KEITH LANCE et al v. MIKE COFFMAN COLORADO SERETARY OF STATE
No. 06-641
UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
March 5, 2007 decided
The Elections Clause of the United States Constitution provides that the "Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators." Art. I, §4, cl. 1 (emphasis added). When Colorado legislators were unable to redraw congressional districts after the 2000 census to accommodate an additional Representative, a state court did it for them. See Beauprez v. Avalos , 42 P. 3d 642 (Colo. 2002) (en banc). The legislature was able to pass a redistricting plan in 2003, which Colorado's Governor signed into law. See Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. §2-1-101.
Colorado's attorney general, however, filed an original action in the Colorado Supreme Court to enjoin Colorado's secretary of state from implementing this new plan, noting that Article V, §44, of the Colorado Constitution limits redistricting to once per census. The Colorado General Assembly intervened in the action to defend its plan. The Colorado Supreme Court granted the injunction, holding that "judicially-created districts are just as binding and permanent as districts created by the General Assembly," and that the court-drawn plan must remain in effect until the next decennial census. People ex rel. Salazar v. Davidson , 79 P. 3d 1221, 1231 (2003) (en banc), cert. denied, 541
U. S. 1093 (2004). The court further held that this result did not offend the Elections Clause of the United States Constitution. 79 P. 3d, at 1232.
Immediately after Salazar was decided, four Colorado citizens--none of whom had participated in Salazar --filed the instant action in Federal District Court. They argued that Article V, §44, of the Colorado Constitution, as interpreted by the Colorado Supreme Court, violates their rights under the Elections Clause.
The District Court initially determined that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit in light of the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, but we vacated and remanded for further proceedings. Lance v. Dennis , 546 U. S. 459 (2006) (per curiam). On remand, the District Court held that the citizen-plaintiffs had standing to bring their Elections Clause challenge. Lance v. Dennis, 444 F. Supp. 2d 1149, 1154-1155 (2006). The court went on, however, to hold that the suit was barred by issue preclusion because the plaintiffs "stand in privity with the Secretary of State and the General Assembly," who were on the losing side in the Salazar litigation. 444 F. Supp. 2d, at 1161. The concurring judge concluded that appellants lacked standing to sue in the first place. Id., at 1162 (Porfilio, J., concurring in result). Plaintiffs appeal once again.