Court refuses to replace DeLay on ballot, lawyer says

[Purveyor]

(08-03) 11:21 PDT New Orleans (AP) --

A federal appeals court on Thursday refused to let Texas Republicans replace Tom DeLay's name on the November congressional ballot.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, who said in July that DeLay's name had to stay on the ballot even though he quit Congress and moved to Virginia.


http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/08/03/politics/p112141D22.DTL

[demdiva]

1. A little more info

5th Circuit Court of Appeals Agrees with Texas Democrats on DeLay Ballot Challenge

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Texas Democrats a short time ago. As a result, Tom DeLay remains eligible for the 2006 general election as the Republican nominee for the 22nd Congressional District of Texas.

www.LoneStarProject.net

[MrCoffee]

2. DeLay and Kinky on the same ballot???

Do my eyes deceive me?

[BrotherBuzz]

4. LOL Sounds like a Texas District 22 ballot...

could become a collectible/curio.

[Beetwasher]

3. Sweet!

:rofl:

I really thought it was going to be a longshot that they would force him to stay on the ballot! This is pretty incredible! The irony is delectable that his shenanigans may in fact end up being responsible for the Repubs losing the Maj. in the House.

[Subdivisions]

5. BREAKING: Appeals court won't let GOP replace DeLay on Texas ballot

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/080306kvuedelayballot-cb.6e5a114.html

Good, maybe we can beat the *Co voting apparatus and win that seat!

Edit: I believe they have the option of taking this result to the supreme court, and they might. But, in this case, it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will rule against the lower Appeals Court. Why would they, both courts are run by the same man anyway.

[maddezmom]

6. good news

Can they appeal to the Supremes?

[Subdivisions]

9. They can, but it would be a waste of time

[Binka]

7. Ha Ha Ha Poor GOP Bastards! n/t

[krispos42]

8. Excellent!

Tom DeLay gets smacked down for his arrogence and stealing campaign contributions to pay for his legal defense.

Can we sent him to prison in the Marianas Islands? Perhaps he can be forced into sexual slavery as well.

[mikelgb]

10. ha ha stupid mfer!

[wicket]

11. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Will they take it to the Supreme Court??

:rofl: :rofl:

[Czolgosz]

12. (k & r) Occasionally, just occasionally, justice prevails. The opinion is

clear and correct:

"Benkiser could not constitutionally find that DeLay was ineligible on June 7, the date she made her decision. Therefore, her application of the ineligibility statute to DeLay was unconstitutional."


"There is evidence that Benkiser did not act reasonably and with political neutrality when she declared DeLay ineligible. Indeed, the district court’s description of the events surrounding the letter sent by DeLay imply, at the very least, a lack of neutrality."


"we fail to see how removing DeLay from the ballot would protect the voters, inasmuch as it was the voters themselves who selected DeLay as the Republican candidate for the general election."

[Subdivisions]

13. How ironic...

...that a court controlled by neo-cons finds someone else's actions unconstitutional!

Right!

[Tight_rope]

14. Time for the "HAPPY Dance"

[gratuitous]

15. Bummer Tom

No matter how much you hate your job, can you imagine having to be DeLay's campaign manager, and trying to sell to voters the idea that Hot Tub Tom gives two shits about the 22nd District?

[flyarm]

16. BREAKING: DeLay must stay on congressional ballot

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/4gop.html

DeLay must stay on congressional ballot
Appeals court upholds lower court's ruling.

By Laylan Copelin
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, August 03, 2006

The Republican Party of Texas cannot replace Tom Delay on the November ballot, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today.

The appeals court upheld a ruling by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks that the Republicans couldn't replace Delay.


Delay, who retired from Congress and moved to Virginia, can stay on the ballot and return to Texas and campaign to regain his old seat — or withdraw and leave U.S. House District. 22 without a Republican candidate. It was not immediately clear if his lawyers would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
DeLay won a March primary before resigning from Congress on June 9. He is awaiting trial in Texas state court on money laundering and conspiracy charges alleging that illegal corporate cash helped pay for legislative campaigns in 2002.

After he moved to Virginia, state Republicans said he was ineligible to run in Texas and sought to replace him on the ballot.

Texas Republican Party Chairwoman Tina Benkiser said she declared DeLay ineligible to be the GOP nominee because of his Virginia driver's license, state tax withholding documents and voter registration. Texas Democrats sued to keep DeLay on the ballot so they can continue to use him as a poster boy for bad behavior.

Sparks, however, cited evidence that DeLay has maintained his homestead exemption in Sugar Land, that his wife continues to live there and that he was found in Texas — not Virginia — when Democrats subpoenaed him to court.

