Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/531/510/
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 15:42:44+00:00

Document:
In U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U. S. 779, the Court held that an Arkansas law prohibiting otherwise eligible congressional candidates from appearing on the general election ballot if they had already served two Senate terms or three House terms was an impermissible attempt to add qualifications to congressional office rather than a permissible exercise of the State's Elections Clause power to regulate the "Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives," U. S. Const., Art. I, § 4, cl. 1. In response, Missouri voters adopted an amendment to Article VIII of their State Constitution designed to bring about a specified "Congressional Term Limits Amendment" to the Federal Constitution. Among other things, Article VIII "instruct[s]" Missouri Congress Members to use all their powers to pass the federal amendment; prescribes that "DISREGARDED VOTERS' INSTRUCTION ON TERM LIMITS" be printed on ballots by the names of Members failing to take certain legislative acts in support of the proposed amendment; provides that "DECLINED TO PLEDGE TO SUPPORT TERM LIMITS" be printed by the names of nonincumbent candidates refusing to take a "Term Limit" pledge to perform those acts if elected; and directs the Missouri Secretary of State (Secretary), the petitioner here, to determine and declare whether either statement should be printed by candidates' names. Respondent Gralike, a nonincumbent House candidate, sued to enjoin petitioner from implementing Article VIII on the ground it violated the Federal Constitution. The District Court granted Gralike summary judgment, and the Eighth Circuit affirmed.
u. S., at 801. On the one hand, such retained powers proceed, not from the American people, but from the people of the several States. They remain, after the Constitution's adoption, what they were before, except insofar as they are abridged by that instrument. Sturges v. Crown inshield, 4 Wheat. 122, 193. On the other hand, the States can exercise no powers springing exclusively from the National Government's existence which the Constitution did not delegate. Pp. 518-519.
(b) Petitioner's argument that Article VIII is a valid exercise of the State's reserved power to give binding instructions to its representatives is unpersuasive for three reasons. First, the historical precedents on which she relies-concerning the part instructions played in the Second Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, the early Congress, the selection of United States Senators before the Seventeenth Amendment's passage, and the ratification of certain federal constitutional amendments-are distinguishable because, unlike Article VIII, none of petitioner's examples was coupled with an express legal sanction for disobedience. Second, countervailing historical evidence is provided by the fact that the First Congress rejected a proposal to insert a right of the people "to instruct their representatives" into what would become the First Amendment. Third, and of decisive significance, the means employed to issue the instructions, ballots for congressional elections, are unacceptable unless Article VIII is a permissible exercise of the State's power to regulate the manner of holding congressional elections. Pp. 519-522.
encompasses matters like notices, registration, supervision of voting, and other requirements as to procedure and safeguards which experience shows are necessary to enforce the fundamental right involved. See, e. g., Smiley v. Holm, 285 U. S. 355, 366. Rather, Article VIII is plainly designed to favor candidates who are willing to support the particular form of a term limits amendment set forth in its text and to disfavor those who either oppose term limits entirely or would prefer a different proposal. Cf. Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U. S. 780, 788, n. 9. It not only "instruct[s]" Missouri's congressional Members to promote the passage of the specified term limits amendment, but also attaches a concrete consequence to noncompliance-the printing of an adverse label by the candidate's name on ballots. The two labels impose substantial political risk on candidates who fail to comply with Article VIII, handicapping them at the most crucial stage in the election processthe instant before the vote is cast, Anderson v. Martin, 375 U. S. 399, 402. And, by directing the citizen's attention to the single consideration of the candidates' fidelity to term limits, the labels imply that the issue is an important-perhaps paramount-consideration in the citizen's choice. Ibid. Article VIII thus attempts to "dictate electoral outcomes." U. S. Term Limits, 514 U. S., at 833-834. Such "regulation" of congressional elections is not authorized by the Elections Clause. Pp. 522-527.
STEVENS, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which SCALIA, KENNEDY, GINSBURG, and BREYER, JJ., joined, in which SOUTER, J., joined as to Parts I, II, and IV, and in which THOMAS, J., joined as to Parts I and IV. KENNEDY, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 527. THOMAS, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, post, p. 530. REHNQUIST, C. J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which O'CONNOR, J., joined, post, p. 530.
James R. McAdams argued the cause for petitioner.
