Calif. High Court Holds Off Ruling on Law Forcing Trump to Hand Over Tax Returns
The California Supreme Court, however, indicated the burden will be on the state to defend the new law requiring presidential candidates to air their tax returns publicly.
August 21, 2019 at 06:54 PM
3 minute read
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to immediately block a newly enacted state law that would force President Donald Trump to disclose his tax returns to appear on the 2020 primary ballot.
In a unanimous order, however, the justices scheduled expedited briefing in the case and asked the state to explain why they should not grant California Republicans’ request to declare the law unconstitutional.
California’s lawyers will have until Sept. 4 to respond. Attorneys for the California Republican Party and its chairwoman, Jessica Millan Patterson, must reply by Sept. 11.
“We’re very pleased,” said Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk partner Chuck Bell, who is representing the Republican Party and its leader. “The fact that the court issued an expedited schedule and an [order to show cause] is notable.”
The state lawsuit is separate from five similar suits pending in federal district court. Four of those cases, including one brought by Trump and his presidential campaign, have been consolidated in the Sacramento federal courtroom of U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. of the Eastern District of California.
England has scheduled a hearing on the matter for Sept. 19 and said in an order that he intends to issue a decision on the request for a preliminary injunction by the end of September.
The state Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the parties to consider state laws dating back almost 50 years in their responses. Justices cited Proposition 4, the 1972 voter-approved ballot measure creating rules for an open presidential primary, as well as a Senate Constitutional Amendment enacted the previous year requiring the secretary of state to place “all recognized candidates for president” on the ballot.
The court also asked for discussion of “any guidelines, including internal measures and protocols, that the secretary of state has employed in the intervening decades to assess who is a ‘recognized’ candidate for purposes” of setting the ballot under constitutional rules.
California’s law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, would require any presidential or gubernatorial candidate to disclose five years of income tax returns to qualify for the primary election ballot. Though the law does not name Trump specifically, legislative Democrats and Newsom said the measure is aimed at the president, who has refused to make public his tax documents as past leaders have done.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All'Serious Disruptions'?: Federal Courts Brace for Government Shutdown Threat
3 minute readAn ‘Indiana Jones Moment’: Mayer Brown’s John Nadolenco and Kelly Kramer on the 10-Year Legal Saga of the Bahia Emerald
Will Khan Resign? FTC Chair Isn't Saying Whether She'll Stick Around After Giving Up Gavel
Trending Stories
- 1Recent Decisions Regarding the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
- 2The Tech Built by Law Firms in 2024
- 3Distressed M&A: Mass Torts, Bankruptcy and Furthering the Search for Consensus: Another Purdue Decision
- 4For Safer Traffic Stops, Replace Paper Documents With ‘Contactless’ Tech
- 5As Second Trump Administration Approaches, Businesses Brace for Sweeping Changes to Immigration Policy
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250