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Posted on 12/14/2005 2:27:07 PM PST by caryatid
A second lawsuit was filed Tuesday trying to overturn Gov. Kathleen Blanco's decision to postpone New Orleans' scheduled 2006 mayoral and City Council elections indefinitely.
The first suit was filed Friday in state court in Baton Rouge.
The second, filed in federal court by lawyer Justin Asher Zitler, says that Blanco's decision was "unconstitutional . . . arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable."
It asks that the originally scheduled Feb. 4 primary and March 4 runoff elections be held no later than March 4 and March 25, respectively, meaning the winners could be inaugurated on schedule May 1, as provided in the City Charter.
The suit, assigned to Judge Ivan Lemelle, was filed on behalf of four Orleans Parish residents: lawyer Jane Ettinger Booth, former chairwoman of the City Planning Commission and a likely City Council candidate; the Rev. Alexander Byrd, now living in Tennessee, who is the son of legendary musician Henry Roeland Byrd, better known as Professor Longhair; James Hayes, a longtime Treme community activist, now living in Algiers; and Michael Tisserand, a former editor of Gambit Weekly who is planning to move away from the city.
Meanwhile, in the state court suit, Judge William Morvant of 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge said he will hear arguments Dec. 23 on the suit filed by local lawyer Rob Couhig.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
The first suit was filed in state court. This suit has been filed in Federal Court.
We will hope for a good outcome.
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Freedom for New Orleans!!! Iraq has more democracy.
Sounds to me like even most of the people who want to run aren't residents anymore.
Oh, I forgot.
This is Louisiana, you don't even have to be alive to vote.
So9
-PJ
The lack of housing in the city is so critical that, according to the most recent number I have heard, approximately 70,000 people are in the city during they day and that number dwindles to about 30,000 staying in the city over night.
I would hope that some smart lawyer would find some basis for litigation in order to try to define the parameters of legal residency prior to any election being held.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, the entire city council and a host of other local elected officials will remain in office beyond the four-year terms scheduled to end May 1, after Gov. Kathleen Blanco agreed Friday to postpone the city’s Feb. 4 municipal elections.
Gov. Blanco said she made the move for two reasons. One of those reasons is to ensure continuity of leadership. “Ray Nagin’s role has been exemplary,” said Blanco. “He was among the first to blame President Bush. New Orleans cannot afford to lose his courageous finger-pointing ability while the issue of blame is still alive.”
Blanco declined to provide much detail on the second reason. Speculation centers around the need to update voter registration lists to add the names of those killed or missing since the flood. Blanco did characterize this step as vital if the election process is to be carried out in the normal manner.
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm
""who might have an interest in revealing the goings-on in the PD with the fake officers, etc.""
http://www.snopes.com/katrina/satire/police.asp
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