Trump Scores Major Tax-Return Win in California Supreme Court
Even in California, the law can still limit liberals.
The California Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously struck down a law passed by a rabid Democratic legislature and signed by a radical governor that would have kept President Donald Trump off the state’s ballot in 2020 unless he releases five years of tax returns, according to The Associated Press.
The California Republican Party had challenged the law in state and federal courts, arguing that it violated both the state and federal constitutions.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for every California voter,” state Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Patterson said in a statement, the AP reported.
“We are pleased that the courts saw through the Democrats’ petty partisan maneuvers and saw this law for what it is — an unconstitutional attempt to suppress Republican voter turnout.”
Harmeet Dhillon, a high-powered attorney and Republican National Committee member working on a challenge to the law in federal courts, said the decision closed the door on what would have been a road to chaos.
“We would have a Tower of Babel and a cacophony if we allowed individual states to mandate additional requirements beyond those imposed by the United States Constitution,” she said, according to USA Today.
The law, she added was “clearly unconstitutional.”
That’s because the Constitution requires only that a president be American-born, be at least 35 years old and have lived in the country for at least 14 years.
What California wanted to do was add another layer of its own choosing on top of that – basically proving once again that its Democrats consider themselves superior to the Founding Fathers.
It was an idea so crazy that even the state’s previous Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown – as crazy a liberal as ever breathed – vetoed a similar measure in 2017, as Politico reported at the time.
That, of course, didn’t stop current crazy Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom from plowing right ahead.
The news of the court’s decision drew cheers from Trump supporters on social media – who really aren’t used to seeing good news about the president (or much else) come out of the formerly Golden State.
When the California courts rule against you, you know your legislation was hot garbage.
— grouchey curmudgeon (@maviger647) November 21, 2019
#WINNING …. tried to say this when it was “headline” news and making the rounds and all the “pundits” were gloating .. IT WOULDN’T BE VALID. #MAGA2020
— Molly Volpe (@mvol10) November 21, 2019
Of course it was. There was exactly ZERO chance this was getting past a court challenge.
— Zalbar (@ZalbarTheMad) November 21, 2019
That last one nails it. The really was zero chance that the law would pass constitutional review.
The editors of the Sacramento Bee – no supporters of the Trump White House – published a mocking editorial shortly after the court’s decision calling the law a “silly stunt bill” that was destined for court defeat.
But for Democrats, niceties like complying with the Constitution aren’t really operative.
As the Adam Schiff impeachment circus going on in Washington shows, what matters isn’t the law, or the Constitution. It’s the Democratic Party’s will to power.
Fortunately, even in a place like California, the law can still put limits on liberal aggression.
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