Daunt v. Benson

• Decision Date: 25 November 2019
• Docket Number: Case No. 1:19-cv-669 (Member),Case No. 1:19-cv-614 (Lead)
• Citation: 425 F.Supp.3d 856
• Parties: Anthony DAUNT, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Jocelyn BENSON, et al., Defendants. Michigan Republican Party, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Jocelyn Benson, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan

425 F.Supp.3d 856

Anthony DAUNT, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.Jocelyn BENSON, et al., Defendants.

Michigan Republican Party, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.Jocelyn Benson, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 1:19-cv-614 (Lead)

Case No. 1:19-cv-669 (Member)

United States District Court, W.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

Signed November 25, 2019

Jason Thomas Hanselman, Scott Allen Hughes, Scott Allen Hughes, Dykema Gossett PLLC, Lansing, MI, Charles R. Spies, Dickinson Wright PLLC, Washington, DC, Brian D. Shekell, Clark Hill PLC, Detroit, MI, Robert L. Avers, Dickinson Wright PLLC, Ann Arbor, MI, for Plaintiff.

Erik Alexander Grill, Heather S. Meingast, MI Department of Attorney General, Lansing, MI, for Defendants.

OPINION

JANET T. NEFF, United States District Judge

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

B. Procedural Posture

1. The Lead Case

2. The Member Case

II. ANALYSIS

A. Motion Standard

B. Threshold Questions

1. Standing

2. Laches

C. The Lead Case

1. Likelihood of Success on the Merits

a. First Amendment (Count I)

b. Equal Protection (Count II) 2. Irreparable Injury

3. Substantial Injury & Public Interest

D. The Member Case

1. Likelihood of Success on the Merits

a. Freedom of Association (Count I)

b. Freedom of Association (Count II)

c. Freedom of Speech—Viewpoint Discrimination (Count III)

d. Freedom of Speech—Restricted Speech (Count IV)

e. Equal Protection (Count V)

2. Irreparable Injury

3. Substantial Injury & Public Interest

III. CONCLUSION

These consolidated cases involve federal constitutional claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson regarding the creation and administration of Michigan's Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission for State Legislative and Congressional Districts ("the Commission"). Plaintiffs in the Lead Case, which was filed in July 2019, are fifteen individuals who are allegedly excluded from serving on the Commission. Plaintiffs in the Member Case, which was filed in August 2019, are the Michigan Republican Party (MRP) and MRP's current chair, members, affiliates and/or relatives, who are also allegedly excluded from serving on the Commission. This Court permitted "Count MI Vote" d/b/a "Voters Not Politicians" (hereinafter VNP) to intervene as a Defendant in both actions. Plaintiffs in both cases accompanied their Complaints with a motion for a preliminary injunction. Defendants oppose any injunctive relief and have filed motions to dismiss both cases. All of the motions were fully briefed last month, and the Court now turns to the requests for preliminary injunctive relief. Having considered the parties' submissions, the Court concludes that oral argument is not necessary to resolve the issues presented. See W.D. Mich. LCivR 7.2(d). For the reasons that follow, the Court denies the motions for a preliminary injunction in both cases.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

The pertinent facts are primarily drawn from the content of the constitutional language, which is the factual background common to both cases. The parties agree that the propriety of preliminary injunctive relief turns on questions of law, not any contested facts.

Every ten years following the decennial United States Census, Michigan adjusts its state legislative and congressional district boundaries based on the population changes reflected in the census (Compl. ¶ 25, ECF No. 1 at PageID.8).¹ Until November 2018, the Michigan Legislature redrew the congressional and state legislative district boundaries (id. ). Redistricting plans were adopted if approved by a simple majority vote in both chambers of the state legislature and subsequently signed by the Governor (id. ). The state legislature last approved new congressional district boundaries on June 29, 2011, and the governor signed them into law on August 9, 2011 (id. ). The 2011 redistricting plan was the subject of ongoing litigation (id. n.1).

On December 18, 2017, VNP filed an initiative petition with the Secretary of State that proposed amending the Michigan Constitution to establish a permanent Citizens Redistricting Commission in the legislative branch to redistrict Michigan's state legislative and congressional districts every ten years (Compl. ¶ 26, ECF No. 1 at PageID.10). The Commission would replace the existing legislative process and eliminate any legislative oversight of the redistricting process (id. ).

