After Bucking Federal Judge On Early Voting, Ohio Secretary Of State Ordered To Appear In Court

[Tx4obama]

Source: TPM

Judge Peter Economus has set a hearing for September 13 to address Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s refusal to comply with the court’s ruling that the state must allow early voting on the three days leading up to the general election. Economus released a terse order Wednesday afternoon: “The Court ORDERS that Defendant Secretary of State Jon Husted personally attend the hearing.” The Obama campaign filed a motion earlier Wednesday asking the court to make Husted give way.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/09/05/803331/after-bucking-federal-judge-on-early-voting-ohio-secretary-of-state-ordered-to-appear-in-court/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I hope the judge throws the book at him. Goddamn it.

[Scuba]

18. +1,000 Voter suppression is a crime.

[Coyotl]

47. Abuse of power should be punished to the max

[Panasonic]

51. Death sentence!!!!1111

I'd make an exception...

Slap treason on him....

[JudyM]

58. Yep. Then they ought to go after his predecessor, Ken Blackwell

who was IMO even worse during the Kerry campaign in OH.

[MBS]

19. " " " " " n/t

[Swede Atlanta]

29. Would love to see a perp walk...great for the Fall campaign....GOP suppress the voters...

in shackles!!!

[ejbr]

39. LITERALLY!!! n/t

[FarPoint]

2. Al Sharpton has this segment next

coming up after the current commercial....Go watch if you can....PoliticalNation....MSNBC.

[Tx4obama]

4. Please come back and let us know what he says.

I'm watching the convention speeches on C-Span.

[FarPoint]

6. I will do my best.

[FarPoint]

9. Ohio: Obama is fighting in Court Husted's "block the vote" activity.

Focused on Husted.....Showed the Rachel Maddow's clip of Dennis Lieberman and Tom Ritchie; the two Democratic Montgomery County Board of Election Officials fired by Husted last week.

Al Just reviewed that the GOP mission is to block voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida...

[Tx4obama]

11. Thanks for the update :) n/t

[still_one]

3. I bet the republicans never thought the Democrats would fight back

[FarPoint]

20. The Board of Election members who Husted fired....all are intertwined with Dayton, Ohio

First, Dennis Lieberman...he is a fine Dayton attorney, a good soul and his wife is a highly respected Montgomery County Commissioner...I don't know much about Tom Ritchie....he is very dedicated and personable.

Well my point is Husted, he is also from Dayton, Ohio. Husted and Lieberman have been on opposite ends of the spectrum for ever. Husted was in the General Assembly of Ohio...Speaker....and pure GOP to the bone.

Dennis, a real Ted Strickland Democrat. Dennis is by the way....brilliant and will out smart Husted in his game.

[Scairp]

23. I was a client of his firm many years ago

They are top-notch attorneys.

I don't know what this Husted is thinking, he has some kind of delusion he can do whatever he pleases with regard to voter laws and voter's rights. I hope he gets his ass thrown in jail until the election is over. Then his right to vote will suppressed. Fucker.

[awoke_in_2003]

46. We were placid for so long...

that it must be a shock to their system. Bless their hearts (and I mean that in the southern way).

On edit: that can loosely translate to "oh, you poor dumb idiot"

[Cooley Hurd]

5. Judge Peter Economus. The Discount Judge.

"Our Judicial Prices will NOT be beat!!!"

[chuckstevens]

7. Finally!

So many of the Republicans act like they are above the law because they know they can get away with it! Do you think Karl Rove ever fears going to jail? Let's make an example of this little shit.

Sometimes I look at these young slick, Republican thugs like John Husted, Scott Walker, Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor and others of their elk and long for Robert Kennedy's justice department to make them wet their pants, knowing the federal government will hold them accountable for their crimes and put them in jail.

[leftyohiolib]

8. contempt of court?

he's quite the little nazi isnt he

[elleng]

10. Kick the guys butt, please, Your Honor!!!

[HereSince1628]

12. Talk of Civil War? THIS is the civil war that is happening around us NOW!

Failure to see the GOP/Plutocrats attacks as anything else is failure to perceive reality.

