Doolittle (John) Papers, 1981-1990

Summary

Title:

John Doolittle Papers

Dates:

1981-1990

Creators:

John Doolittle, California Legislator

Abstract:

John T. Doolittle, Republican, was a California State Senator from 1981-1990. The John T. Doolittle Papers consist of 16 cubic feet of textual records and 10 audiocassette tapes reflecting Doolittle's activities during his ten-year Senate career.

Extent:

16 cubic feet

Language:

Languages represented in the collection: English

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], John Doolittle Papers, LP401:[folder number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The John T. Doolittle Papers consist of 16 cubic feet of textual records and 10 audiocassette tapes reflecting Doolittle's activities during his ten-year Senate career. The records are organized into the following series: Bill Files, 1981-1990; News Summaries, 1985-1990; Files relating to the Chief Justice Rose Bird confirmation election, 1985-1986; AIDS Articles, 1984-1987; News Clippings, 1984-1987; Weekly News columns, 1981-1984; Press Releases, 1981-1987; Postcards, 1986-1988; Correspondence, 1986-1990; Legislative Counsel Opinions, 1982-1989; and Committee Hearing Files, 1987.

The Bill Files document Doolittle's legislative activity during his time as a member of the California State Senate. While the bills introduced by John Doolittle cover a wide array of subjects, including one to make square dancing the official state dance (SB2146 in the 1983-1984 session), he did have a few subjects that were his primary focus. Doolittle was a strong proponent of sentence enhancements for criminals (for example SB113, SB1222, and SB1793 in the 1981-1982 session as well as SB1019 in the 1985-1986 session.) Also in his early terms, he focused on abortion funding. Doolittle authored bills that would have allowed people to opt out of paying portions of fees and insurance premiums that funded abortions (SB1231, SB1233, SB1875, SB1876, and SB1877 in the 1981-1982 session.) In addition, SB1009 in the 1985-1986 session would have made it mandatory for women to view a sonogram before an abortion would be performed. However, his most well known legislation may be bills relating to the AIDS virus. AIDS bills authored by Doolittle began in the 1985-1986 session, and culminated in the 1987-1988 session with SB1000-SB1008. Some of the bills included in that group had been introduced in the previous session, but were not accompanied by the concerted marketing effort that came with the set of nine bills in the 1987-1988 session (See 1987 Press Releases).

Doolittle also paid very close attention to the press. Over the course of his terms, Doolittle amassed a vast collection of newspaper articles about subjects he was interested in (See News Summaries Files series), articles that mentioned him by name (See News Clippings Files series), and articles about the AIDS virus (See AIDS Articles series).

Biographical / historical:

John T. Doolittle, Republican, was a California State Senator from 1981-1990. Before holding elected office, Doolittle was an administrative assistant to Senator H.L. Richardson and practiced law. In 1980, Doolittle beat out the incumbent Al Rodda, a twenty-two year veteran of the Legislature, by accusing Rodda of being soft on crime. After the 1982 redistricting, Doolittle's district was dissolved by reapportionment. Doolittle then attempted to unseat Senator Leroy Greene, but lost. However, he still had two years left on his term so he remained in the Senate. In 1984, Doolittle successfully defeated independent incumbent Ray Johnson to the surprise of many at the Capitol. He was later fined for ethics violations because his campaign helped the Democratic candidate in that race, thereby siphoning off votes from independent Ray Johnson, which ultimately lead to a Doolittle victory. Doolittle remained the senator representing the First Senate District until his election to the United States House of Representatives in 1991. The First Senate District consisted of the counties of El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Trinity and Yuba, as well as portions of Sacramento and Yolo.

John T. Doolittle was born October 30, 1950 in Glendale, California. He graduated with Honors from University of California, Santa Cruz with a B.A. in History. He then served a two-year mission in Argentina for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Doolittle attended the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific. Doolittle married the former Julia Harlow and the couple had a son, John Jr., and a daughter, Courtney.

As a state senator, Doolittle's legislative interests were varied, but his main efforts focused around sentence enhancements for criminals, limiting abortion funding, infectious and hazardous waste, AIDS, and eliminating the Office of Family Planning.

According to the California Legislature at Sacramento (Handbooks) and the California Blue Book, Doolittle served on the following committees while in the state Senate:

Standing and Interim Committees

Constitutional Amendments, 1981

* Chair

Local Government, 1981-1984

*Vice Chair, 1981-1982

Business and Professions, 1981-1990

*Vice Chair, 1983-1990

Judiciary, 1981-1990

Natural Resources and Wildlife, 1981-1982

Agriculture and Water Resources, 1983-1990

Insurance, Claims, and Corporations, 1983-1990

Senate Rules, 1985-1986

Select Committees

Small Business Enterprises, 1983-1984

Sierra, Cascade, and Klamath Watershed, 1987

*Chair

Doolittle also served as the Chair of the Republican Caucus, 1987-1990, and as the Republican Whip, 1981-1984.

Acquisition information:

The California State Archives acquired the John Doolittle Papers following his final term in the State Legislature.

Physical location:

California State Archives

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Abortion
AIDS

Names:

Doolittle, John

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Processed by Ron Cascella

Date Prepared:

© 2009

Date Encoded:

Machine-readable finding aid created by Ron Cascella. Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word. Date of source: 01 August 2009.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives collections.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], John Doolittle Papers, LP401:[folder number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.

Location of this collection:

California State Archives

1020 "O" Street

Sacramento, CA 95814, US

Contact:

(916) 653-2246

reference@sos.ca.gov

Website