Sep. 23, 2003

Recall Delay by Court Prevents Violation of Equal Protection Clause

Forum Column - By Erwin Chemerinsky - In ordering a delay of the recall election in Southwest Voter Registration Education Project v. Shelley, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based its decision on the fundamental constitutional principle that "[t]he right to vote freely for the candidate of one's choice is of the essence in a democratic society, and any restrictions on that right strike at the heart of representative government." Reynolds v. Sims , 377 U.S. 533 (1964).

Erwin Chemerinsky

Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law UC Berkeley School of Law

Erwin's most recent book is "Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism." He is also the author of "Closing the Courthouse," (Yale University Press 2017).