Court accuses state lawyers of lying

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

A federal appeals court bluntly accused the Schwarzenegger administration and state Attorney General Jerry Brown's office on Monday of lying about its defense of cuts in Medi-Cal fees.

Lawyers in Brown's office committed a "clear violation" of State Bar rules that prohibit attorneys from misleading judges, raising doubts about the credibility of any future statements they make on behalf of state health officials, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The court said health officials, through their lawyers, had lied about why the state waited more than a year to make its current arguments in the case.

Great moments in government.