Case Summary

On May 8, 2017, Citizens for Fair Representation, among other organizations, political parties, and voters filed suit against Alex Padilla, in his role as Secretary of State of California, challenging the constitutionality of the numerical caps on the amount of state legislators laid out in Article IV, Section 2 of the California constitution. The plaintiffs contended that by failing to increase the number of state legislators to better reflect the increasing populations of California's legislative districts, the numerical cap provision impairs California citizens' right to self governance in violation of the Due Process Clause, Equal Protection Clause, and First Amendment. The District Court for the Eastern District of California dismissed the plaintiffs' claims for lack of standing, a ruling that was appealed and affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On October 13, 2020, the plaintiffs appealed the Ninth Circuit's dismissal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

On December 14, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the plaintiffs' petition for a writ of certiorari, thereby letting stand the Ninth Circuit's dismissal of the case.

Case Library

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California - 2:17-cv-00973

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit - 18-17458

Supreme Court of the United States - 20-521

Citizens for Fair Representation v. Padilla
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