Posted on 09/24/2009 11:14:40 AM PDT by raccoonradio
The Massachusetts Republican Party has filed an injunction in a Boston court seeking to block former Democratic Party chairman Paul Kirk from becoming the interim replacement for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Lawmakers this week passed legislation giving Gov. Deval Patrick the power to appoint an interim replacement, but laws approved in Massachusetts usually take 90 days to go into effect. Patrick signed an emergency letter that he says allows the law to become effective immediately.
Republicans allege in their court filing that Patrick did not have the constitutional authority to do that.
But State Secretary William Galvin said today the power to make the immediate appointment is "very clearly available" to Patrick.
Kirk, the former head of the Democratic National Committee, is set to be sworn Friday.
” How can you defend this hypocrisy? “
Never happen - it’s RACIST to suggest that Dims are hypocrites.....
Chicago thuggery in Mass...
That’s going to make the power-mongering Marxists in the Democrat party go apoplectic.
“Equally important, the legal concept of “the rule of law” was incorporated into our judicial system. As Hayek explains, the rule of law means that people do not have to answer to the arbitrary decisions of governmental officials; instead, they guide their actions by what is prohibited by a clearly defined law. Freedom, therefore, means answering only to a well-defined, previously established law, rather than to the arbitrary and discretionary edicts of some. “
ROTFLMAO...BwaaaaHaaaaaa...LOL...gasp...BwaaaaHaaaHaaaa...snort...LOLOLOLOLOLOL...
Oh...you were serious?
Legislators who are asked this question said they made a mistake in ‘04 with their vote on the issue but are right now.
As for Lurch or a Kennedy family member they will pull a swerve and not answer the question.
I have a question, just throwing it out there.
How do the people of Massachusetts feel about this?
Hold on a minute please. Thia past weekend had my Motherinlaw here for a visit. She, and husband, are from Massachusetts. I ask about this change in the law and snarkily ask why Mass doesn’t just make a law that says something to the effect that if the Gov is a Dem he gets to appoint senators that leave in midterm and if the Gove is a pub the citizenry must elect one within a six month term. Seemed to me, again, tongue in cheek, it would save time and would be the truth in how things are done.
MIL holds her palms in the air. She is a liberal dear Lord I didn’t smack the woman once but she’s a liberal with all the liberal talking points down perfectly pat. But she does not like Patrick Deval for some reason. She said, with an air of exasperation “What can one person like me do about it?”
For a brief five seconds I felt sorry for her and got a glimpse, briefly but with substance, into the poor liberal woman’s soul and I considered that maybe she’s a liberal cause she feels powerless to change the direction of the country. That and she IS eighty years old, maybe not ancient but an age when we might just want to rest.
Again, with a snarkism for which I am famous, I suggested perhaps a public protest, a tea party in that state where tea parties began. Yon Freepers get my point.
Of course she shook her head as such as tea parties are not for her and besides all tea party attendees as she saw it were racists but again...there’s a disconnect there.
I’m thinking that such an action in most states would enrage the citizenry who would resent having their vote played with as a cat plays with a mouse. But the citizens of Mass? We hear nary a sound when citizens of Delaware, I’m serious here and Delaware’s hardly any big red state, but I can tell you we’d be marching the streets if our legislation did such a thing.
Is there something in the water in Mass that kills all fighting spirit they ever possessed? A state that was the center of this country’s revolution is now populated by ...well I don’t know...do they all smoke dope?
Most important, what will happen to the rest of the country once we’ve spent years in a brain dead world ran by Obamer and his buddies? Will we become the beaten and dead like the citizens of Mass?
No offense to all citizens of Mass. My husband is from Mass but he got the damn hell out of there. He does tell me that there are lots of fine conservative citizens in Mass but I’ll tell Freerepublic right now like I tell him...all we see are the Kennedys, the fine, fine Ted, John Kerry and, of course, the well-speaking Barney Frank.
SOMEBODY’S ELECTING THESE PEOPLE!
CT too, depending on how you count Joe Lieberman.
See post 44
Kirk's just a placeholder till the Kennedys get done fighting over who gets the seat. Who was the guy that held the seat open for Ted in the first place until he was old enough? Was it this very Senate seat?
Well I don’t!
They lost their balls when we had a majority and could make some real changes. Their spines were also left at the door.
[Only the third def applies here and that is what the suit essentially alleges— the gov cannot make the appointment until 90 days has elapsed.]
I have to disagree with you on your assumption that he can make this after 90 days. The law, when the swimmer passed away says that an election is required to replace a sitting Senator that is not able to complete his term. Therefore, this entire LAW is ex-post facto! Not the 90 day portion!
What is happening is EXACTLY what happened in Florida. The law said you must do XYZ. The people elected did XYZ. The Florida Supreme Court said, no, you now have to do ZYX. The US Supreme Court said, NO, No, no! You have to follow the law that was in place when the event (election) took place.
The US Supreme Court should rule in the same manner in this situation (if someone has the balls to submit it that high). The law when the opening became official (upon the simmer’s death) MUST be followed to fill his seat. If the Constitution still matters in the MA, they cannot legally change the manner in which this opening is filled until AFTER the interim election is completed!
No, I am not a lawyer, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night (really I did).
defacto ex post facto
The governor is trying to declare a state of emergency of sorts in claiming that they NEED this DEMOCRAT Senator specifically to push through the healthcare bill.
This proposed Senator has no intention to run in the election. He will be accountable to NO ONE.
HELL NO to the Selected Not Elected attempt to STEAL the Senate from the people of the US.
You'll find such thuggary and corruption wherever Democrats are in charge.
Jennifer Nassar of MassGOP on Howie Carr show now.
“We are looking for a prelim injunction and then have a hearing ...”
Howie: “They will say Romney did this emergency pre-amble
14 times...”
Nassar: “This is for an interim senator. Completely
unconstitutional, not within gov’s powers, disenfranchises
people...”
Carr points out MA hasn’t had two senators for over a yr, also when Kerry ran in ‘04, etc.
Nassar: “Only a political ploy when something they need to be passed...”
hearing at 8 am tomorrow before a judge...
Judge Thomas Connolly as Suffolk Sup Ct
Did anybody bother to read the request for an injunction? It makes it pretty clear that the Governor can only unilaterally declare an emergency when the law in question is subject to a referendum and only when the law could be subject to suspension of its operation by referendum, and that the law in question is NOT subject to a referendum, since the special election is already slated for January 19, 2010. It also cites a 1975 case decided by Massachusetts’ highest court holding that the Governor can only unilaterally declare an emergency to forestall or undo the suspensive effect of a referendum petition.
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