Bill Text: CA SJR13 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Voting: apportionment.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 60-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-09-04 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 160, Statutes of 2015. [SJR13 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SJR13-Chaptered.html

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BILL NUMBER: SJR 13	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  160
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  JUNE 22, 2015
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 31, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator De León
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Hueso)
   (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo, Atkins, Gomez, and
Gonzalez)
   (Coauthors: Senators Allen, Beall, Block, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu,
McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Wieckowski,
and Wolk)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chiu, Cooper, Dababneh, Dodd, Eggman, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gordon, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Mullin, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Salas,
Santiago, Mark Stone, Ting, Weber, and Williams)

                        JUNE 8, 2015

   Relative to voting.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SJR 13, De León. Voting: apportionment.
   This measure would urge the Supreme Court of the United States to
uphold the federal constitutional principle of "one person, one vote"
and not deny California's children and immigrants equal protection
under the law.



   WHEREAS, "One person, one vote" has been an enshrined principle of
the United States Constitution since it was articulated by Chief
Justice of the United States Earl Warren in Reynolds v. Sims (1964)
377 U.S. 533, which was decided at the height of the Civil Rights
movement; and
   WHEREAS, The Supreme Court of the United States, in Reynolds v.
Sims, held that seats in both houses of a bicameral legislature must
be apportioned equally on a population basis under the equal
protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States
Constitution; and
   WHEREAS, Federal courts have consistently endorsed the use of
total population, including those ineligible to vote, to determine
equal apportionment since Reynolds v. Sims; and
   WHEREAS, Political districts across the nation were arbitrarily
drawn and severely imbalanced before the Supreme Court of the United
States affirmed the principle of "one person, one vote" in Reynolds
v. Sims; and
   WHEREAS, Texas plaintiffs, led by Sue Evenwel, Titus County GOP
Chairwoman, are attempting to disenfranchise California's immigrants
and children by challenging the longstanding democratic principle of
"one person, one vote" through their litigation in Evenwel v. Abbott;
and
   WHEREAS, The legal theory proffered by the plaintiffs, that
legislative districts must be drawn in a way that excludes children
and noncitizens and instead be drawn based on the population of
eligible voters, has never been endorsed by the Supreme Court of the
United States; and
   WHEREAS, Sixty-three percent of California's population consists
of citizens of voting age; and
   WHEREAS, California is deeply concerned with the recent decision
of the Supreme Court of the United States to hear arguments in
Evenwel v. Abbott and potentially disenfranchise 37 percent of our
state's population; and
   WHEREAS, Not counting immigrants, whether with legal status or
undocumented, as full persons for purposes of apportionment is
reminiscent of the United States Constitution's infamous three-fifths
clause that did not view enslaved Black people the same as White
people for purposes of apportionment; and
   WHEREAS, Overturning the long held precedent of "one person, one
vote" would be tantamount to enshrining discrimination and prejudice
in the law; and
   WHEREAS, These plaintiffs seek to use the Supreme Court of the
United States to turn back the clock on a half century of legal
precedent and return to an unjust, unequal system of drawing
legislative districts that would deprive immigrants and children of
representation; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the Supreme Court of
the United States to uphold the United States Constitution's
principle of "one person, one vote" and not deny California's
children and immigrants equal protection under the law; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the members of the Supreme Court of the United States,
to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of
the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in
the Congress of the United States.