Coleman Timing Query
Can anyone explain what stops Coleman, assuming he loses at trial, from dragging out the appeals process until Franken's term is over? It's not at all hard for a case to take six years from beginning to end, in federal court at least. Is there a point at which the Minnesota law barring certification while litigation is ongoing gives way to something else? If so, when and what? Thanks in advance for any insights.
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Me thinks that according to Minnesota election law, a winner can be certified as soon as the Minnesota Election Contest Court makes its ruling on which candidate has received the most legally cast ballots.
Coleman may still appeal, but my understanding is that the Minnesota election law stipulates that certification can take place after the ECC completes its deliberations and makes a ruling. Wish I could be more helpful.
The good news is that the process has been so through and transparent that it will be very difficult for anyone to cry "unfair". Even extreme right wing blogs like Power Line have not gone after the process.
February 13, 2009 11:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you so much. My experience is only in federal courts, but in those, one has an automatic right of appeal from district court to Circuit Court. No matter how absurd it may be, the appeal still will be given full and fair consideration, including a complete review of the record, all of which takes a lot of time. That's how it was in the Circuit where I clerked, anyway. Even with an expedited appeal, given the size of the record in this case, I should think it would take months to go through it all, and then you would have the gap between filing and oral argument, and another gap until a decision issued. If the Minnesota appellate court sent the case back on remand, Coleman could start all over again. I had a case that went back and forth three times, and it took ten years until the parties' management changed and the case settled. When the parties are stubborn and have effectively unlimited funds, there is not, in my experience, any limit to how long a case can take to reach final decision. And if Coleman's went to the Supremes, how likely is it they would rule for Franken? Roberts probably would rather be strangled in his bath.
February 14, 2009 11:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hi Adoptedmainer
I might be mistaken. I made an inquiry over at Daily Kos about whether Franken could be seated after the Election Contest Court has completed its work and received the following response.
"Coleman has ten days to appeal to the MNSC and Richie and T'Paw must wait until Coleman informs them that there will be no appeal, the ten days are over, or the Supreme Court makes a final decision." The comment was by Tomtech on Sat Feb 14, 2009 at 01:16:45 PM PST.
If Tomtech is correct, then the seating of Minnesota junior senator could be delayed for a long time.
There are several diaries at Daily Kos which have offered more "informed comment" than TPM regarding the recount and the contest.
One poster is Allen03's.
Another is WineRev,
And another is FischFry.
Search the Kos site my "diaries" and authors and you can get a list of the articles they have written about the Coleman/Franken disputation. Generally speaking, the discussion in these diaries is not so much "emoting" as it is "information sharing" and "analysis". You might find them worthwhile.
A side note: from on-line newspaper MnnPost, I read that: "When in Washington the former entertainer crashes at the home of Congressional expert Norm Ornstein, who is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank."
February 15, 2009 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Fairness has nothing to do with it. It's all about delay. Coleman is not an honorable man and neither is today's Republican Party.
February 14, 2009 11:02 AM | Reply | Permalink