Minnesota High Court Won't Hear Senate Case Until June (Franken / Coleman)

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

Minnesota will head into June without a second U.S. senator under the Supreme Court's schedule for hearing Republican Norm Coleman's appeal.

The court says that it won't hold oral arguments until June 1, later than Democrat Al Franken had hoped. In the intervening weeks, the schedule announced Friday gives the two sides various deadlines for written filings and responses.

Comic-turned-activist Franken has a 312-vote lead over former Senator Coleman. But neither can take office until the state courts finish considering Coleman's lawsuit.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/04/21/national/a093524D21.DTL

[hlthe2b]

1. This is just damned wrong...

Minnesotans ought to be out en masse with pitchforks...

[lsewpershad]

11. Damned right it's damned wrong to

continue this charade

[Deep13]

2. The intermediate court ruling should be in effect until then.

Otherwise, with a Federal appeal this could drag on for years.

[zipplewrath]

6. Courts are too slow

This is relatively absurd and I wish we could do something about the glacial pace of our courts. However, having said that, it is appropriate that they wait until the Minnesota courts have finished prior to seating anyone. However, once that is over, Coleman can go to the federal courts all he wants, but Minnesota ought to certify their senator and the Senate should seat him. Truth is, the federal courts shouldn't touch this one at that point. The Constitution still gives Congress the power to decide who they will seat and who they won't seat. That's where the "appeal" should be made.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Franken could end up being the first Senator who never got to go to DC

[hlthe2b]

13. Does he get back pay once this is resolved?

THis seems incredibly unfair, not only to MN residents, but to him personally.

[Dinger]

20. His Term Should Be Extended For The Time He Had Taken From Him

All states have a right to equal representation in the Senate, don't they?

[TheBigotBasher]

51. Pretty much a home run on this one.

This is the very reason that the GOP are doing this. There is much bigger money behind this than Coleman, the GOP want to do everything possible to make sure that the Democrats do not get 59 seats in the Senate. They will continue this on until the primaries end in 2012. Once they end, Franken can be seated, too late to do anything for Minnesota. Then the General Election smear campaign starts.

[Mist]

4. I'd think that for something like this the court could change their schedule a bit. nt

[LiberalFighter]

38. They must be too lazy and probably figure they deserve Bush type vacations.

[MrsMatt]

47. No, as a matter of fact

the MN Supreme Court is moving quite quickly for this type of appeal. A typical civil appeal wouldn't be on the docket for at least 4-6 months after briefs had been entered.

But, I suppose it's more fun to assume that they are just lazy.

[MikeNearMcChord]

5. This is a disgrace, a good argument for the retooling of the

17th amendment in cases like this, i.e. a time limit on recounts or a recount limit. Also as the Blago follies showed in Illinois, and the David Patterson foolishness in New York the 17th amendment should have a clause calling for the election of new senator in a state, in case of death, resignation or removal of the old senator, instead of the Governor appointing a replacement. One question for Minnesotans, wasn't there a petition to impeach the Governor if he does not sign off on the election?

[MsLeopard]

7. What a joke

Just imagine a Democratic candidate was holding up the certification process like this - M$M would be in a 24-hour echo chamber incessantly blasting the airwaves with criticism of the person and the party for "holding up democracy." But our good old double standard remains firmly intact - no criticism allowed of obstructionist Thugs, constant negative attacks on Dems just trying to do the peoples work. This makes me :puke:

[JDPriestly]

28. We don't need to imagine. Remember Bush v. Gore.

The whole process was ended. Of course, I know the constitutional constraints were different. Sigh..

[tomhayes]

8. I'll bet Coleman has an erection now

And that's not hyperbole.

[gauguin57]

9. I think it's time for the citizens of the state to take to the streets. Demand full representation.

If this happened in my state, I'd be tempted to spend some time in our capital city with a picket sign.

[Doctor_J]

30. Yep. It's time to start dragging Repukes from their lawsuit offices

by their collars and holding them hostage until they promise to stop harrassing Franken.

[stillcool]

10. So 6 months, at least, to count votes and declare a winner?

That's some voting system we have.

