Litigation
California Common Cause (CCC) is active in two lawsuits, Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) v. Agua Caliente Indians and Sanchez v. City of Modesto.
Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) v. Agua Caliente Indians
Board member John Ulin has submitted an amicus, or “friend of the court” brief with the California Supreme Court in support of the FPPC in the Agua
Caliente suit. Indian tribes have recently donated millions of dollars to various candidates and initiatives campaigns. The issue is whether Indian tribes can avoid FPPC enforcement by asserting tribal sovereign immunity from suit. CCC argued successfully that they could not avoid requirements for disclosure and donation limits when they had voluntarily injected themselves into the heart of the state's political process. The state's interest in preserving the integrity of its elections and representative government trumped the tribal interest in immunity in this context.
Sanchez v. City of Modesto
The Modesto lawsuit, filed by the Lawyer’s Committee on Civil Rights, claims that Latino voters in Modesto suffer discrimination in the election process.
California Common Cause has submitted an amicus brief supporting the Lawyers’ Committee argument that vote dilution causes harm and that in communities where racially polarized voting is present, creating proportional voting systems or minority influence districts may be effective remedies.