Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Court: Rahm Emanuel Not Eligible to Run for Mayor

Just when he probably thought that it could not get much worse than losing to the Packers in a home game, Rahm Emanuel has lost his fight to get on the ballot. The court just ruled that he is ineligible.

He had won below and the Illinois Appellate Court ruled 2-1 to overturn a Chicago Board of Elections decision. In questioning, the judges had expressed skepticism. Justice Thomas Hoffman asked “Can a person dwell conceptually, or do they have to have a place to put their body Can you have a permanent place of abode where there is no dwelling?”

Apparently not according to the majority. You can expect a rapid appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court.

The Court reached the decision despite the following factual findings:

At all relevant times, including the time he was in
Washington, D.C., the candidate continued to pay property taxes for
the Hermitage house, continued to hold an Illinois driver’s license
listing the Hermitage house as his address, continued to list the
Hermitage house address on his personal checks, and continued to
vote with the Hermitage house as his registered voting address. He
did, however, pay income tax in 2009 and 2010 to both Washington,
D.C., and Illinois.

The dissenting judge however add a few facts to support the view of residency:

The candidate initially rented an apartment in Washington,
D.C., but later rented a home when his family joined him during the
summer of 2009. The lease terms of both his Chicago residence and
the Washington, D.C., home coincided with the school year of the
candidate’s children in order to provide the least disruption
possible to their education. Prior to the family’s move to
Washington, D.C., the candidate’s wife and her friends filled 100
boxes with belongings that were then left in a locked storage area
in the basement of the Chicago home. The candidate described the
stored items as the family’s most valuable possessions, including
his wife’s wedding gown, heirloom china, family photograph albums,
an heirloom coat brought by the candidate’s grandfather when he
immigrated to the United States, the clothes and birth outfits of
the candidate’s children, and their school projects and report
cards.

The majority found that candidates were given an added criteria to satisfy on residency:

We base this conclusion largely on the plain language of the
Election Code. That plain language limits the reach of the
“business of the United States” exception to “elector[s]” or their
spouses; it makes no mention of “candidates.” Further, as we have
noted, we must interpret statutes “as a whole, with each provision
construed in connection with every other section.” Cinkus, 228
Ill. 2d at 216-17. Section 3-2’s “business of the United States”
exception is housed not only in the Election Code, but in a portion
of the Election Code dealing exclusively with voter qualification,
in fact in an Article titled “Qualification of Voters.” See 10
ILCS 5/3-1 through 3-5 (West 2008). As explained above, the
Municipal Code sets forth two qualifications for candidates: they
must meet the Election Code’s standards for a “qualified voter,”
and they must have “resided in” the municipality for one year
preceding the election. The location of section 3-2’s “business of
the United States” exception–in the Election Code, and in an
article of the Election Code dedicated exclusively to voter
qualification–supports the conclusion that the exception applies
only to the Election Code’s “qualified voter” standard, and not to
any supplemental candidate qualifications located outside the
Election Code.

Here is the opinion: Emanuel decision

On Dec. 23, 2010, the Chicago Board of Elections voted 3-0 to uphold the decision of Joseph Morris, a local Chicago attorney and elections official. Usually a lower court’s factual findings are given great deference but this was a mixed question of law and fact — if not a pure question of law. The court simply disagreed on what is required to establish residency.

A poll this week showed Emanuel way out in front. The problem is the early voting starts in a week and the clerk is going ahead without Emanuel’s name.

157 thoughts on “Court: Rahm Emanuel Not Eligible to Run for Mayor”

  1. All the birther crap you just posted is complete and utter nonsense

    Without painting with a broad brush and excluding the Abercrombie Teacher from Kenmore comment. Which comment or comments do you find to be non factually correct.

  2. Slarti the president has the power to tell Hawaii to release the document. Why he doesn’t, only he knows. It’s pretty obvious after Abercrombie suggest that a long form may not exist. I mean didn’t the DOH tell us there was a long form? The original vital record on file in accordance to state policy and procedure but yet the Governor is suggesting none may exist. Come on Slarti.

    I have a referral now. Checking to see if insurance will cover. Thanks again. Keep reminding me. I’m gonna do it. After that my wife says we gonna fix all my teefis 🙂

  4. This is from the KQRS morning show from 1/20/2011. Their Hollywood reporter Mike Evans that knows Neil Abercrombie for Governor of Hawaii personally, gave an interesting story about the birth certificate situation.

  5. Bdaman,

    All the birther crap you just posted is complete and utter nonsense – don’t make me go Vince Treacy on your ass…

    And schedule a sleep test.

  6. Bdaman-

    I guess I have to throw in the towel. Abercrombie “wore his hair in a pony tail”. That cinches it for me. I have to admit it. Obama is a furriner. I guess that makes Joe Biden our new President. And may God continue to bless the United States of America.

  8. October 31st 2008

    “There have been numerous requests for Sen. Barack Hussein Obama’s official birth certificate. State law (Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §338-18) prohibits the release of a certified birth certificate to persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record.

