Gilman

ORDER

On November 4, 2008, the California electorate passed Proposition 9, the “Victims’ Bill of Rights Act of 2008: Marsy’s Law.” Proposition 9 changed numerous aspects of California’s parole system, including the availability and frequency of parole hearings for prisoners not initially found suitable for parole.

Plaintiffs, eight individuals seeking to represent a class of California state prisoners currently serving life sentences with possibility of parole, bring a claim under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 arguing that these changes violate both the Ex Post Facto and Due Process clauses of the United States Constitution. Plaintiffs have also brought eight other claims not at issue in this order.

Plaintiffs move for a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of these changes. Defendants conversely move to dismiss plaintiffs’ challenge to Proposition 9, and by the same motion seek dismissal of plaintiffs’ ninth claim, which challenges Article V, Section 8(b) of the California Constitution. The ninth claim and the challenge thereto are the subject of a separate concurrently filed order.

The court resolves these motions on the papers and after oral argument. For the reasons stated…