The Supreme Court has figuratively stamped “rush” on the writ petition in Patterson v. Padilla, which challenges California’s new law seeking to force presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns. The court last week agreed to decide the petition’s merits, soon after the parties’ had completed their preliminary briefing, and it set a highly expedited merits briefing schedule that puts the case on track for an early October oral argument date and an opinion possible within a month thereafter.
Why the hurry? The law under review — Senate Bill 27 — bars from the state’s primary election ballot those candidates who don’t disclose their last five years of income tax returns at least 98 days before the election. California’s primary election is on March 3, 2020. 98 days before that is December 1, the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
The petition asks for a decision by November 4, the beginning of a six-week period for gathering petition signatures as an alternate way for a candidate to make the primary ballot (see here and here). It’s not clear that the court will consider that date as its deadline, but a decision before Thanksgiving is a good bet.
