State Supreme Court rules Coastal Commission is constitutional

The California state Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Coastal Commission is constitutional. Two lower courts had said the Commission was unlawfully formed by the Legislature in 1976.

The Legislature had changed the terms of commissioners in 2003 to improve the Commission’s chances of being accepted bye the Supreme Court.  The court decided not to reopen earlier decisions decided under the earlier composition. The Court could have reopened 100,000 land-use decisions by the Commission.