With him on the briefs were Jeremiah W (Jay) Nixon, Attorney General of Missouri, James R. Layton, State Solicitor, and Tina M. Crow Halcomb and J. Eric Durr, Assistant Attorneys General.
Jonathan S. Franklin argued the cause for respondents.
With him on the brief were H. Christopher Bartolomucci and Arthur A. Benson II.
Deputy Solicitor General Underwood argued the cause for the United States as amicus curiae urging affirmance.
In response to that decision, the voters of Missouri adopted in 1996 an amendment to Article VIII 1 of their State Constitution designed to lead to the adoption of a specified "Congressional Term Limits Amendment" to the Federal Constitution. At issue in this case is the constitutionality of Article VIII.
*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for the State of N ebraska by Don Stenberg, Attorney General, and L. Steven Grasz, Deputy Attorney General; for the Initiative and Referendum Institute by Patrick T. O'Brien and John M. Boehm; for Missouri Term Limits by Stephen J. Safranek; and for U. S. PIRG Education Fund by David Jonathan Fine.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the James Madison Center for Free Speech by James Bopp, Jr., and Heidi K. Meyer; and for the League of Women Voters of the United States et al. by Louis R. Cohen and Jonathan J. Frankel.
Kris W Kobach, pro se, filed a brief as amicus curiae.
1 We shall follow the parties' practice of referring to the amendment as "Article VIII" even though it merely added new §§ 15 through 22 to the pre-existing article.
"(c) Any state may enact by state constitutional amendment longer or shorter limits than those specified in section 'a' or 'b' herein.
"(d) This article shall have no time limit within which it must be ratified to become operative upon the ratification of the legislatures of threefourths of the several States."
"I support term limits and pledge to use all my legislative powers to enact the proposed Constitutional Amendment set forth in the Term Limits Act of 1996. If elected, I pledge to vote in such a way that the designation 'DISREGARDED VOTERS' INSTRUCTION ON TERM LIMITS' will not appear adjacent to my name."
5 Section 19(5) permits a voter to appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court a determination that a statement should not be placed next to a candidate's name, and § 19(6) allows a candidate to appeal to the State's highest court a determination that such a statement should be printed. In either case, clear and convincing evidence is required to demonstrate that the statement does not belong on the ballot adjacent to the candidate's name.
Respondent Don Gralike was a nonincumbent candidate for election in 1998 to the United States House of Representatives from Missouri's Third Congressional District. A month after Article VIII was amended, Gralike brought suit 6 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri to enjoin petitioner, the Secretary of State of Missouri, from implementing the Article, which the complaint alleges violates several provisions of the Federal Constitution.
fied, § 20; exclusive jurisdiction of challenges to the Amendment in the Supreme Court of Missouri, § 21; and severance of "any portion, clause, or phrase" of Article VIII that is declared invalid, § 22.
6 Although Gralike intended to run for Congress when he filed suit, under Missouri law he could not formally file a declaration for candidacy until February 1998. App. 25-26.
lar to Article VIII on the ground that negative ballot designations "place an undue influence on the legislator to vote in favor of term limits rather than exercise his or her own independent judgment as is contemplated by Article V." 996 F. Supp., at 916; see 996 F. Supp., at 920.7 Accordingly, the court permanently enjoined petitioner from enforcing §§ 15 through 19 of Article VIII.
7See League of Women Voters of Me. v. Gwadosky, 966 F. Supp. 52 (Me. 1997); Donovan v. Priest, 326 Ark. 353, 931 S. W. 2d 119 (1996).
8 While the appeal was pending, respondent Gralike withdrew from the 1998 election and respondent Harmon, a nonincumbent candidate in the 2000 Republican congressional primary in the Seventh District of Missouri, intervened as an appellee. In view of Harmon's participation, there is no contention that this case is moot. See Storer v. Brown, 415 U. S. 724, 737, n. 8 (1974).
9 Although Judge Hansen, dissenting in part, thought that §§ 17 through 19 should be severed, leaving the rest of Article VIII intact, the majority declined to do so. 191 F. 3d, at 926, n. 12. Petitioner does not contend here that any parts of Article VIII should be severed if found unconstitutional, but rather urges us to uphold the provision "in its entirety." Reply Brief for Petitioner 1-2.
