A lawsuit filed with the California Supreme Court this week is challenging the placement of a controversial initiative to divide the state into three on the November ballot less than one month after it was signed off on by the Secretary of State’s Office.

According to a San Francisco Chronicle article, the Planning and Conservation League — a nonprofit lobbying group that focuses on environmental and development issues — contends the measure goes beyond the scope of the initiative process by proposing to “revise” the California Constitution, essentially by doing away with it, not just change state law.

The case’s docket shows the court has ordered the Attorney General’s Office and Bay Area billionaire Tim Draper, who sponsored the proposition, to file an initial response by today.
Now known as Proposition 9, the measure proposes to divide the Golden State into three different ones: "California," which would stretch along the coast from Los Angeles to Monterey; “Southern California,” which would include San Diego and the inland portion of the state north to Madera County; and “Northern California,” which would include everything north of Santa Cruz, including the San Francisco Bay Area and, of course, Humboldt County.

The so-called Cal 3 Initiative has spurred not just a lawsuit but also an opposition group NoCABreakup, which is headed by former Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez.

The Chronicle article states the Supreme Court justices could discuss the case as soon as next week.