Judge Blocks SB 27, Presidential Candidates Don’t Have to Show Tax Returns

On Monday, a ruling was released by Judge Morrison C. England on Senate Bill 27 granting an injunction and barring SB 27 from blocking candidates who don’t release tax returns to appear on the California Election Ballot.

Back on September 19th, England granted a preliminary injunction on the bill for all five plaintiffs. On Monday, here was the conclusion of England’s ruling:

CONCLUSION

As set forth above, the Court finds that Plaintiffs are likely to prevail on the merits of their arguments that the Act 1) violates the Presidential Qualifications Clause contained in Article II of the United States Constitution; 2) deprives Plaintiffs of their rights to associate and/or to access the ballot, as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution; 3) further violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause as set forth in the Fourteenth Amendment; and 5) is preempted by the provisions of EIGA in any event. The Court further finds that Plaintiffs have demonstrated irreparable harm, have shown that the balance of equities weighs in their favor, and have established to the Court’s satisfaction that the public interest tips in favor of enjoining implementation of the Act insofar as it pertains to candidates for President of the United States. Plaintiffs’ various Motions for Preliminary Injunction in the related cases are therefore GRANTED.

Defendants are hereby ENJOINED from enforcing the provisions of the Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act to the extent they require candidates for the presidency to disclose their tax returns as a condition of appearing on California’s presidential primary ballot. See Cal. Elec. Code §§ 6883-6884.No bond will be required.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: October 1, 2019

In statements issued Monday, Harmeet K Dihillon and Mark Meuser of the Dhillon Law Group said saying the ruling affirmed every argument made by the plaintiffs:

Judge England’s ruling affirmed every argument made by the plaintiffs. To read the full ruling, please click here.

“Judge England’s opinion makes clear that California’s SB 27 was fatally unconstitutional in multiple respects: qualifications clause, First Amendment, Equal Protection, and also pre-empted by the federal statutes,” Dhillon said. “This order is a victory for the First Amendment, the rule of law, and for all citizens who want to cast their vote for the qualified presidential candidate of their choice without California’s interference. We hope that in light of this decisive, multi-layered opinion, California drops this biased effort to disenfranchise Republican voters, and moves on to more productive efforts designed to address California’s many substantive challenges that affect all California residents.”

“The Judge was very clear that SB 27 was unconstitutional and that the State has no authority to interfere with a qualified candidate appearing on the California Presidential Primary ballot,” Meuser said. “California cannot pass a law that interferes with the Republican Party selecting the standard barer of its choosing.”

The Dhillon Law Group represented plaintiffs Republican National Committee, California Republican Party, and three Trump-supporting Republican voters in Melendez et al. v. Newsom et al

California State Senator Shannon Grove took to Twitter stating, “Today’s ruling is a victory for the constitutional rights of Americans. #CaLeg Republicans have argued that SB27 is unconstitutional & this court ruling reaffirms this stance.”

For more information on the lawsuit, click here: https://www.dhillonlaw.com/rnc-ca-gop-republican-voters-v-gavin-newsom/

Under SB 27:

This bill would enact the Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act, which would require a candidate for President, in order to have the candidate’s name placed upon a primary election ballot, to file the candidate’s income tax returns for the 5 most recent taxable years with the Secretary of State, as specified. The act would require the Secretary of State, within 5 days of receiving the returns, to make redacted versions of the returns available to the public on the Secretary of State’s internet website. This bill would impose the same requirements on candidates for Governor.

SB 27 passed the State Senate in a 29-10 vote and passed the State Assembly in a 57-17 vote. It was later signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on July 30, 2019.