the program while the suits were before the Supreme Court. It was unclear whether it would move forward now with another court battle looming.

The nonprofit group, which includes conservative Christian and other organizations opposed to the stem cell program, argued that members of an oversight committee had conflicts of interest in deciding who should get state money for program grants and loans.

The California program, approved by 59 percent of the voters last November, is to spend $3 billion in state bond money over 10 years to establish the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

The institute and oversight committee will award grants and loans for research and laboratories to develop possible treatments and cures for diseases such as Diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

The other suit claimed the oversight committee could not hand out taxpayer money because it is not part of state government.

Robert Klein, chairman of the oversight committee, said in a statement: “We would have preferred the California Supreme Court to rule on this litigation, but the Institute will now consider its options and take prompt action.”

Llewellyn said the court “evidently thought it was better to ask petitioners to bring all the potential issues to trial court first or to bring them in the form of a bond validation action to challenge authority to issue the bonds.”

California set up its own scientific program after President Bush clamped down on federal research into stem cells, citing ethical concerns in sharply curbing federal spending.

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