Free Republic

As its first order of business when it returns Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court should reverse the New Jersey Supreme Court's ruling in that state's U.S. Senate fiasco. With stunning disdain for the United States Constitution, federal statutes and state law, the Trenton Seven ruled unanimously last Thursday that former Democratic senator Frank Lautenberg may leave retirement to oppose Republican nominee Douglas Forrester, 49. The 78-year-old Lautenberg would replace incumbent Toricelli, 51, who withdrew from the race on September 30 under an ethical cloud. The New Jersey decision should be vacated for three key reasons: First, the Garden State ruling...

WASHINGTON -- The U. S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a challenge to a state court ruling that allowed New Jersey Democrats to switch their senatorial candidate one month before the election. The state supreme court agreed unanimously last week to allow Democrats to replace Sen. Robert Torricelli with former Sen. Frank Lautenberg on the Nov. 5 ballot. "I call on the Republican Party to cease all other legal proceedings," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "The cases they have brought before the U.S. Federal District court are frivolous. It's time...

A hearing has been set for Monday in U.S. District Court to hear arguments from Republican attorneys who filed a lawsuit yesterday on behalf of two Mercer County voters who have already cast absentee ballots for U.S. Senate but are worried their votes will now be nullified. Maj. Kevin Reilly, 37, of Hamilton, an army doctor currently stationed in Hawaii, and Daniel Patrick O'Connell, aPrinceton man visiting Paris, would both be disenfranchised if the New Jersey Supreme Court's order to print new ballots stands, Republicans will argue. Reilly, a married father of two, said he realized his vote and possibly...

WASHINGTON -- New Jersey Democrats asked the Supreme Court yesterday to stay out of a state election fight that could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate, accusing Republicans of trying to engineer an easy victory for their candidate. Republicans have offered no good reason that the high court should play referee in the fight over whether the Democrats may replace Sen. Bob Torricelli on next month's ballot, lawyers for the state Democratic Party argued in a court filing. There was no immediate answer from the high court. Torricelli abruptly ended his re-election bid earlier in the week, saying he...

<p>At 78 years old and well into his retirement from the U.S. Senate, Frank Lautenberg wasn't supposed to be here, extending his hand to bleary-eyed commuters rushing to their trains Thursday morning as the sun peeked over the Manhattan skyline across the Hudson River.</p>

Republicans asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to stop former U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg from being placed on the Nov. 5 ballot. In Trenton, meanwhile, a state judge pushed forward plans to print and mail new ballots, saying she had no alternative unless the high court takes action. Republicans appealed to the nation's highest court in an effort to overturn the 7-0 decision by New Jersey's Supreme Court on Wednesday, a decision allowing Democrats to replace U.S. Sen. Robert G. Torricelli with Lautenberg even though the legal deadline for switching candidates has passed. Top Democrats argue that the...

With the San Angelo Colts’ baseball diamond as a backdrop and flanked by two red, white and blue campaign signs, Republican Rob Beckham announced the Democrats had thrown a foul ball. At issue is the New Jersey Supreme Court’s 7-0 ruling to allow Democrats to replace the lagging Sen. Robert Torricelli with former Sen. Frank Lautenberg on the Nov. 5 ballot for U.S. Senate. Beckham, vying for the 17th Congressional District against incumbent U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm, held a press conference Thursday to air his grievances. “They are not following the rules,” he said “It’s power at the polls not...

Democrats fighting a crucial battle for control of the U.S. Senate told the state's top court Wednesday it isn't too late to replace Sen. Robert Torricelli's name on the ballot. Republicans argued that state law is clear: Candidates cannot be replaced on the ballot if they drop out within 51 days of the election. Torricelli dropped out with 36 days left. Leaving Torricelli's name on the Nov. 5 ballot would only confuse voters, said Angelo J. Genova, a lawyer for state Democrats. "I think he has withdrawn, I think he has effectively created a vacancy by his withdrawal. He's not...

Democratic Party lawyers will ask New Jersey's highest court on Wednesday to place former Sen. Frank Lautenberg on November's U.S. Senate election ballot in place of scandal-tainted Sen. Robert Torricelli, who quit the race after a deadline for ballot changes. Desperate to retain the seat and their one-seat control of the U.S. Senate itself, Democrats named three-term senator Lautenberg, 78, on Tuesday night as their intended candidate to run against relatively-unknown Republican Douglas Forrester. During oral arguments scheduled for 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) in New Jersey State Supreme Court, Republican Party lawyers were expected to argue that absentee ballots...