Cantil-Sakauye jus

This morning the California Supreme Court heard the oral arguments over whether to allow Prop 49 back on the ballot. Prop 49 is a voter instruction measure calling on our elected officials to overturn Citizens United and reduce the influence of big money in politics. CALPIRG actively lobbied for the passage of AB 1272 (Lieu) out of the legislature to authorize the ballot measure. When the measure was challenged, we joined Money Out, Voters In, Free Speech for the People, California Common Cause, the Courage Campaign, and the California Clean Money campaign on an amicus brief to the court, outlining the evidence that the framers of the California constitutional convention were intentional about including a right to voter instruction measures such as Prop 49. 

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye has already made clear that she believes the ballot measure is constitutional: "I do not see such a clear showing that the Legislature lacks authority to place the measure before the voters, warranting this court taking the extraordinary step of removing the measure from the ballot, thereby disenfranchising the voters," she wrote.