California Supreme Court Review of Appellate Decision on Extraordinary Writ
Petitions for Review
On September 2, Attorneys for the Tos plaintiffs and the First Free Will Baptist Church held a press conference outside the California Supreme Court Building in San Francisco and made these statements. The Tos attorneys announced they had filed a Petition for Review with the Supreme Court, seeking to have the Court overturn the decision of the Court of Appeal. That petition makes the following principal points:
- The Court of Appeal ruling damaged the century-old precedents that provide strong enforceability of bond measure provisions approved by the voters. This will hurt voter acceptance of future bond measures.
- The Court of Appeal ruling opened the door to administrative agencies being able to routinely make decisions without a basis in evidence. This would eliminate judicial review of such decisions.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Pacific Legal Foundation filed Petitions for Review of the same decision. They focused on the constitutionality of issuing bonds for a project different from the one that had been approved by the voters.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority filed this Answer to the petitions. Replies to the Answer were then filed by the Tos plaintiffs, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Pacific Legal Foundation.
Amicus Curiae letters asking the Supreme Court to review the case were submitted by:
Senator Huff
Senator Vidak
Madera County Supervisors
National Federation of Independent Business
California Farm Bureau Federation
Thomas Rubin
TRANSDEF
TRAC
On September 15, 2014, the Supreme Court denied the Petitions for Review.