Page TitleProfessor Douglas Kmiec Quoted on California Law Requiring Presidential Candidates to Disclose Tax Returns - Los Angeles Times

Professor Douglas W. Kmiec, U.S. Ambassador (ret.), is quoted in the Los Angeles Times article, "Can a California law requiring Trump to disclose his tax returns survive legal challenges?" The article considers the constitutionality of a measure signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom that presidential candidates must disclose their income tax returns to appear on the state's presidential primary ballot.

Excerpt from "Can a California law requiring Trump to disclose his tax returns survive legal challenges?"

"The Supreme Court has repeatedly and emphatically upheld disclosure requirements, saying the the interest in having voters informed justifies the burden on candidates," said Winkler, the constitutional law professor.

Douglas W. Kmiec, professor emeritus at Pepperdine Law School, generally agreed, "given the unqualified power of the state legislatures to determine the method by which electors to the electoral college are chosen."

Still, he said, the outcome of litigation over the law was hard to predict.

"Overall, this has been an area of the Constitution where the court has not often given definitive guidance," he said.

The prospects for the law would be better if it took effect after the 2020 presidential election, he said.

"Applying it beforehand gives it a rather distinct anti-Trump frame of reference that the court could find objectionable," he said.

The complete article may be found here