[flamingdem]

14. yes it is! +100

[tblue37]

33. It's more like a coup than a civil war. nt

[defacto7]

42. it is a civil war...

and based on fabrications by the GOP fed to the public.

[DFW]

13. Jail the sucker for contempt

Let him, and every successor Kasich finds in the interim for refusing to comply with the court order until he does, and does so fully. This "above the law" shit is wearing VERY thin, and Husted is no Dick Cheney.

[SoapBox]

15. Here's hoping that the judge "renders" this Terrorist off to jail.

[magic59]

16. I hope the Judge throws his fascist ass in jail for contempt of court

[mikki35]

17. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

About time!!!!! This is one Ohioan who is thoroughly sick of these strutting little baby Nazis!! Oh PLEASE throw the book at this mega-creep!

[Iwillnevergiveup]

21. Too bad the hearing wasn't scheduled

for today or tomorrow so Mister Mister could be found in contempt on national teevee via the convention. Better yet an announcement of his arrest. Husted must have grandiose wet dreams of becoming a major player in the Party of Pissants. Now we gotta wait a week if the coward doesn't give in. What.A.Tool.

[vlyons]

22. Hey look, Dems growing backbones!

I hope the judge finds him for contempt and makes him do community service at a nursing home, or a homeless shelter. Husted needs an ego reduction and a plate of humble pie.

[The Second Stone]

24. Put the office of Sec of State into judicially overseen

receivership, or its equivalent.

[thelordofhell]

25. DROKK IT!!!

[WinstonSmith4740]

26. So basically,

he also just insulted every voter in Ohio.

"...he would appeal the decision to restore early voting on those three days, claiming that changing the hours now would “only serve to confuse voters.”

They need to throw this bastard's ass in jail, and not for some measly "contempt of court" charge. As far as I'm concerned, systematically trying to keep vast numbers of people from exercising their civil rights is against everything we stand for...he's a traitor.

[drm604]

40. Confuse voters?

What bullshit. Could anything be more obviously a contrived excuse?

[BootinUp]

27. Maybe some jail time will change his mind. nt

[Renew Deal]

28. Throw him in jail

[rocktivity]

30. "Hello, British Telecom? I'd like to place a person-to-person call to Julian Assange, please..."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1278364


rocktivity

[ProgressiveEconomist]

31. Standing in the "poll-house" door, just the way George Wallace

stood ostentatiously in the schoolhouse door to rile up his base in the Alabama Klan and White Citizens Councils.

Husted has mastered the slavery-era race-baiting game that Orville Faubus brought to its peak and Lester Maddox continued in the 60s. Will Husted bring his ax handle to court?

[hue]

32. Frickin' A+ K&R!

[xxqqqzme]

34. Can we say contempt of court?

I knew you could.

[FailureToCommunicate]

35. +1 for the Mister Rogers reference!

Hi boys and girls...
let's go to the magic kingdom, shall we...

[avebury]

36. I hope that he gets his butt thrown

in jail for contempt of court!

[Setsuna1972]

37. Prepwalk time !!!

I want to see this stupid bastard doing the old Prepwalk If he keeps acting stupid, this will only make HIS scheme that much more out in the open and much easier to slap down.

[WillyT]

38. K & R !!!

[ladym55]

41. I'm thrilled with this judge

I'm so tired of Rethuglicans thinking that they are above the law. Jon Husted is suppressing the vote ... pure and simple. It didn't help that the Republican chair of Franklin County proudly announced that they opposed early voting because they didn't want to make it easier for "urban voters" or some such racist stuff.

[defacto7]

43. Time to clean the stall...

Get the shovel judge!

[bucolic_frolic]

44. I doubt he'll get jail time.

A stern rebuke, some specific instructions to be followed no matter what,
and a hefty fine would not surprise me. Disobeying a court is a serious
matter, an arrogant thumbing of one's nose at the judge would land
anyone in hot water.

