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.
What Mike A. said.
I don’t believe that ordering the state to include Mr. Emanuel’s name on the ballot is indicative of any particular attitude on the part of the Illinois Supreme Court. Were his name omitted from the ballot and he thereafter prevailed on the appeal,the voting would be a mess. Should he lose the appeal, voters can simply be instructed to ignore his name on the ballot.
The IL Supreme Court just ordered Rahm back on the ballot pending appeal. The ballots are going to press with his name.
That makes it very likely that he will win the appeal, since likelihood of success on the merits is often a factor in granting a stay.
Wise move.
Let the voters of Chicago decide, not just two intermediate appellate “Justices.”
Bdaman,
Dr. West is likely the person who’s name is on the president’s original birth record. Do you have any evidence that it is not?
BDAman,
“I saw that. He’s the guy who has that conspiracy show, Conspiracy Theories. Conspiracy has been quite the norm as the last ten years.”
You owe me a new keyboard. I just did a spit take with my coffee after reading that.
I saw that. He’s the guy who has that conspiracy show, Conspiracy Theories. Conspiracy has been quite the norm as the last ten years.
Jesse Ventura to sue the US government/TSA perverts.
http://www.infowars.com/ventura-strikes-back-with-lawsuit-against-tsa/
Both teachers, both from Buffalo, both made statements surrounding the birth of Obama to which they both would later retract. Amazing isn’t it.
Neil Ambercrombie December 2010
“Maybe I’m the only one in the country that could look you right in the eye right now and tell you, ‘I was here when that baby was born.’”
Barabara Nelson January 2009
“I may be the only person left who specifically remembers his birth. His parents are gone, his grandmother is gone, the obstetrician who delivered him is gone,” said Nelson, referring to Dr. Rodney T. West, who died in February at the age of 98.
When the subject turned to President Obama, Evans asked, “Do you remember him growing up.”
“I remember him as a little boy with his grandfather,” Abercrombie answered, “because his mother and father separated.” Abercrombie elaborated that “little Barry” went everywhere with his grandfather, Stanley Dunham, and one could not help but to run into them.
The reader may recall that just before Christmas Abercrombie told the Los Angeles Times, “Maybe I’m the only one in the country that could look you right in the eye right now and tell you, ‘I was here when that baby was born.'”
A few days later, Abercrombie clarified to Mark Niesse of the Associated Press that he didn’t exactly see Obama’s parents with their newborn son at the hospital, but that he “remembers seeing Obama as a child with his parents at social events.” In fact, however, Abercrombie never saw young Barry with his parents at all.
In his effort to embarrass those who would like to see Obama’s birth certificate, it seems that Abercrombie has been serially fabricating a family that never existed and embellishing his own relation to it.
Curious, too, is that in his 2009 interview with Evans, one in which he describes Obama Sr. in great detail, Abercrombie has not a word to say about Ann Dunham or the Obamas as a couple.
No, Virginia, Abercrombie is not screwing with the “birthers.” He is simply screwing up.
Illinois Supreme Court agrees to hear the case.
Buddha,
I must have missed your nipple comment before. As somebody so endowed, it’s not that annoying. Actually, they generally just looks like a birth marks. (Nipples always come in pairs). Interestingly, people of Asian descent tend to have extra nipples in different places than people of European descent.
I’ve also got a Darwin point and a couple of malfunctioning hair follicles (that may or may not be from a mutation). The average person has somewhere around 3-4 mutations that actually get expressed; red Hair being my personal favorite.
Rahm’s mistake was very simple. He rented out the place he lived in while in Washington, so legally he was no longer a resident in it. Yes you can own property in various jurisdictions, states, cities etc., pay property taxes and not be a “resident”. When he realized his mistake he desperately tried to undo it by offering the renter something like 40k to move out the guy asked for 100k which Rahm refused.
Swarthmore Mom,
I saw that on the local news here in Illinois. Big news. I wonder how the Supremes will rule and when?
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2011/01/emanuel-lawyers-file-ballot-appeal-with-supreme-court.html Rahm back on ballot for now.
WMmJ
If Democrat leaders disapproved of torture and humiliation they would be shutting down the TSA sexual molestation and assault machine. But they are not and indeed continue to support it from the White House.
What Democrats leaders disapprove of is Republican leaders authorizing torturing and humiliating people.
Democrats leaders believe only Democrats have the right to authorize molesting and assaulting others. Republican leaders think all leaders (both dem and rep) have the right to authorize molestation and assault.
lest we forgot already about rahm and his peers
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAZuQiJUrIQ&w=480&h=390]
Isabel Darcy:
I agree with you that there might be something on the cert that Obama doesn’t want disclosed.
I was always opposed to all the medical information disclosures presidents had to provide to the public. This is not the public’s business.
And I suspect private and personal family and or medical information is on that cert and is no ones business as well. If we are ever to teach our public officials to but out of our business we will have to but out of there business when it isn’t relevant to our lives or their governance.
My comment about Rahm Emanuel’s father being a terrorist was not approved why exactly????
Slart:
“I never thought you were a birther but thanks for clarifying what you meant.”
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No problem 🙂