Socialist Labor Party v. Rhodes, Civ. A. No. 70-23
| Decision Date | 31 July 1970 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 70-23,70-24. |
| Citation | 318 F. Supp. 1262 |
| Parties | SOCIALIST LABOR PARTY et al., Plaintiffs, v. James A. RHODES, etc., et al., Defendants. Helen Marcia SWEETENHAM et al., Plaintiffs, v. James A. RHODES, etc., et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio |
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Benjamin B. Sheerer and Jerry Gordon, Cleveland, Ohio, and Philip R. Moots, Columbus, Ohio, for plaintiffs.
Paul W. Brown, Atty. Gen., State of Ohio, for defendants.
Before PECK, Circuit Judge, and WEINMAN and KINNEARY, District Judges.
These cases were consolidated for hearing, decision and order because they involve common questions of law concerning the election laws of Ohio. The plaintiffs also seek similar relief from the alleged unconstitutionality of these laws.
The jurisdiction of the Court was invoked and arises under Title 42, United States Code, Sections 1981, 1983 and 1988, 28 United States Code, Sections 1343(3) and (4), 2201, 2202, 2281 and 2283, and Amendments I and XIV of the United States Constitution.
This three judge court was designated pursuant to the determination that the requisites for the convening of such a court were present on the faces of the complaints.
The joint hearing was held on July 16, 1970. These actions are submitted on the complaints, the answers, the plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment filed in both actions, the defendant Paul W. Brown's motion for summary judgment filed in Civil Action 70-23, the memoranda, affidavits and appendices in support of all such motions and oral arguments.
The plaintiffs allege that certain sections of the Ohio election laws governing political parties and ballot position for party and independent candidates are unconstitutional in that they violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.
In the Socialist Labor Party case plaintiffs allege that the following statutes are unconstitutional:
1. Section 3517.01, Ohio Revised Code, which defines a political party and requires that a party either receive seven percent of the vote cast in the last preceding election for its candidate for governor or its nominees for presidential electors, or that it file with the Secretary of State a petition signed by qualified electors who represent seven percent of the total vote for governor or presidential electors at the last preceding election;
2. Sections 3517.02-3517.04, Ohio Revised Code, which specify the organizational structure of a party;
3. Section 3513.11, Ohio Revised Code, which requires that a political party elect a specified number of delegates and alternates to a state convention;
4. Sections 3505.10 and 3513.12, Ohio Revised Code, which require a state party to be part of a national political party which holds national conventions at which delegates elected in state primaries nominate presidential and vice-presidential candidates; and
5. Section 3517.07, Ohio Revised Code, which requires a political party file with county boards of election a "loyalty" oath.
The plaintiffs in the Sweetenham case allege that the following Ohio election statutes violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States:
1. Section 3513.25.7, Ohio Revised Code, which regulates the candidacy of independent candidates for district representative to congress; and
2. Section 3513.25.8, Ohio Revised Code, which regulates the candidacy of independent candidates for governor.
Each of these cases will be considered separately.
The facts surrounding the Socialist Labor Party's standing as a political party are not in dispute.1 The Socialist Labor Party was founded as a national political party in 1890. Since 1892 it has run candidates for President of the United States in every presidential election. In 1964 it was on the ballot in sixteen states and conducted a write-in campaign in nine states; in 1968 it was on the ballot in fourteen states and conducted a write-in campaign in eight states, including Ohio.
