Judicial Watch Court Victory

Judicial Watch has announced that a federal judge enjoined a California law requiring presidential candidates to publicly disclose their tax returns. The injunction had been requested by Judicial Watch, President Trump, and other challengers to the law.

California’s Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act (“SB 27”) requires presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns for the past five years for public posting on the internet. Candidates who refuse to do so are barred from having their names printed on California’s March 2020 primary ballot.

Judicial Watch’s lawsuit challenged the law on behalf of four California voters, including two Republicans, a Democrat, and an Independent. The lawsuit alleged that SB 27 imposes candidate qualifications beyond those allowed by the U.S. Constitution’s Presidential Qualifications Clause and that it violates voters’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to associate with like-minded voters and to express their preferences by means of their votes.

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