Subject: more news |
From: Rick Hasen |
Date: 10/26/2004, 4:48 PM |
To: election-law |
The BBC offers this
report.
Tova Wang (Century Foundation) has posted Eyes
on the Buckeyes, the first in a series of papers on HAVA issues in
the battleground states.
Or so I hear from a reliable source. The ruling is not yet on the
Supreme Court's website. UPDATE: AP confirms the report here.
The A.P. report is here. I haven't seen the opinion yet. Most likely (from the A.P.'s general description) the federal judge abstained, ruling that the state courts should decide this first.
Why would a federal court do so, given that the issues raised are federal constitutional issues? Because the state court could potentially give the initiative a construction under state law that could avoid federal constitutional issues.
Plaintiff Jason Napolitano says he won't appeal. So this case is over, and unless someone sues quickly in state court, we won't have a resolution of this issue before Election Day.
UPDATE: A reader writes that the judge ruled from the bench,
and that abstention was the third reason given for dismissal, after
standing and ripeness concerns. It is not clear if there will be a
written opinion. The reader also notes that there were intervenors who
pushed the Article II issue; presumably they could appeal. UPDATE II:
The NY Times offers this
report.
-- Professor Rick Hasen Loyola Law School 919 South Albany Street Los Angeles, CA 90015-0019 (213)736-1466 - voice (213)380-3769 - fax rick.hasen@lls.edu http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html http://electionlawblog.org