Bill Text: CA AJR32 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Joint Resolution 32 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: United States Supreme Court: nominations.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2016-08-30 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 151, Statutes of 2016. [AJR32 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AJR32-Chaptered.html

BILL NUMBER: AJR 32	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  151
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  AUGUST 30, 2016
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  AUGUST 15, 2016
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 22, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 5, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 26, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 10, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Alejo
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Chiu)

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2016

   Relative to United States Supreme Court nominations.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 32, Alejo. United States Supreme Court: nominations.
   This measure would urge the United States Senate to fairly
consider the nomination for Justice to the United States Supreme
Court submitted by President Obama and to vote up or down on the
nomination.



   WHEREAS, The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest
Court in the Nation and considers important national questions whose
determination is necessary for the orderly operation of the federal
government and the government of the several states; and
   WHEREAS, Having an even number of justices on the Supreme Court of
the United States makes it possible to have numerical ties in
controversial decisions before the Court, which could leave
unresolved conflicts of law between the several Circuit Courts of
Appeal across the Nation; and
   WHEREAS, A failure to ensure conformity of federal and state law
across the several states would severely compromise the fundamental
constitutional principles of due process and equal protection under
the law; and
   WHEREAS, Section 2 of Article II of the United States Constitution
provides the President of the United States with the power to
nominate justices to the Supreme Court of the United States with the
advice and consent of the United States Senate; and
   WHEREAS, Barack Obama was duly reelected as President of the
United States on November 6, 2012, with 332 electoral votes and
nearly 5 million more votes than his opponent, and retains the full
powers and privileges of that office until his term ends on January
20, 2017; and
   WHEREAS, By reelecting Barack Obama as President of the United
States, the American people have already voiced their affirmation
that he is their choice to exercise the powers of the Presidency,
including filling vacancies on the Supreme Court of the United States
that arise during his term in office; and
   WHEREAS, There is historical precedence for confirming nominees
for Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States during the
final year of a president's term, including Justice Anthony Kennedy
of California by President Ronald Reagan in 1988; Justice Frank
Murphy of Michigan by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940;
Justice Louis Brandeis of Kentucky by President Woodrow Wilson in
1916; Justice George Shiras, Jr. by President Benjamin Harrison in
1892; Justice Melville Fuller by President Grover Cleveland in 1888;
Justice William Johnson by President Thomas Jefferson in 1804; and
Chief Justice John Marshall by President John Adams in 1801; and
   WHEREAS, The United States Senate has a duty afforded by Section 2
of Article II of the United States Constitution to provide the
President of the United States with their advice and consent to
nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States made by the
President, and refusing to even give due consideration to a
presidential nomination would be a dereliction of the Senate's
constitutional duties; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the United States
Senate to give President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court of the
United States fair and honest consideration through an up or down
vote, both on the Senate Judiciary Committee and on the floor of the
United States Senate; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, to the Majority
Leader of the Senate, to the Minority Leader of the Senate, and to
each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of
the United States.