Legislature of the State of California v. Padilla

Summary

The court granted the Legislature's emergency petition and issued a peremptory writ adjusting California's redistricting deadlines because the COVID-19 pandemic was expected to delay delivery of federal census data beyond the schedule on which the state deadlines were based. The court held that it could narrowly reform both statutory and constitutional deadlines when literal compliance had become impossible, provided the adjustment effectuated the enactors' clearly expressed policy choices and was preferable to nullifying the redistricting framework. The court ordered the preliminary maps released by November 1, 2021, and the final maps certified by December 15, 2021, with corresponding extensions for any additional federal delay.