Although the Court of Appeals' decision is consistent with the views of other courts that have passed on similar voter initiatives,lO the importance of the case prompted our grant of certiorari. 529 U. S. 1065 (2000).
10 See Miller v. Moore, 169 F.3d 1119 (CA8 1999) (Nebraska initiative invalidated on Article V and right-to-vote grounds); Barker v. Hazeltine, 3 F. Supp. 2d 1088 (SD 1998) (South Dakota initiative invalidated on Article V, First Amendment, Speech or Debate Clause, and due process grounds); League of Women Voters of Me. v. Gwadosky, 966 F. Supp. 52 (Me. 1997) (Maine initiative invalidated on Article V grounds); Bramberg v. Jones, 20 Cal. 4th 1045, 978 P. 2d 1240 (1999) (California initiative invalidated on Article V grounds); Morrissey v. State, 951 P. 2d 911 (Colo. 1998) (Colorado initiative invalidated on Article V and Guarantee Clause grounds); Simpson v. Cenarrusa, 130 Idaho 609, 944 P. 2d 1372 (1997) (Idaho initiative invalidated on Speech or Debate Clause and state constitutional grounds, but did not violate Article V); Donovan v. Priest, 326 Ark. 353, 931 S. W. 2d 119 (1996) (in preelection challenge, Arkansas initiative invalidated on Article V grounds); In re Initiative Petition No. 364, 930 P. 2d 186 (Okla. 1996) (Oklahoma initiative invalidated on Article V and state constitutional grounds).
11 Brief for Petitioner 25, and n. 37; see Reply Brief for Petitioner 4. 12 Brief for Petitioner 28, 38; Reply Brief for Petitioner 4, 8.
appropriate at the outset to review the distinction in kind between powers reserved to the States and those delegated to the States by the Constitution.
On the other hand, as Justice Story observed, "the states can exercise no powers whatsoever, which exclusively spring out of the existence of the national government, which the constitution did not delegate to them." 1 Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States § 627 (3d ed. 1858) (hereinafter Story). Simply put, "[n]o state can say, that it has reserved, what it never possessed." Ibid.
*JU8TICE SOUTER does not join this Part of the Court's opinion.
which she relies for the proposition that the States have such a reserved power are distinguishable. Second, there is countervailing historical evidence. Third, and of decisive significance, the means employed to issue the instructions, ballots for congressional elections, are unacceptable unless Article VIII is a permissible exercise of the State's power to regulate the manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives. Only a brief comment on the first two points is necessary.
13 Brief for Petitioner 10-17.
14 For example, the Provincial Congress of North Carolina passed the following instruction on April 12, 1776: "Resolved, That the Delegates for this Colony in the Continental Congress be empowered to concur with the Delegates of the other Colonies in declaring Independency, and forming foreign alliances, reserving to this Colony the sole and exclusive right of forming a Constitution and Laws for this Colony .... " 5 American Archives 860 (P. Force ed. 1844).
15 Brief for Professor Kris W. Kobach as Amicus Curiae 5, 13; see Brief for Petitioner 14, n. 13. But see 1 Annals of Congo 744 (1789) (remarks of Rep. Wadsworth) ("I have known, myself, that [instructions] have been disobeyed, and yet the representative was not brought to account for it; on the contrary, he was caressed and re-elected, while those who have obeyed them, contrary to their private sentiments, have ever after been despised for it").
had a right to give legally binding, i. e., nonadvisory, instructions to their representatives that the Tenth Amendment reserved, much less that such a right would apply to federal representatives. See U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U. S., at 802 (Tenth Amendment "could only 'reserve' that which existed before"); cf. McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316, 430 (1819) (rejecting argument that States had reserved power to tax corporations chartered by Congress because an "original right to tax" such federal entities "never existed").
provision gives the States authority over congressional elections, and no such authority could be reserved under the Tenth Amendment. By process of elimination, the States may regulate the incidents of such elections, including balloting, only within the exclusive delegation of power under the Elections Clause.
17 Brief for Petitioner 28; see also id., at 38.
18 Petitioner once shared our belief, when, in deposition testimony before the District Court, she admitted that Article VIII does not regulate the time, place, or manner of elections. App. 58.
rupt practices, counting of votes, duties of inspectors and canvassers, and making and publication of election returns." Smiley, 285 U. S., at 366; see also U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U. S., at 833. In short, Article VIII is not among "the numerous requirements as to procedure and safeguards which experience shows are necessary in order to enforce the fundamental right involved," Smiley, 285 U. S., at 366, ensuring that elections are "fair and honest," and that "some sort of order, rather than chaos, is to accompany the democratic process," Storer v. Brown, 415 U. S. 724, 730 (1974).
