Sacramento, CA — They said they’d do it, they did it, and now it’s done. Steve Baird, the voice behind the State of Jefferson (SOJ) movement and the face behind the Citizens for Fair Representation (CFR) walked his 31-page Complaint about Declaratory and Injunctive Relief into the clerk’s office at the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division, Monday morning, May 8th.
“With all the excitement of the SOJ Patriots standing on the State Capitol’s lawn, I almost missed the deadline for filing,” said Baird.
A small pre-celebration event was planned at the State Capitol while Baird brought the complaint to State Senator Gaines office for official filing. A Gaines staffer, who wanted to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation, described Baird’s visit as “odd.”
“He barged in, asked for the Senator, threw some file down on the front desk, and demanded a receipt,” said the staff member. “Once I realized what the file was, I asked Baird if he had GPS on his phone or if he would like directions to the District Court on I street.”
Baird admitted being embarrassed by his confusion but managed to rally the 17 people and caravan over to the I street location.
Gary Zerman, one of the attorneys representing CFR, is expecting a quick response from the 3-judge panel of the District Court. When asked why he expected this to move along quickly, he responded off the record, then quickly changed his mind.
“Ya know, we took this case on pro bono at first but was promised payment once they raised the million dollars from supporters,” said Zerman. “They’ve only managed to raise a little over $6,300 through GoFundMe, and frankly, we’re getting tired of Terry Rapoza calling and repeating, word for word, everything Mark Baird already told us.”
Zerman told us the case had no chance of winning, and therefore he let his oldest son, who is hoping to attend law school after he gets released, write the complaint.
One of the Plaintiffs listed on the complaint was Steve Baird, a former candidate for State Senator. His complaint was listed under Facts Related to “Candidate” Plaintiffs. A portion of his complaint read, “due to the current representation ratio of one senator per million people he was unable to be elected” Steve Baird, a white, middle-aged male candidate living in Senate District 1, currently occupied by a middle-aged white male, living in Senate District 1.
“It’s a wonder how anyone can get elected in California,” Baird’s former campaign manager commented. Baird was unavailable for comment.
An additional Plaintiff is the Marin County Green party. It was confirmed that the Marin Green Party did not vote to join the suit, but they did have 3 to 4 members who supported reducing the costs to run for office.
Mark Baird called our office mid-week to ask if we’d heard anything from the courts yet. We hadn’t but promised to keep him in the loop.
Editor’s Note: Mark and Steve Baird are not related.
