A group connected with the State of Jefferson movement plans to file a lawsuit in federal court next week against the state of California that alleges unequal legislative representation.

Citizens for Fair Representation issued a news release that stated the lawsuit will be Monday in the United States District Court, Eastern District of California, in Sacramento. The group includes Mark Baird and Terry Rapoza, who are among the State of Jefferson’s leaders.

“There’s no constitutional way to separate a state judiciously,” said Baird, a rancher and retired airline pilot who lives in Mugginsville. “In other words, you can’t sue to split a state.”

What the lawsuit’s backers are hoping is that the courts will force the state to work on a more equal distribution of elected representation in the state Legislature.

The news release stated, “California’s imbalance of representation ranks the worst on the list of 50 states.”

READ THE LAWSUIT

Citizens for FR complaint (1)

According to to the website Ballotpedia, California had the highest number of residents per state senator and assemblymember out of all 50 states in 2010.

The average number of people per state senator was about 931,000, while the average number per assemblymember was about 465,000.

“It’s physically impossible for a state senator to represent 1 million people and physically impossible for an assemblymember to represent 500,000 people,” Baird said.

State of Jefferson supporters point to an 1879 law capping the total number of members in the California State Legislature at 120, when population was fewer than 1 million. The population is now approaching 40 million.

Each county was also represented by one state Senator prior to 1964, according to the news release.

“Everyone would get more representation if we win,” Baird said. “We’re hoping to gain out of our court case equal representation for every county in the state Senate, so counties would have more voice in how their tax money is spent.”

However, Baird said that the number of assemblymembers would have to be increased by the thousands for that to be accomplished.

And that’s where the State of Jefferson concept comes into the equation.

“Our alternative would be, it’s very simple, create several smaller states so you can have enough assembly people to represent fairly,” Baird said.

The news release stated that the plaintiffs have petitioned the state Legislature and Secretary of State for the past three years “seeking equal/fair representation,” as well as sent “tens of thousands of letters, phone calls and emails” to elected representatives requesting them to introduce legislation that would create a better balance in both chambers.

They claim that all of their requests have been ignored.

Baird said they hope county governments will join the lawsuit as plaintiffs, adding that they would be willing to sign agreements relieving the counties of any liability for legal costs or fees.

The group has raised more than $250,000 so far, Baird said, adding that none of the money comes from political lobbyists or corporate interests.

“I know people laugh and say, ‘You’re just conservatives,’ but quite frankly this is apolitical,” Baird said. “We don’t have compromise now. We have one group of people in the large urban areas, and they tell everyone what’s going to happen.”

Contact Alex MacLean at amaclean@uniondemocrat.com or (209) 588-4530.