The former governors’ brief supports California Governor Gavin Newsom and the State of California, urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to affirm the district court’s order enjoining the federalization and deployment of the California National Guard under 10 U.S.C. § 12406 without the Governor’s consultation or consent.
Drawing on decades of executive experience managing disasters, public health emergencies, and civil unrest as the commanders in chief of their states, the former governors explain that the Administration’s action threatens the constitutional balance of federal and state authority, undermines public safety by diverting critical state resources, and breaks sharply with the nation’s historic practice of federal–state cooperation regarding the National Guard.
The brief stresses: “Throughout our history, and notwithstanding our nation’s political, social, and geographic diversity, the federal government has rarely and only under the most extraordinary circumstances imposed military authority on the citizens of a state against the wishes of the state’s executive. The structure of our federalist system, and the language of the relevant statutory provisions at issue in this case, impose legal constraints on the president’s authority to take such extreme measures.”
Former Governors signed onto the brief include:
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Jerry Brown (CA-D)
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Steve Bullock (MT-D)
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Arne Carlson (MN-R)
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Mark Dayton (MN-D)
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Jim Doyle (WI-D)
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Parris N. Glendening (MD-D)
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Jennifer M. Granholm (MI-D)
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Bill Graves (KS-R)
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Christine Gregoire (WA-D)
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Tony Knowles (AK-D)
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Gary Locke (WA-D)
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Terry McAuliffe (VA-D)
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Janet Napolitano (AZ-D)
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Martin O’Malley (MD-D)
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Deval Patrick (MA-D)
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Marc Racicot (MT-R)
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Bill Ritter Jr. (CO-D)
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Kathleen Sebelius (KS-D)
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Steve Sisolak (NV-D)
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Eliot Spitzer (NY-D)
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Ted Strickland (OH-D)
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Tom Vilsack (IA-D)
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Bill Weld (MA-R)
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Christine Todd Whitman (NJ-R)
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Tom Wolf (PA-D)
GovAct and Governors Safeguarding Democracy are represented pro bono by Free + Fair Litigation Group and Joseph T. Baio LLC.
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