Former Democratic Congressman Nick Lampson is running for the seat.

Additional material from the Associated Press.

[WI_DEM]

17. this will be interesting

Will his repuke district elect him anyway or will he go down in defeat?

[merci_me]

19. In flames honey........

he's going down in flames. Bookmark this site http://www.brazosriver.com/ and enjoy the fun that just keeps coming. Juanita will curl his hair, while Nick Lampson is beating his butt!!

[sofa king]

18. The campaign was a front for his legal defense.

Why is this never pointed out?

[greyl]

20. Hahahahaha! nt

[longship]

21. Who's spinning this article?

...
Texas Democrats sued to keep DeLay on the ballot so they can continue to use him as a poster boy for bad behavior.

...

They're wrong. Texas Democrats sued to keep DeLay on the ballot because that's the law.

[redqueen]

26. That's right. For no other reason than that's what Texas law requires.

Bastards. The media clowning has to stop!

Call or write and complain complain COMPLAIN!

[KansDem]

22. "they can continue to use him as a poster boy for bad behavior"

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Just like out of a manure pile will grow roses

[last1standing]

23. I'm not ready to celebrate, yet.

This is Sugarland, Texas and they've voted for delay for many years knowing what kind of monster he is. If the Grand Asshole gets re-elected then is convicted, the repub governor will just install another hatemongering nutjob in his place and we'll have gained nothing.

In other words, SEND NICK LAMPSON MONEY TODAY!
https://secure.ga3.org/03/lampson06

(If you can afford it, of course). :)

[redqueen]

28. I'll reiterate: SEND NICK LAMPSON MONEY TODAY!

If you can afford it, of course.

DO IT NOW! :7

https://secure.ga3.org/03/lampson06

[liberalmuse]

24. Is the shite hitting the fan?

I'm hoping with K. Harris and T. DeLay that we are seeing the beginning stages of The Great Karmic Smackdown.

[demnan]

25. Why did he have to move to Virginia?

Can we ship him back? We have enough idiots of our own.

[MrCoffee]

27. It was a defense tactic

"Look, judge, I don't even live in the TX 22nd anymore, therefore, I shouldn't be on the ballot."

[williesgirl]

33. I agree - send asshole Allen with him

[rodeodance]

29. good. DeLay et al tried to pull a con. So far the con is NOT winning!

[depakid]

30. So- what happens if he wins?

I wouldn't put anything past the voters in Sugarland-

[AndyA]

31. Could it be? Is it possible that one of the snakes just turned around and

got bit on the butt when their carefully laid out plan fell through?

Gee, KKKarl, you might be losing your touch...

[Qutzupalotl]

32. I hope this doesn't turn into a case of "be careful what you wish for..."

Despite his legal and ethical problems, he has tremendous name recognition and a lot of loyal followers.

If he wins, the best case scenario is he gets slapped with a felony before taking office again.

[longship]

34. My LTTE of The Statesman

In your August 3, 2006 report "DeLay must stay on congressional ballot" you report that "Texas Democrats sued to keep DeLay on the ballot so they can continue to use him as a poster boy for bad behavior." I take exception to this characterization.

The finding of the court portrays the issue differently. It held that the Republican party's attempts to remove former Representative DeLay created an unconstitutional pre-election residency requirement and furthermore violated Texas Election Code.

I would suggest that if the Texas Republican Party and specifically Tom DeLay hadn't played fast and loose with the law, they would not be in this position. The fact that the Democratic Party's complaint has been upheld on appeal speaks loudly to the fact that your characterization of the case is not only wrong, it is wildly wrong. This is a matter of law, not politics and The Statesman should know this.


Sincerely yours,

[illumn8d]

35. It is politics, but that's OK

I actually don't agree with the law here. I think any party should be able to change their candidate.

That being said, the schaedenfraude is certainly delicious. Why should we be afraid of playing politics here?

[Judi Lynn]

36. All of their scheming's down the drain, knock on wood.

Blatant disregard and contempt for their own Texas law. That's how much these scum really adhere to their law and order claims. Only as long as it gets them somewhere, otherwise it's everyman for himself.



Nice try, Tom.

[HereSince1628]

37. Unfortunately not all of it, the gerrymandering SOB's still have most

of the country carved into districts to insure that the minority party has the majority representation in the country.

[alfredo]

38. Lampson will have a wealth of material to work with.

Is DeLay even a resident in Texas? I thought he became a Virginia resident. Will Lampson have legal recourse if DeLay tries to win his seat again?