Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Ass'n v. Padilla
| Decision Date | 04 January 2016 |
| Docket Number | No. S220289.,S220289. |
| Citation | 62 Cal.4th 486 |
| Court | California Supreme Court |
| Parties | HOWARD JARVIS TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION et al., Petitioners, v. Alex PADILLA, as Secretary of State, etc., Respondent; Legislature of the State of California, Real Party in Interest. |
***735 Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, Thomas W. Hiltachk and Charles H. Bell, Jr., Sacramento, for Petitioners.
No appearance for Respondent.
Diane F. Boyer–Vine, Jeffrey A. DeLand, Robert A Pratt, Sacramento; Strumwasser & Woocher, Fredric D. Woocher, Michael J. Strumwasser and Dale K. Larson, Los Angeles, for Real Party in Interest.
Douglas T. Kendall, Elizabeth B. Wydra, San Francisco, David H. Gans and Tom Donnelly for Constitutional Accountability Center as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Real Party in Interest.
Ronald A. Fein; Arnold & Porter, Steven L. Mayer, San Francisco, and Amie L. Medley, Los Angeles, for Free Speech for People, Inc., as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Real Party in Interest.
Michael B. Salerno, Steven Bonorris and Nedda Black for The Center for State and Local Government Law as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Respondent and Real Party in Interest.
**631 In 2014, the California Legislature sought to place on the general election ballot a nonbinding advisory question, Proposition 49. The measure would have asked the electorate whether Congress should propose, and the Legislature ratify, a federal constitutional amendment overturning the United States Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm'n (2010) 558 U.S. 310, 130 S.Ct. 876, 175 L.Ed.2d 753.
In response to a petition for writ of mandate urging the unconstitutionality of the Legislature's action, we issued an order to show cause and directed the Secretary of State to refrain from taking further action in connection with placement of Proposition 49 on the ballot. Our action did not rest on a final determination of Proposition 49's lawfulness. Instead, we concluded “the proposition's validity is uncertain” and the balance of hardships from permitting an invalid measure to remain on the ballot, as against delaying a proposition to a future election, weighed in favor of immediate relief. (See American Federation of Labor v. Eu (1984) 36 Cal.3d 687, 697, 206 Cal.Rptr. 89, 686 P.2d 609.)
We now resolve the merits of Proposition 49's constitutionality. We conclude: (1) as a matter of state law, the Legislature has authority to conduct investigations by reasonable means to inform the exercise of its other powers; (2) among those other powers are the power to petition for national constitutional conventions, ratify federal constitutional amendments, and call on Congress and other states to exercise their own federal article V powers; (3) although neither constitutional text nor judicial precedent provide definitive answers to the question, long-standing historical practice among the states demonstrates a common understanding that legislatures may formally consult with and ***736 seek nonbinding input from their constituents on matters relevant to the federal constitutional amendment process; (4) nothing in the state Constitution prohibits the use of advisory questions to inform the Legislature's exercise of its article V-related powers; and (5) applying deferential review, Proposition 49 is reasonably related to the exercise of those powers and thus constitutional. We deny the instant petition for a writ of mandate.
In Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm'n, supra, 558 U.S. 310, 130 S.Ct. 876, a divided United States Supreme Court invalidated federal election law restrictions on the political speech of corporations, holding that a speaker's identity as a corporation, as opposed to natural person, could not justify greater regulation of speech than the First Amendment would have otherwise permitted. (Id. at pp. 319, 365, 130 S.Ct. 876.) In the few years since its issuance, Citizens United 's holding concerning the speech rights of corporations has generated considerable democratic debate, receiving criticism in the presidential State of the Union address,1 giving rise to resolutions in Congress to amend the Constitution,2 and sparking calls for reconsideration within the United States Supreme Court itself.3 Many have agreed with the Supreme Court majority, while others have concluded the Constitution must be amended to permit renewed restraints on corporate involvement in popular elections.