As the Michigan Court of Appeals explained in its June 7, 2018 Opinion approving submission of VNP's proposal to the voters, VNP offered the proposed constitutional amendment "to remedy the widely-perceived abuses associated with partisan ‘gerrymandering’ of state legislative and congressional election districts by the establishment of new constitutionally mandated procedures designed to ensure that the redistricting process can no longer be dominated by one political party." Citizens Protecting Michigan's Constitution v. Sec'y of State , 324 Mich.App. 561, 922 N.W.2d 404, 410 (2018), aff'd, 503 Mich. 42, 921 N.W.2d 247 (2018).

On June 20, 2018, the Michigan Board of State Canvassers certified that the initiative petition had a sufficient number of valid signatures and added it as "Michigan Ballot Proposal 18-2" to the November 6, 2018 general election ballot (Compl. ¶ 27, ECF No. 1 at PageID.10). Ballot Proposal 18-2 provided the following:

Statewide Ballot Proposal 18-2

A proposed constitutional amendment to establish a commission of citizens with exclusive authority to adopt district boundaries for the Michigan Senate, Michigan House of Representatives and U.S. Congress, every 10 years.

This proposed constitutional amendment would:

• Create a commission of 13 registered voters randomly selected by the Secretary of State:

- 4 each who self-identify as affiliated with the 2 major political parties; and

- 5 who self-identify as unaffiliated with major political parties.

• Prohibit partisan officeholders and candidates, their employees, certain relatives, and lobbyists from serving as commissioners.

• Establish new redistricting criteria including geographically compact and contiguous districts of equal population, reflecting Michigan's diverse population and communities of interest. Districts shall not provide disproportionate advantage to political parties or candidates.

• Require an appropriation of funds for commission operations and commissioner compensation.

Should this proposal be adopted?

[ ] YES

[ ] NO

Id. ¶ 28. Michigan voters passed the ballot proposal on November 6, 2018, and the Michigan Constitution was amended according to the revised language that accompanied the ballot proposal (id. ¶ 29). The amendment became effective on December 22, 2018. See MICH. CONST. 1963, Art. XII, § 2.

Articles IV through VI of the amended Michigan Constitution set forth specific details of the Commission including the application process, eligibility criteria, and process for seeking and selecting commissioners (Compl. ¶ 27, ECF No. 1 at PageID.10). Article IV pertains to the legislative branch, whereas Articles V and VI pertain to the executive and judicial branches. The eligibility criteria are found in Article IV, § 6 (1) of the Michigan Constitution, as amended, as follows:

(1) An independent citizens redistricting commission for state legislative and congressional districts (hereinafter, the "commission") is hereby established as a permanent commission in the legislative branch. The commission shall consist of 13 commissioners. The commission shall adopt a redistricting plan for each of the following types of districts: state senate districts, state house of representative districts, and congressional districts. Each commissioner shall:

(a) Be registered and eligible to vote in the state of Michigan;

(b) Not currently be or in the past 6 years have been any of the following:

(i) A declared candidate for partisan federal, state, or local office;

(ii) An elected official to partisan federal, state, or local office;

(iii) An officer or member of the governing body of a national, state, or local political party;

(iv) A paid consultant or employee of a federal, state, or local elected official or political candidate, of a federal, state, or local political candidate's campaign, or of a political action committee;

(v) An employee of the legislature;

(vi) Any person who is registered as a lobbyist agent with the Michigan bureau of elections, or any employee of such person; or

(vii) An unclassified state employee who is exempt from classification in state civil service pursuant to article XI, section 5, except for employees of courts of record, employees of the state institutions of higher education, and persons in the armed forces of the state;

(c) Not be a parent, stepparent, child, stepchild, or spouse of any individual disqualified under part (1)(b) of this section; or

(d) Not be otherwise disqualified for appointed or elected office by this constitution.

(e) For five years after the date of appointment, a commissioner is ineligible to hold a partisan elective office at the state, county, city, village, or township level in Michigan.

MICH. CONST. Art. IV, § 6 (1).

As Secretary of State, Defendant Benson is the "chief election officer of the state" and is responsible for overseeing the conduct of elections. MICH. COMP. LAWS § 168.21. Subsection (2) of § 6 instructs Secretary Benson in the selection of commissioners, as follows:

(a) The secretary of state shall do all of the following:

(i) Make applications for commissioner available to the general public not later than January 1 of the year of the federal decennial census. The secretary of state shall circulate the applications in a manner that invites wide public participation from different regions of the state. The secretary of state shall also mail applications for commissioner to ten thousand Michigan registered voters, selected at random, by January 1 of the year of the federal decennial census.

(ii) Require applicants to provide a completed application.

(iii) Require applicants to attest under oath that they meet the qualifications

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