Rather, Article VIII is plainly designed to favor candidates who are willing to support the particular form of a term limits amendment set forth in its text and to disfavor those who either oppose term limits entirely or would prefer a different proposal. Cf. Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U. S. 780, 788, n. 9 (1983) ("We have upheld generally applicable and evenhanded [ballot access] restrictions that protect the integrity and reliability of the electoral process itself"). As noted, the state provision does not just "instruct" each member of Missouri's congressional delegation to promote in certain ways the passage of the specified term limits amendment. It also attaches a concrete consequence to noncompliance-the printing of the statement "DISREGARDED VOTERS' INSTRUCTIONS ON TERM LIMITS" by the candidate's name on all primary and general election ballots. Likewise, a nonincumbent candidate who does not pledge to follow the instruction receives the ballot designation "DECLINED TO PLEDGE TO SUPPORT TERM LIMITS."
petitioner's office, no less, has denominated the labels as "the Scarlet Letter." App. 34-35. We agree with the sense of these descriptions. They convey the substantial political risk the ballot labels impose on current and prospective congressional members who, for one reason or another, fail to comply with the conditions set forth in Article VIII for passing its term limits amendment. Although petitioner now claims that the labels "merely" inform Missouri voters about a candidate's compliance with Article VIII, she has acknowledged under oath that the ballot designations would handicap candidates for the United States Congress. Id., at 66. To us, that is exactly the intended effect of Article VIII.
a sanction similar to the ballot labels included in Article VIII, some Representatives explained that they were constrained to vote only for the version endorsed by the voters of their States, and to vote against differing versions proposed by congressional members from other States, even though they were supportive of term limits generally. See, e. g., id., at H486 (remarks of Rep. Hutchinson) ("I will vote against the bill of the gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum], not because I am opposed to term limits but because this particular resolution does not comply with the term limit instructions approved by the voters and the people of Arkansas"); id., at H490 (remarks of Rep. Crapo) ("Last Congress I supported the McCollum term limits bill that, as I said, supported a 12-year term limit. However, in this Congress I must oppose this bill because of the initiative passed by the people of the State of Idaho which requires me to oppose any term limits measure that does not have the same set of term limit conditions that are included in the initiative that was passed in the State"). As Representative Frank of Massachusetts put it, "[e]very State's Members get to vote on their State's term limits so they make them feel better and they do not get the scarlet letter." Id., at H487. Consequently, the most popular proposal for such an amendment, that of Representative McCollum of Florida, received 217 votes, 10 fewer than it had in the preceding Congress. Id., at H511. As for the Missouri version, it suffered a 353-to-72 defeat. Id., at H497.
20 At the margins, the parties have fought over whether the Elections Clause is even applicable because it is a grant of power to "each State by the Legislature thereof" and Article VIII is the product of referendum. Compare Brief for Petitioner 38, n. 46, with Brief for Respondents 12-13, n. 8. Of course, "[w]herever the term 'legislature' is used in the Constitution, it is necessary to consider the nature of the particular action in view." Smiley v. Holm, 285 U. S. 355, 366 (1932). Nevertheless, we need not delve into this inquiry, as it is clear, for the reasons stated in the text, that Article VIII is not authorized by the Elections Clause.
I join the opinion of the Court, holding § 15 et seq. of Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution violative of the Constitution of the United States. It seems appropriate, however, to add these brief observations with respect to Part III of the opinion. The Court does not say the States are disabled from requesting specific action from Congress or from expressing their concerns to it. As the Court holds, however, the mechanism the State seeks to employ here goes well beyond this prerogative.
A State is not permitted to interpose itself between the people and their National Government as it seeks to do here. Whether a State's concern is with the proposed enactment of a constitutional amendment or an ordinary federal statute it simply lacks the power to impose any conditions on the election of Senators and Representatives, save neutral provisions as to the time, place, and manner of elections pursuant to Article I, § 4. As the Court observed in U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U. S. 779 (1995), the Elections Clause is a "grant of authority to issue procedural regulations," and not "a source of power to dictate electoral outcomes, to favor or disfavor a class of candidates, or to evade important constitutional restraints." Id., at 833-834. The Elections Clause thus delegates but limited power over federal elections to the States. Id., at 804. The Court rules, as it must, that the amendments to Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution do not regulate the time or place of federal elections; rather, those provisions are an attempt to control the actions of the State's congressional delegation.
jurisprudence, it by no means follows that such cases have any relevance to our disposition of this case.