    “Therefore, I as Director of Health for the State of Hawai‘i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawai‘i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.
    “No state official, including Governor Linda Lingle, has ever instructed that this vital record be handled in a manner different from any other vital record in the possession of the State of Hawaii”

    July 27th 2009

    “I, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the Hawaii State Department of Health, have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaii State Department of Health verifying Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen. I have nothing further to add to this statement or my original statement issued in October 2008 over eight months ago….”

    January 20 2011

    Hawaii governor claims record of Obama’s birth ‘exists in archives’ but can’t produce the vital document
    He told Honolulu’s Star-Advertiser: ‘It actually exists in the archives, written down,’ he said.
    But it became apparent that what had been discovered was an unspecified listing or notation of Obama’s birth that someone had made in the state archives and not a birth certificate.
    And in the same interview Abercrombie suggested that a long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate for Barack Obama may not exist within the vital records maintained by the Hawaii Department of Health.
    He said efforts were still being made to track down definitive vital records that would prove Obama was born in Hawaii.

    HONOLULU – A privacy law that shields birth certificates has prompted Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie to abandon efforts to dispel claims that President Barack Obama was born outside Hawaii, his office says.

    State Attorney General David Louie told the governor that privacy laws bar him from disclosing an individual’s birth documentation without the person’s consent, Abercrombie spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said Friday.

    “There is nothing more that Gov. Abercrombie can do within the law to produce a document,” said Dela Cruz. “Unfortunately, there are conspirators who will continue to question the citizenship of our president.”

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110122/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_birth_certificate

  9. Abercrombie was born in 1938 in Buffalo, New York. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1959 at Union College in upstate New York and thereafter became a school teacher. A self-described “hippie” who wore his hair in a pony tail, he later moved to Hawaii and at the University of Hawaii earned a Master’s degree in 1964 and a Ph.D. in sociology ten years later.

    Teacher from Kenmore recalls Obama was a focused student
    Kenmore is North of Buffalo, coincidence?

    http://mysite.ncnetwork.net/res10o2yg/obama/Teacher%20from%20Kenmore%20recalls%20Obama%20was%20a%20focused%20student%20%20Don%27t%20Miss%20%20The%20Buffalo%20News.htm

    Remember this was the lady who said it was Dr. West who delivered Obama but was forced to retract her claim because West retired in 1956 five years before Obama was born.

    Hummmm

  11. While the birthers may have shined a light on eligibility questions, this question would likely still have come up

    New analysis of Democrat Party’s official 2008 Certification of Nominations for Obama reveals that reasons for his sudden trip to Hawaii in October, 2008 were to visit more than just his sick grandmother. Hawaiian election laws, media accounts and post-dated documents reveal he may have attended a private hearing with the Hawaiian Chief Elections Officer regarding his disqualification from the Hawaiian ballot due to lack of certified Constitutional eligibility.

    http://thedailypen.blogspot.com/2011/01/o-con-had-legal-help-from-non-partisan.html

  12. BIL:

    I hope you don’t mind for you posted this on the Black Bear thread earlier and I had also commented on this story:

    #
    Buddha Is Laughing 1, January 24, 2011 at 1:13 pm

    Hey, cheer up Chicago! Not all the news is bad. Rahm Emmanuel isn’t going to be able to run for mayor after all.

    “DEVELOPING: The Chicago News Cooperative is reporting that an Illinois Appellate Court has overturned a decision regarding Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago residency. The court reportedly decided Emanuel is not eligible to run for mayor of Chicago because he has not been a resident of the city for one year.”
    #
    16 eniobob 1, January 24, 2011 at 1:15 pm

    BIL:

    You beat me to that one :=).And he gave up his day job to run LOL!!
    #
    17 eniobob 1, January 24, 2011 at 1:20 pm

    If ever there was an example of “be careful what you wish for”Rahm is the perfect example,Bill Clinton ruffled a lot of feathers in the Black Community there also with his endorsement of Rahm.

  13. Rahm I did this for the Bear and Jet fans here,and I’m quite sure you could stand some right about now:

  14. This is an interesting residency question and I am curious as to how the Illinois Supreme Court will rule.

    Is it Gary or Gery? In several of the articles I read the headline uses Gary but the body of the articles use Gery.

  15. Michaelb,

    While the birthers may have shined a light on eligibility questions, this question would likely still have come up (probably via opposition research in the campaign instead of ahead of time, in my opinion). As for Rahm – I think whatever the courts decide is fine. If I lived in Chicago, I wouldn’t vote for him but I’m okay with him being on the ballot if that’s how the courts rule…

  17. Swarthmore,
    I think the Appellate court got the law right, but I would agree that you would think leasing your home, and not selling it, would be good enough. That being said, Chicago would be better off without Rahm. Chico could be the best bet. I think he is well financed. Let’s see what the Illinois Supremes say.

  18. I don’t like Rahm anymore but he does own a home there. He leased it to go into federal service. Normally owning a home in a city or district would be enough. I wouldn’t count him out yet. Mosely Braun is not very good either. Gary Chico is the candidate my family prefers.

  19. Wow! Just think of all the money he has spent on TV ads! A good spur to the local economy, but a waste of donors funds. It couldn’t happen to a “nicer” guy!

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