AJR 32, as amended, Alejo. United States Supreme Court: nominations.
This measure would urge the United States Senate to fairly consider the nomination for Justice to the United States Supreme Court submitted by President Obama and to vote up or down on the nomination.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, The Supreme Court of the United States is the
2highestbegin delete courtend deletebegin insert Courtend insert in thebegin delete nationend deletebegin insert Nationend insert and considers important
3national questions whose determination is necessary for the orderly
4operation of the federal government and the government of the
5several states; and
6WHEREAS, Having an even number of justices on the Supreme
7Court of the United States makes it possible to have numerical ties
8in controversial decisions before the Court, which could leave
9unresolved conflicts of law between the several Circuit Courts of
10Appeal across thebegin delete nation;end deletebegin insert Nation;end insert and
P2 1WHEREAS, A failure to ensure conformity of federal and state
2law across the several states would severely compromise the
3fundamental constitutional principles of due process and equal
4protection under the law; and
5WHEREAS, Section 2 of Article II of the United States
6Constitution provides the President of the United States with the
7power to nominate justices to the Supreme Court of the United
8States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate;
9and
10WHEREAS, Barack Obama was duly reelected as President of
11the United States on November 6, 2012, with 332 electoral votes
12and nearly 5 million more votes than his opponent, and retains the
13full powers and privileges of that office until his term ends on
14January 20, 2017; and
15WHEREAS, By reelecting Barack Obama as President of the
16United States, the American people have already voiced their
17affirmation that he is their choice to exercise the powers of the
18Presidency, including filling vacancies on the Supreme Court of
19the United States that arise during his term in office; and
20WHEREAS, There is historical precedence for confirming
21nominees for Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
22during the final year of a president’s term, including Justice
23Anthony Kennedy of California by President Ronald Reagan in
241988; Justice Frank Murphy of Michigan by President Franklin
25D. Roosevelt in 1940; and Justice Louis Brandeis of Kentucky by
26President Woodrow Wilson in 1916;begin insert Justice George Shiras, Jr.
27by President Benjamin Harrison in 1892; Justice Melville Fuller
28by President Grover Cleveland in 1888; Justice William Johnson
29by President Thomas Jefferson in 1804; and Chief Justice John
30Marshall by President John Adams in 1801;end insert and
31WHEREAS, The United States Senate has a duty afforded by
32Section 2 of Article II of the United States Constitution to provide
33the President of the United States with their advice and consent to
34nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States made by
35the President, and refusing to even give due consideration to a
36presidential nomination would be a dereliction of the Senate’s
37constitutional duties; now, therefore, be it
38Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
39California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the United States
40Senate to give whomever President Obama nominates to the
P3 1Supreme Court of the United States fair and honest consideration
2through an up or down vote, both on the Senate Judiciary
3Committee and on the floor of the United States Senate; and be it
4further
5Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
6of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
7States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
8Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, to the Majority
9Leader of the Senate, to the Minority Leader of the Senate, and to
10each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress
11of the United States.
O
97