The dispositive principle in this case is fundamental to the Constitution, to the idea of federalism, and to the theory of representative government. The principle is that Senators and Representatives in the National Government are responsible to the people who elect them, not to the States in which they reside. The Constitution was ratified by Conventions in the several States, not by the States themselves, U. S. Const., Art. VII, a historical fact and a constitutional imperative which underscore the proposition that the Constitution was ordained and established by the people of the United States. U. S. Const., preamble. The idea of federalism is that a National Legislature enacts laws which bind the people as individuals, not as citizens of a State; and, it follows, freedom is most secure if the people themselves, not the States as intermediaries, hold their federal legislators to account for the conduct of their office. If state enactments were allowed to condition or control certain actions of federal legislators, accountability would be blurred, with the legislators having the excuse of saying that they did not act in the exercise of their best judgment but simply in conformance with a state mandate. As noted in the concurring opinion in Thornton, "[n]othing in the Constitution or The Federalist Papers ... supports the idea of state interference with the most basic relation between the National Government and its citizens, the selection of legislative representatives." 514 U. S., at 842. Yet that is just what Missouri seeks to do through its law-to wield the power granted to it by the Elections Clause to handicap those who seek federal office by affixing pejorative labels next to their names on the ballot if they do not pledge to support the State's preferred position on a certain issue. Neither the design of the Constitution nor sound principles of representative government are consistent with the right or power of a State to interfere with the direct line of accountability between the National Legislature and the people who elect it. For these reasons Article VIII is void.
intended to prohibit nonbinding petitions or memorials by the State as an entity.
I continue to believe that, because they possess "reserved" powers, "the people of the States need not point to any affirmative grant of power in the Constitution in order to prescribe qualifications for their representatives in Congress, or to authorize their elected state legislators to do so." U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U. S. 779, 846 (1995) (THOMAS, J., dissenting). For this reason, I disagree with the Court's premise, derived from U. S. Term Limits, that the States have no authority to regulate congressional elections except for the authority that the Constitution expressly delegates to them. See ante, at 522. Nonetheless, the parties conceded the validity of this premise, see Brief for Petitioner 25-26; Brief for Respondents 12-13, and I therefore concur.
*The Court of Appeals upheld their First Amendment claim, but based its reasoning on the view that the ballot statements were "compelled speech" by the candidate, and therefore ran afoul of cases such as Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U. S. 705 (1977). I do not agree with the reasoning of the Court of Appeals. I do not believe a reasonable voter, viewing the ballot labeled as Article VIII requires, would think that the candidate in question chose to characterize himself as having "disregarded voters' instructions" or as "having declined to pledge" to support term limits.
actually discriminates on the basis of viewpoint because only those candidates who fail to conform to the State's position receive derogatory labels. The result is that the State injects itself into the election process at an absolutely critical point-the composition of the ballot, which is the last thing the voter sees before he makes his choice-and does so in a way that is not neutral as to issues or candidates. The candidates who are thus singled out have no means of replying to their designation which would be equally effective with the voter.
In Anderson v. Martin, 375 U. S. 399 (1964), we held that a Louisiana statute requiring the designation of a candidate's race on the ballot violated the Equal Protection Clause. In describing the effect of such a designation, the Court said: "[B]y directing the citizen's attention to the single consideration of race or color, the State indicates that a candidate's race or color is an important-perhaps paramount-consideration in the citizen's choice, which may decisively influence the citizen to cast his ballot along racial lines." Id., at 402. So, too, here the State has chosen one and only one issue to comment on the position of the candidates. During the campaign, they may debate tax reform, Social Security, national security, and a host of other issues; but when it comes to the ballot on which one or the other of them is chosen, the State is saying that the issue of term limits is paramount. Although uttered in a different context, what we said in Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 U. S. 92, 96 (1972), is equally applicable here: "[Government] may not select which issues are worth discussing or debating."

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