Schultz v. Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, JR. et al

Filing 12

ORDER: Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Dkt # 9 ) is granted. The Complaint (Dkt # 1 ) is dismissed with prejudice. Signed by Judge William Q. Hayes on 10/10/2017. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service.) (mdc)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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FREDERIC C. SCHULTZ,

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CASE NO. 17-cv-0097-WQH-KSC
Plaintiff,

ORDER

v.
CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED
STATES JOHN G. ROBERTS, JR.
and DONALD J. TRUMP,

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Defendants.

15 HAYES, Judge:
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The matter before the Court is the Motion to Dismiss filed by John G. Roberts,

17 Jr. and Donald J. Trump (collectively,“Defendants”). (ECF No. 9).
18 I. Background
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On January 19, 2017, Frederic C. Schultz initiated this action by filing a

20 Complaint against Defendants. (ECF No. 1). On June 13, 2017, Defendants filed a
21 Motion to Dismiss the Complaint. (ECF No. 9). On July 7, 2017, Schultz filed a
22 Response in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. (ECF No. 11).
23 II. Allegations of the Complaint
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“Schultz is a resident of the State of California, and a[s] such, cast a vote in the

25 November 8 2016 Presidential election for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.”
26 (ECF No. 1 at ¶ 1.)
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The final vote tally . . . in the general election held on Nov. 8 is Hillary
Clinton with 65,844,954 (48.2%) compared to Donald Trump receiving
62,979,879 (46.1%) votes . . . . Despite this [vote tally], the Electors
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awarded the presidential election to Donald Trump . . . . Therefore,
compared to the actual number of votes cast, people who voted for Hillary
Clinton had [thei]r votes diluted . . . .”

3 Id. at ¶¶ 7-8. As a result, Donald Trump’s assumption of the office of the President of
4 the United States pursuant to the 2016 presidential election, and his continued
5 occupation of that office, “violate[] Schultz’s right[s] and the rights of all other citizens
6 who voted for [Hillary] Clinton, under the Fifth Amendment’s and Fourteenth
7 Amendment’s guarantees of equal protection of the laws . . . .” Id. at ¶ 10.
8 III. Applicable Standard
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Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) permits dismissal for “failure to state

10 a claim upon which relief can be granted.” “A pleading that states a claim for relief
11 must contain . . . a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is
12 entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is appropriate
13 where the complaint lacks a cognizable legal theory or sufficient facts to support a
14 cognizable legal theory. See Balistreri v. Pac. Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir.
15 1990).
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“[A] plaintiff’s obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to relief’
17 requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements
18 of a cause of action will not do.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)
19 (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2)). When considering a motion to dismiss, a court must
20 accept as true all “well-pleaded factual allegations.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662,
21 679 (2009). “In sum, for a complaint to survive a motion to dismiss, the
22 non-conclusory factual content, and reasonable inferences from that content, must be
23 plausibly suggestive of a claim entitling the plaintiff to relief.” Moss v. U.S. Secret
24 Serv., 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009) (quotations omitted).
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A district court may dismiss a claim without leave to amend if “any proposed

26 amendment would be futile.” Reddy v. Litton Indus., Inc., 912 F.2d 291, 296 (9th Cir.
27 1990) (citing Klamath–Lake Pharmaceutical Ass’n v. Klamath Medical Serv. Bureau,
28 701 F.2d 1276, 1292–93 (9th Cir.)).
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1 IV. Analysis
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Schwartz claims that Donald Trump’s assumption of the presidency pursuant to

3 the 2016 election and his continued occupation of that office violate his constitutional
4 right to equal protection of the law. (ECF No. 1 at ¶ 10.) Specifically, Schwartz
5 contends that the Electoral College system under which President Trump was elected
6 violates the “one person, one vote” principle. Id. at ¶ 11 (citing Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S.
7 186 (1962)). Defendants contend that the Constitution, particularly the Twelfth
8 Amendment,1 “sanctions the Electoral College system.” (ECF No. 9-1 at 6).
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The Electoral College system is specifically provided for by the Twelfth

10 Amendment. Gray v. Sanders, 372 U.S. 368, 380 (1963) (“The only weighting of votes
11 sanctioned by the Constitution concerns matters of representation, such as . . . the use
12 of the electoral college in the choice of a President.”). Schwartz does not allege any
13 facts to support his claim that the Electoral College system violates his constitutional
14 right to equal protection.2 Any proposed amendment to Schwartz’s claim would be
15 futile, as his complaint is based solely on the unconstitutionality of the Electoral
16 College system.
17 V. Conclusion
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IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (ECF No.

19 9) is GRANTED. The Complaint (ECF No. 1) is DISMISSED with prejudice.
20 DATED: October 10, 2017
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WILLIAM Q. HAYES
United States District Judge

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The Twelfth Amendment states, “The electors shall meet in their respective states and

25 vote by ballot for President . . . and the votes shall then be counted;--the person having the
greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of
26 the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then . . . the
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House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. . . .”
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Because the Court finds that Schwartz has failed to state a claim upon which relief can

28 be granted, it declines to address Defendants’ contention that the Court does not have subject
matter jurisdiction over Schwartz’s claim. See ECF No. 9-1 at 3-5.
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