From today's decision in Castro v. Warner, by Judge Irene Berger (S.D. W. Va.):
The Plaintiff, John Anthony Castro, brought this litigation seeking an injunction to prevent Secretary of State Andrew "Mac" Warner from placing Donald John Trump's name on the West Virginia Republican Primary ballot. He asserts that former President Trump is disqualified from serving as President pursuant to Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Mr. Castro asserts that he has competitor standing as a candidate for the Republican nomination for President and based on his intention to continue as a general election candidate.
The Defendants move to dismiss on various grounds, including lack of standing. The arguments asserted by each Defendant with respect to standing overlap. In short, they contend that Mr. Castro has not suffered a concrete injury because there is no indication that he is in genuine competition for voters in the Republican presidential primary contest. They further contend that any injury is not traceable to Mr. Trump's placement on the ballot or redressable by the relief sought, because there is no indication that third-party voters would choose to support Castro if Mr. Trump did not appear on the ballot. Mr. Castro opposes the motions to dismiss and maintains that he alleged sufficient facts to establish standing….
To establish standing, "[t]he plaintiff must have (1) suffered an injury in fact, (2) that is fairly traceable to the challenged conduct of the defendant, and (3) that is likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision." An injury in fact must be "an invasion of a legally protected interest that was concrete, particularized, and not conjectural or hypothetical." ... "At the pleading stage, general factual allegations of injury resulting from the defendant's conduct may suffice," but at summary judgment, "the plaintiff can no longer rest on such mere allegations, but must set forth by affidavit or other evidence specific facts."
Although the Defendants present their motions to dismiss as facial challenges, many of their arguments rest on whether the Plaintiff's allegations are plausible. For example, Mr. Trump's memorandum in support of his motion to dismiss argues that the "Plaintiff does not allege that he appears on any national polling" or "has secured a single dollar in campaign contributions," {The Defendant included reference to FEC campaign contribution records with respect to this argument} and that "there is no plausible claim that President Trump's inclusion on the ballot materially reduces Plaintiff's chances of being awarded West Virginia's delegates to the Republican National Convention." {The Court is aware that jurisdictional discovery and hearings have been conducted in similar case(s) filed by Mr. Castro. See, e.g., Castro v. Scanlan, et al., 23-cv-416-JL (D. N.H.). Accordingly, the Court anticipates that any necessary discovery can be completed in a brief period.} But the Plaintiff's polling position, campaign finance disclosures, and campaign activities are not part of the record in this matter.