[Wilms]

18. They used to have lever machines.

:(

[bluestateguy]

12. This case should be one of those examples used by facesoflawsuitabuse.org

In fact:

http://www.facesoflawsuitabuse.org/

[Iliyah]

17. Hell yeah

the Federal Courts are extremely slowwwwwwwwww. I know, since I deal with the Federal Courts here in California. I mean, they take their time, which, in my opinion is a good thing. The Federal judges are very detailed and will review everything and read cite cases, and all do take time.

When the Minnesota Appeals Court do make their judgment (which will be in Franken's favor), America will have no doubt about who the true winner is, except for the GOP who only believes in their rules.

What goes shall come around - hear that Colemen!

[Democrats_win]

14. Do they have something better to do? Like helping CC companies?

The''ll help credit card companies imprison more Americans. That's what they're probably doing. The "justice" system is a joke. The law is an ass. No American should feel obligated to abide by laws that favor and were written by the criminals on Fraud Street.

[LaPera]

15. Fucking republicans!

Purposely having republican Coleman dragging his feet to keep a democratic voice & vote, Franken, from taking his rightful seat.

[DLnyc]

16. DFA apparently likes the idea of using Coleman's frivolous lawsuits to raise

money for progressive candidates:

https://services.myngp.com/NGPOnlineServices/contribution.aspx?X=Ded7FwPHDshrGtqFOE7vW9VcwgIMiaBGhXdSUiuRDlw%3d

[sofa king]

19. Seriously, I think Coleman will be in jail before Franken is in the Capitol.

[Dinger]

21. Kick

I've had it going for a month now.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8309290

[onehandle]

22. 99 Senators.

Minnesota only has half a voice in DC, thanks to Norm Coleman and his Republican masters.

[dsc]

23. A big part of the fault here is with MN law which is otherwise great

Franken should have been temporarily seated after the recount pending appeals. Then after each appeal the winner should have been temporarily seated until the Minnesota SCOTUS finally finished and the permanent seating takes place. What if this had been governor, just who would be running the place?

[hedgehog]

24. But, if in the mean time, if there was a close Senate vote depending

on Franken, and he was later thrown out.....

One can of worms at a time.

[dsc]

46. No the vote would still count

After all if Franken does get seated after the Minnesota SCOTUS rules but then lost a federal appeal that would be the very same senario.

[defendandprotect]

25. Sounds like a GOP-Supreme Court delay . . . ?

Lots of things can happen in that time -- a new GOP propaganda campaign --

"Don't count all the votes!"

[KansDem]

26. Is this one of the "frivolous lawsuits" the GOP used to whine about all the time? (nt)

[JDPriestly]

27. What is the make-up (party-wise) of the Minn. SC?

[Doctor_J]

29. Oh, 2nd amendment Dems? We may be needing your help soon

The Repukes are not listening to reason on this.

[wisteria]

31. It is now time for the Democrat leadership to get involved with this case.

This is deliberate Republican manipulation of Congress and the people of Minnesota.

[Posteritatis]

32. I wonder if there's gonna be more of this crap in subsequent elections?

A race is close - or maybe even isn't - and the loser's party just refuses to accept it and tries to drag it out for months or years.

At the rate the Republicans' residual brainlike structure is falling apart, I expect they'll be nuts enough to start pulling stuff like this on 60/40 or 70/30 races in 2010 or 2012. ;P

[scytherius]

33. That's actually pretty damned fast

Frustrating, to be sure, but all pleadings, etc will be filed and oral arguments will be heard on a 5 week schedule. (Yeah it's June but it's June 1)

Of course the republicans are scum and doing this just to keep a vote out of the Senate for the Dems, but it only hurts them in the eyes of Minnesotans. The system is working well and moving pretty quickly, all things considered.

[glinda]

35. Agreed I think our SC is pretty good also Maybe the time is being given to

make sure everything is in that could possibly be in. This could be a positive thing.

[CBHagman]

43. Thanks for the assessment.

And I do not mean that snarkily at all. I hope you and the subsequent poster are both right.


Of course the republicans are scum and doing this just to keep a vote out of the Senate for the Dems, but it only hurts them in the eyes of Minnesotans. The system is working well and moving pretty quickly, all things considered.

