EXCLUSIVE: CA Lawmaker Intends to Bring Lawsuit Against Prop 50 Map to Supreme Court
Bradley Devlin /
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL — California State Assemblyman David Tangipa has told The Daily Signal that he intends to bring his lawsuit against the Golden State’s new congressional map to the Supreme Court ahead of the midterm elections.
The plaintiffs are looking to bring the case to the Supreme Court so that it might overturn the U.S. District Court of Central California’s dismissal of the case, known as a ruling without prejudice, or not a final decision.
The plaintiffs argue that California’s new Congressional map violates the 14th and 15th amendments of the U.S. Constitution by drawing congressional districts based on race.
The lower court declined to review the case over the alleged constitutional violations of California’s new congressional map.
The Golden State’s new map was enabled by California voters’ approval of Proposition 50, a ballot measure that handed control of redistricting from the state’s independent commission to state elected officials.
Proposition 50 and the new map have been supported by major California Democrats, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber.
“Newsom is trying to take a victory lap right now over the Prop 50 lawsuit that we filed against him,” Tangipa said. “It is not over yet. And we just got information that the federal court denied us a review of the case again, which means we are going to the Supreme Court.”
Tangipa’s lawsuit is backed by the Department of Justice and the California Republican Party.
“We fully expect us to be in front of the court sometime by next week. We all need some clarity on this. We need to make sure that we are working through every single channel,” the California legislator added.
Tangipa also said that for the case to go to the Supreme Court, the plaintiffs needed a verdict from the lower federal court in order for it to be challenged by the superior court.
“We need this ruling from the district court to come down first before we get in front of the Supreme Court, and we got exactly that. It’s time we hold these people accountable.”
District Court Ruling
The lawsuit was previously filed with the U.S. District Court of Central California in November.
A three-judge panel ruled to dismiss the case 2-1, with Obama-appointed Judge Josephine Staton and Biden-appointed Judge Wesley Hsu declined to review the case further. Trump-appointed Judge Kenneth Lee dissented.
During the case, Paul Mitchell, the man who drew the state’s new congressional map, refused to appear before the court to explain how he drew it by invoking legislative privilege.
“We know race likely played a predominant role in drawing at least one district because the SMOKING GUN is in the hands of Paul Mitchell, the mapmaker who drew the congressional redistricting map adopted by the California state legislature,” Tangipa wrote in an X post Friday night.
Tangipa claimed that before this lawsuit was filed, Mitchell “publicly boasted to his political allies that he drew the map to ‘ensure that the Latino districts are bolstered in order to make them most effective, particularly in the Central Valley.”
Balance of Power
If the Supreme Court refuses to strike down the new map, Democrats are expected to add five new congressional seats after this year’s midterm elections.
The new Democratic-held congressional seats could change the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Impeachments?
Republicans are expecting House Democrats to impeach President Donald Trump if Democrats gain control of the House in the midterms.
“If we lose the House majority, the radical Left, as you’ve already heard, is going to impeach President Trump,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in December. “They’re going to create absolute chaos; we cannot let that happen, and I know you won’t, I know you won’t.”
Other Trump administration officials, such as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, could also face impeachment proceedings if Democrats were to control the House.
On Jan. 14, Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., filed three articles of impeachment against Noem for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
“Secretary Noem, you have violated your oath of office, and there will be consequences,” Kelly said in a press conference.
After the naval strikes on narcotrafficking boats in the southern Caribbean Ocean in December, Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., filed articles of impeachment against Hegseth.“We cannot allow his reprehensible conduct to continue, which is why I have filed these articles to impeach him,” Thanedar wrote in a news release.