[onenote]

45. Hate to rain on everyone's parade, but there will be no contempt citation, no jail, no fine

When Husted issued his "directive" saying that he was not going to issue an order to state officials to set voting times for the three days preceding election day unless and until the district court's order was upheld by the appellate court, I stated that the next move would be a motion by the Obama administration (plaintiff in the case) to ask the court to specifically direct Husted to comply. The reason this step was needed is that the court's order does not contain a specific deadline for Husted to comply.

While I have not found a copy of the judge's scheduling order on line, my guess (based on experience) is that the reason it directs Husted to appear is not so he can be held in contempt or fined or jailed, but rather for the purpose of having him there to answer questions that the judge likely will pose in the context of what will essentially be a factual hearing as much as a legal hearing. Husted will argue that it is not necessary to set the times for voting in early November at this point in time and that if the public is told that voting will occur during that period and then the decision is reversed, it may be too late for some people to change their schedule to make it possible for them to vote on election day.

I suspect that the judge, after expressing his view that Husted should've filed a motion for a stay of the order if he thinks that there will be harm from immediate compliance, will nonetheless consider Husted's argument. I hope, and expect, that the judge will set a specific schedule for Husted to take action and require him to report back to the court. But I wouldn't necessarily bet the ranch on that prediction. The appeals court has set a very expedited schedule that will be completed by September 21 and thus its entirely possible that the appeals court will decide the appeal by the end of the month.

[Ms. Toad]

49. Thank you -

I can understand lay people not understanding the intricacies of the process - but I have been having this same discussion with attorneys (who ought to know better).

You are correct as to what the order included, and what it did not include. Husted is not in contempt until Nov 3 when uniform early voting fails to occur. (Although there are arguments that there will be some date prior to Nov 3 when it is past the point of no return to set up voting on the weekend - but absent a specific deadline in the initial order to set it up, that would require a writ of mandamus, (very difficult to obtain).)

Husted is being a real jerk - but he skating, from my reading of the order, just this side of failing to comply with it.

The only quibble I have with your summary is that the District Court judge may not even have the authority to act if jurisdiction has transferred to the appellate court. The ins and outs of what is a final order is not something I have spent much time on recently (and it was in flux the last time I did). If it is a final order, there is not much the District Court judge can legally do.

[SunSeeker]

53. What are the chances the appeals court will overturn?

I read somewhere it is very conservative (which could explain the lightining fast schedule---shades of Bush v. Gore).

[onenote]

54. It will depend on the panel that gets assigned the case

The Sixth Circuit certainly isn't the most liberal circuit, but its current roster of judges includes six nominated to the court by Democrats and 10 by repubs. There also are 9 active "Senior status" judges, including 5 nominated by Democrats and 4 by repubs. So its not out of the question to get a panel with at least two judges appointed by Carter, Clinton and/or Obama.

As for the expedited schedule, I wouldn't read anything into that beyond the fact that the case needs to be expedited since it relates to an election that will occur in less than two months.

[SunSeeker]

56. Yeah, but what's the urgency? That people will be allowed a chance to vote unless they rule?

It's not like the issue will be mooted by the election. This is a provision that is supposed to apply to all elections.

What is the horrible consequnces of allowing the lower court's decision to stand through November? Poor working people who would not otherwise be able to get to the polls on Tuesday would get to vote on a Sunday? Kinda like SCOTUS claiming a vote count amounted to irreparable harm.

[3feetofsnow]

48. Pigs like him need jail time

with people who have had nothing but racism and poverty in life. He would be crying in the corner wanting to go home to his momma.

[The Wizard]

50. He'll follow Rove's lead and ignore the Judge

This time the law has to call their bluff and take him away in cuffs. Rove's criminal finger prints are all over this.

[notadmblnd]

52. if he i in contempt, jail him

[WillyT]

55. HUGE K & R !!!

[warrprayer]

57. It's SOCK IT TO ME TIME for the GOP!

Last edited Thu Sep 6, 2012, 07:16 PM - Edit history (1)

this is too good! Oh please make it stop, my sides hurt from laughing!

A real case of American justice for a change!