The Ohio Socialist Labor Party has nominated and run candidates for political office in Ohio since 1895.2 In 1968 the Socialist Labor Party's write-in candidate for President of the United States received 120 votes in Ohio. It has a membership of approximately 108 persons. Since the 1968 election the Socialist Labor Party has maintained its organizational structure and continued to participate in political activity within the State of Ohio.3
On April 26, 1970, the Socialist Labor Party held a convention in Cleveland, Ohio, at which it nominated John O'Neill as its candidate for United States Senator and Joseph Pirincin as its candidate for Governor of Ohio.4 There is no evidence that any of the plaintiffs in the Socialist Labor Party case or its candidates have filed or attempted to file nominating petitions for the offices of Governor of Ohio or United States Senator.5 The Socialist Labor Party seeks ballot status for its candidates for United States Senator and Governor of Ohio.6
The defendant Paul Brown, as Attorney General of Ohio, moved for summary judgment, contending that the action be dismissed on the ground that the Socialist Labor Party had no bona fide candidates for United States Senator and Governor of Ohio. This contention is wholly without merit. The complaint, filed January 28, 1970, alleged the Ohio State Committee of the Socialist Labor Party nominated John O'Neill as the Party's candidate for United States Senator. However, Article 7, Section 6, of the Socialist Labor Party's by-laws provides that the state convention of the Party shall make nominations for political office. At this convention, John O'Neill was nominated for United States Senator and Joseph Pirincin for Governor of Ohio. Thus, the defendants argue that this Court could not have granted relief in January, 1970 and should not now grant relief because the defendants have made inconsistent allegations.
To maintain this action the plaintiffs were not required to hold their state convention before filing suit. The names of their candidates for Governor and United States Senator are unimportant to the consideration of their asserted constitutional right to participate as a political party in the November, 1970 general election. The April, 1970 state convention is evidence that the Socialist Labor Party is a viable political party, not an indication that it is unworthy to participate in Ohio elections as defendants' brief suggests.
The complaint alleges that the Socialist Labor Party is an Ohio political party which intends to run candidates for the offices of United States Senator and Governor of Ohio in the November, 1970 general election but, unless relief is granted, it will be denied ballot position by certain unconstitutional Ohio election laws. The complaint, therefore, alleges facts sufficient to provide a basis for this Court to grant relief. Moreover, subsequent uncontroverted affidavits identify the particular candidates of the Party who desire ballot position. The Court finds these candidates were duly nominated by the Socialist Labor Party. Therefore, the Court denies defendants' motion for summary judgment.
We come now to the merits of the Socialist Labor Party case. For the purpose of disposing of the issue before us, it is unnecessary for this Court to decide or declare anything in respect of the constitutionality of Sections 3517.02, 3517.03 and 3517.04, Ohio Revised Code, because these sections were declared unconstitutional in Williams v. Rhodes, supra, at 24-26, 34, 89 S.Ct. at 7, Id. at 36-38, 89 S.Ct. at 13-14 (Douglas, J. concurring), and they stand unamended today. Nonetheless, this present three judge court, at the outset, recognizes the aforedeclared unconstitutionality of these statutes, both by a prior three judge court of this district and the United States Supreme Court.
In Williams v. Rhodes, supra, the Supreme Court stated that these sections, which were included in the complex of statutes considered by the three judge court in Socialist Labor Party v. Rhodes, 290 F.Supp. 983, 985, 990, are "a burden on voting and associational rights which we hold is an invidious discrimination, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause." Sections 3517.02-3517.04 require a political party to use a particular form of party organization. The state may set out guidelines describing desirable, and in proper circumstances, mandatory forms of organization, but they cannot prescribe a mode of organization which denies individuals the right to associate for the advancement of political beliefs and prevents qualified voters from casting their votes effectively. Williams v. Rhodes, supra at 30, 89 S.Ct. at 10.
Section 3513.11, Ohio Revised Code provides that a political party shall hold a state convention in even numbered years. It requires that all state officers, county chairmen and committee members, certain candidates, and 500 delegates attend. This statute, in effect, requires a complex state organization modeled after those of the Democratic and Republican Parties. The Supreme Court condemned such requirements in Williams v. Rhodes, supra at 25, 33, 89 S.Ct. at 7, 11.7
We now consider 3505.10 and 3513.12, Ohio Revised Code. Here again both of these statutes were held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Williams v. Rhodes, supra. After Williams these sections were amended.
Section 3505.10 was amended to provide space on the ballot for the names of independent candidates, who properly filed with the Secretary of the State of Ohio, to be printed on the presidential ballot and to provide a blank space on the presidential ballot for write-in candidates. Section 3513.12 was amended to provide that candidates at large to a party's national political convention could file a group petition with the Secretary of State of Ohio, thus reducing the number of signatures required on the petition....
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