The Legislature first joined issue with Citizens United in Assembly Joint Resolution No. 1, introduced in 2012 and adopted by both houses of the Legislature in 2014. (Assem. Joint Res. No. 1, Stats. 2014 (2013–2014 Reg. Sess.) res. ch. 77.) The resolution declared: “Corporations are legal entities that **632 governments create and the rights that they enjoy under the United States Constitution should be more narrowly defined than the rights afforded to natural persons.” (Ibid.) Acknowledging Citizens United 's holding to the contrary, the resolution exercised the Legislature's federal constitutional power to “apply to the United States Congress to call a constitutional convention for the sole purpose of proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution that would limit corporate personhood for purposes of campaign finance and political speech and would further declare that money does not constitute speech and may be legislatively limited.” (Assem. Joint Res. No. 1, Stats. 2014 (2013–2014 Reg. Sess.) res. ch. 77; see U.S. Const. art. V [].)
Separately, the Legislature enacted Senate Bill No. 1272 (2013–2014 Reg. Sess.) (Senate Bill No. 1272), “[a]n act to submit an advisory question to the voters relating to campaign finance....” (Stats.2014, ch. 175.) A lengthy preamble decried Citizens United, noted the article V process for amending the United States Constitution, and asserted “[t]he people of California ***737 and of the United States have previously used ballot measures as a way of instructing their elected representatives about the express actions they want to see them take on their behalf, including provisions to amend the United States Constitution.” (Stats.2014, ch. 175, § 2, subd. (m); see generally id., § 2.) The measure “call[ed] a special election to be consolidated with the November 4, 2014, statewide general election” (Legis. Counsel's Dig., Sen. Bill No. 1272 (2013–2014 Reg. Sess.); see Stats.2014, ch. 175, § 3) and directed the Secretary of State to submit to voters at that election an advisory question asking whether Congress should propose, and the Legislature ratify, a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United, and thereafter to submit the results to Congress (Stats.2014, ch. 175, § 4). The measure became law in July 2014, after both houses passed it and the Governor declined to sign or veto it. (See Cal. Const, art. IV, § 10, subd. (b)(3) [].)
Subsequently, then Secretary of State Debra Bowen designated the advisory question Proposition 49 and began preparing ballot materials. The proposition was to read: “Shall the Congress of the United States propose, and the California Legislature ratify, an amendment or amendments to the United States Constitution to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) 558 U.S. 310 130 S.Ct. 876, 175 L.Ed.2d 753, and other applicable judicial precedents, to allow the full regulation or limitation of campaign contributions and spending, to ensure that all citizens, regardless of wealth, may express their views to one another, and to make clear that the rights protected by the United States Constitution are the rights of natural persons only?” (Stats.2014, ch. 175, § 4, subd. (a).)
Petitioners Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and Jon Coupal (collectively, Howard Jarvis) promptly filed a petition for writ of mandate in the Third District Court of Appeal, seeking to prevent Secretary Bowen from proceeding with placement of Proposition 49 on the November 2014 ballot. A divided Court of Appeal denied relief.
Howard Jarvis next filed an original emergency petition for writ of mandate in this court. After expedited briefing, we issued an order to show cause and stayed Secretary Bowen from taking further actions in connection with Proposition 49 until after a final decision, effectively removing the advisory question from the November 2014 ballot. The order explained, “[t]ime constraints require the court to decide immediately whether to permit Proposition 49 to be placed on the November 4, 2014, ballot pending final resolution of this matter.” A five-justice majority concluded Proposition 49's validity was uncertain and the cost of postponing a potentially lawful proposition to a later ballot, a course the Legislature itself had contemplated in an earlier version of the bill,4 was outweighed by the cost of permitting a potentially **633 invalid proposition to reach the ballot. “ 5
Our actions in August 2014 resolved whether Proposition 49 could be placed on the November 2014 ballot. Senate Bill No. 1272 directs only placement on that ballot (Stats.2014, ch. 175, §§ 3–4), and this case is thus technically moot. But whether the Legislature ever has power to place advisory questions on a statewide ballot is important and undecided, and in the event we were to conclude Senate Bill No. 1272 was indeed...
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