God dammit, they rejected Franken's bid to be seated!!!

[graywarrior]

Fuck it all!

[babylonsister]

1. Maybe the court is enjoying the limelight a bit too much, never

considering how inane it makes them look.

[aquart]

2. Who is "they"?

It's so much more helpful when you use proper nouns instead of pronouns in a MAIN POST. Really.

[Toucano]

4. Thank you. n-t

[davepc]

9. Minnesota Supreme Court

They want the current legal action to be wrapped up 1st.

[graywarrior]

11. Who else.....THE COURTS!

[DainBramaged]

17. The pronunciation police are gunning for you, the pronunciation police are gunning for you

I r able to understood kompleatly. :eyes:

[onehandle]

3. Never mind. Found link ---->

Posted it in LBN.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3771280

[EFerrari]

8. Thanks. That's just crazy. n/t

[Vickers]

5. They totally suck!!!

:shrug:

[bdamomma]

6. who rejected him to be seated, what the hell???

is Franken that much of a threat to them repigs.

[bdamomma]

7. hey graywarrior

read this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5198022&mesg_id=5198022

[graywarrior]

12. MSNBC just had breaking news the the court rejected his bid

Grrrrrr....I don't know what's going on.

[bdamomma]

14. what is with the court?

on another thread here they were saying the coleman people want 1,725 ballots to be counted.

read this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5198341

[graywarrior]

15. I don't know

And why do the republicans get to have a 12 step program?

[KharmaTrain]

10. Well At Least They Tried

It sounds like Team Franken was hoping the court was fed up with Coleman's bullshit and were ready to shut this thing down and certify Senator Franken's victory. My read is that the court is being cautious...trying to prevent the number of grounds that Coleman can (and WILL) appeal. Franken can also simply rest their case now, go to closing and hopefully we get a pleasant result in a week or so.

Overall, a mess...made messier by obstructionist repugnicans who know they've lost but can't fathom the site of Al Franken speaking from the floor of the Senate.

[Warpy]

13. This is one hell of a precedent

involving a governor refusing to seat a Senator who has won a close election because that Senator is from the opposition party. If this is allowed to stand, it is going to bite these bastards squarely in the ass in the future.

These screaming crybabies in the Republican Party are right on schedule to destroy themselves. Let's hope they don't take the country with them.

Gee whiz, they came SO CLOSE to a monarchy!

[Still Sensible]

19. I don't disagree with letting Minnesota's legal mechanisms

run their course. By your logic, however, it could be argued that the governor should have gone ahead and certified Coleman after the conclusion of the hand recount when Coleman remained ahead by 188 votes. I think that is equally screwy--despite how much we all want Al to be seated.

Obviously, Coleman could have already conceded and spared his state this battle... as could Franken. The truth is it is not really fair to either candidate's constituencies to concede a race this close until the legal mechanisms are exhausted.

[Warpy]

22. Yes, of course, but a little more discretion has to be exercised

given the obvious desperation of the Coleman campaign in deciding which lawsuits are valid and which are not.

This thing should have been decided months ago IMO.

[Still Sensible]

24. No question you are right about that. n/t

[Renew Deal]

16. Are you surprised?

That was probably the right decision. It was worth a shot I suppose.

[JDPriestly]

18. I do not understand why this is in the Minnesota courts when

the Constitution quite clearly states that the Senate is the judge of the elections for the Senate.

U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 5:

Section 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.
. . . .

Section 5. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide.
. . . .

Amendment XVII

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.table.html#articlei

This is pretty clear. While the people elect the senators, the Senate is the final judge of the elections. So what does the Minnesota Supreme Court have to do with this. In my view, it does not have jurisdiction to judge the election of a senator. I haven't taken the time to look at the case law, but how else can this be interpreted?

[MineralMan]

20. Franken tried an end run around the process.

It didn't work. Minnesota laws are quite precise about how contested elections are handled, and that is the process that is going on right now. The Franken team is putting on their case before the panel that rules on contested elections. Once his case has been presented and the arguments from both sides, along with their various motions, are complete, the panel will rule, and there will be a winner. At this point, based on their rulings on motions, that winner will be Al Franken.

Under the law, Coleman will be able to appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which is not, by any means, a "Republican" court. They will, almost certainly, uphold the decision of this panel. At that point the certificate of election will be issued.

Coleman may, I suppose, try to make a federal case out of it, but he will certainly lose. Elections are a state issue, and it's highly unlikely that the SCOTUS will be interested in that can of worms.

I live here. I've been watching the process, and I've studied the state laws. Things are going as they must go. Patience, please. If you want to research the laws, then you can do that, but you'll find that there is no way to bypass this process, which is what the MN Supreme Court just said.

The MN election process is as clean as a whistle. There are local precinct errors, which are being corrected, and those corrections have been in Franken's favor. Right now, the only issue has to do with previously rejected absentee ballots. The recount is over. If those disputed absentee ballots are counted, Franken will still come out on top, almost certainly.

Just wait a little longer. There is no option.

NOTE: I posted this in another thread on the subject, too.

[Zen Democrat]

21. The Court said that it's the Senate's place to seat him.

Sooooo, bring it on Republican filibuster!!! Let's see what ya got!

[cynatnite]

23. It's bullshit. n/t