June 8, 2020

Today Assemblyman James Gallagher and I took Gavin Newsom to court for overstepping his powers. We won. The Judge granted a Temporary Restraining Order (see document below), suspending the Governor’s latest Executive Order as a violation of the Constitution. To save costs, we represented ourselves.

The restraining order suspends the Governor’s recent Executive Order N-67-20, regarding the conduct of elections, and further restrains him from “exercising any further legislative powers in violation of the California Constitution and applicable statute, specifically from unilaterally amending, altering, or changing existing statutory law or making new statutory law.”

The Governor’s Executive Order changed a variety of state election laws, including the elimination of public meetings with protected groups such as Californians with disabilities and limited English proficiency. 

This is a victory for separation of powers. The Governor has continued to legislate by fiat without public input and without the deliberative process provided by the Legislature.  Today the judicial branch finally gave him the check that was needed and that the Constitution requires. The era of one-man rule in California is over.