Judge recommends dismissing Davis' lawsuit

by Mindy Aguon

Guam - Last year, Arnold Davis partnered up with the Center for Individual Rights to sue the Government of Guam, the Guam Election Commission and its board members, and Attorney General Leonardo Rapadas. Davis alleged discrimination because he was not allowed to register for the plebiscite that would determine the island's political status. While the case was set to go to trial in April of next year, the District Court's magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation on GovGuam's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Magistrate Judge Joaquin Manibusan issued a report today recommending the dismissal of Arnold Davis' lawsuit against the government. The judge reviewed the briefs in the case and determined there is nothing in Davis' lawsuit to warrant intervention by the court.

Guam has been trying to hold a plebiscite vote for more than a decade. Despite the creation of the Commission on Decolonization and the Guam Decolonization Registry and legislation that changed those eligible to vote from Chamorros to native inhabitants, year after year a plebiscite vote has not become a reality.  In fact, such a vote won't occur until 70% of eligible voters have been registered. To date, only 5,300 people have registered as native inhabitants. 

Because the plebiscite won't be taking place in the upcoming general election and because there's no certainty of when it will actually happen, Magistrate Judge Manibusan has recommended that the government's motion to dismiss Davis' lawsuit be granted.  Davis wanted the government to be stopped from preventing him from registering and voting in the political status plebiscite.  But without a vote set and uncertainty of when it will actually happen, Manibusan found that Davis is not being denied the right to vote and until a date is set and established by the GEC, Davis' complaint has not set a case or controversy.

In his conclusion, the judge notes that Davis' allegations present no sufficient immediacy and reality to warrant intervention by the court. Manibusan saying the denial of one's right to register to vote in such an election would be ripe for court review if such an election were imminent.  The court also considered that Davis waited more than 11 years since the plebiscite vote was restricted solely to native inhabitants before filing the complaint even though he's lived on Guam since 1977 and has voted in past elections.

The court also found that Davis has no standing to bring an action to stop the attorney general from enforcing the provisions of the plebiscite law that makes it a misdemeanor to register or allow anyone to register with the Guam Decolonization Registry if the person is not a native inhabitant of Guam.  Manibusan found that Davis has not alleged that he's been charged with any crime in connection to the plebiscite and has failed to show that there is a genuine threat of imminent prosecution.

The parties now have 14 days to file objections to the report and recommendation.  Ultimately it will be up to District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco Gatewood to decide whether she agrees with Manibusan's report.