One also hopes that the adages "Time wounds all heels" and "What comes around goes around" apply here as well.

[marshall]

34. They could have redone the election on a faster timeline than this

In the long run that might have been a better option, but hindsight is 20/20 as they say.

[elocs]

36. It's time again to hear from some MN DUers who actually know what is going on.

MN has one of the best election systems in the country and this is certainly not a run of the mill election with a 312 vote lead out of nearly 3 million cast. It has paper ballots that all may and have been recounted by hand. I doubt if most states could have done as well under the same circumstances as MN has.

The MN Supreme Court is widely viewed as being fair, judicious, and nonpartisan. They are the ones who appointed the 3 judge panel that heard this case (a Democrat, a Republican, and an independent) and all of this panel's rulings were unanimous. Yes, things move slower than most of us would like but that does not mean there is a giant conspiracy going on. The MN Supreme Court will rule in favor of Franken and then order that his election be certified and then he will be seated.

[Mister Ed]

49. MN DUer here

I've been following this closely since November 5th. I can't claim that makes me someone who knows what's going on, but I'll give you my take on it.

I think the reason the MN Supreme Court allowed Coleman such a long time to prepare for the hearing is simply that he asked them to. I think they would have done the same for Franken if he had asked. Why? Because this is such an important matter, and they want to make sure no one has cause for complaint - at least not legal complaint. The three-judge panel allowed Coleman five weeks to try to make his case. They never once asked him to hurry it up, because they wanted to make sure he couldn't claim on appeal that he had not been given due process. I think the MN Supreme Court is thinking along those same lines.

What you say is true. The MN Supreme Court is widely viewed as being fair, judicious, and nonpartisan. I anticipate that they will rule in favor of Franken, because Coleman simply doesn't have a case. I also predict that they will do Governor Pawlenty a big favor and order him to issue an election certificate. That would get him off the hook with the GOP ("Hey, my hands are tied!").

It's become crystal clear to me that Coleman is doing all he legally can do to delay the inevitable seating of the winner of this close election. The fact that the courts have accommodated him does not mean they're complicit. He's operating within his legal rights, and the courts are upholding the law.

To sum up, I think The MN Supreme Court is acting honorably and will continue to do so, while Coleman is acting dishonorably and will continue to do so.

[DebbieCDC]

37. This bullshit is never going to end unless the people of MN do something

[No Elephants]

39. A court appointed by Ventura, Pawlenty and other right wingers. The U.S. Senate needs to

take control of this. Reid is a jerk. If you have Democratic Senators, contact them and ask them to replace Reid as majority leader.

[aquart]

45. I don't know about "jerk." I'm leaning toward "wimp."

[Gman]

40. Anything to keep the Democrats from having 59

That's all this is about. It quit being about Coleman months ago.

[FVZA_Colonel]

41. God damn it, I'm gonna fucking graduate before Al Franken is a Senator.

Fuck you, Norm Coleman.

[Dogmudgeon]

42. There may be a way around this

Maybe a constitutional lawyer can weigh in. I don't suppose that Jonathan Turley has an account here.

It seems to me that this can be appealed, it can be taken to the Federal circuit, or possibly directly to the SCOTUS. Perhaps I am wrong, but I am laboring under the impression that there are plenty of loopholes left.

So this is an elaborate cat-and-mouse game. We are going to have to trust Al Franken on this one. And I'm sure that Al Franken is counting on us to keep the pressure on.

--d!

[aquart]

44. No. There is an overriding public interest at stake here.

The state of Minnesota is underrepresented in the Senate. This can be HARMFUL to Minnesota residents.

WTF is the matter with them? Republicans?

[Endangered Specie]

48. Well look on the bright side of this...

1 - IF norm doesn't win (1 in a million shot) he will never hold public office again.
2 - The republicans are wasting alot of money on this.
3 - Two can play this game, next time a close race against us comes up.... live by the sword, die by the sword.
4 - The law, as a result, might be changed

[Froward69]

50. the only bright side is

Coffman is not seated, nor voting either.

[efhmc]

52. The longer this goes on, the bigger Franken's reelection

win over his repub. opponent will be in '14. They are idiots to not concede and let the people's voice be heard.