Foundation Asks California High Court To Decide Whether School District Improperly Influenced Bond Measure

The Center for Individual Freedom Foundation filed an amicus letter today with the California Supreme Court asking the justices to review a state appeals court decision that permits, among other things, public school district officials to conduct targeted voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns in an effort to influence the popular vote on school bond measures.  Such actions violate the “fundamental precept of the United States and State Constitutions that no public official, whether the President of the United States or a school teacher, shall put the government’s official imprimatur on the resolution of any ballot question,” the Foundation’s letter stated.   “As local governments and agencies throughout the State turn more frequently to their constituencies to tax themselves to raise money for schools and other local functions, the people must not be coerced to support a ballot measure by an official ‘government-approved’ stamp, no matter how subtly it may be presented.”  The case, Juliano v. Long Beach Unified School District, No. S117216 (Calif. S. Ct.), presents the constitutional question of how far a state actor may go in influencing an election by using his public office and money that was entrusted by the same voters.  In the past, the California Supreme Court has been careful to prevent public officials using government resources to influence elections in which they have an obvious stake.

• To download a copy of the Foundation’s amicus letter, click here (pdf).