In September 2018, then-California governor Jerry Brown signed legislation mandating that the board of directors of every publicly held company in the state appoint at least one female member or get hit with steep fines. Though Brown himself acknowledged that the legislation would likely face significant legal challenges, he nonetheless declared that he was signing the bill because “recent events in Washington, D.C. and beyond make it crystal clear that many are not getting the message.” That was a not-so-oblique reference to the Senate confirmation hearings of Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice, amid accusations by Christine Blasey Ford that he had sexually assaulted her when they were in high school. Just to accentuate his point, Brown added to his statement on the bill: “CC: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary.”
Kavanaugh, of course, was ultimately confirmed after investigations found a lack of compelling evidence that the assault took place, and now Brown's legislation faces the legal challenge that could well undo it. Illinois lawyer Creighton Meland, Jr., a shareholder in a California-based public company, has sued the state, arguing that the law “seeks to force him to help to perpetuate sex-based discrimination” because it interferes with his “right to vote for the candidate of his choice, free from the threat that the corporation will be fined if he votes without regard to sex.” Represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, Meland's case will almost certainly have national implications. Shareholders with voting rights in California companies live all around the United States, and if the law is upheld, it will surely encourage other liberal-dominated state legislatures to enact similar legislation.
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