On July 25, the Louisiana State Court of Appeals ruled that a congressional candidate may be kept off the Democratic primary ballot because he signed a candidacy form that contains an untrue statement. Williams v Fahrenholtz, 2008-7459. The candidate is Jimmy Fahrenholtz, running for the U.S. House, 2nd district, in New Orleans.

The form that all candidates must sign in Louisiana says, “I do not owe any outstanding fines, fees or penalties pursuant to the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act, and I acknowledge that I am subject to the provisions of the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act if I am a candidate for any office other than United States Senator, Representative in Congress, or member of a committee of a political party.” Another Louisiana election law says that a person may not run if he or she makes a false certification. Fahrenholtz did owe outstanding fines from his previous runs for Orleans Parish School Board member (he is a member of that board).

Legal precedent is strong that a candidate may not be kept off the ballot for Congress because that candidate had been convicted of a crime. The Louisiana State Court of Appeals decision says that if Fahrenholtz thought the Louisiana law is unconstitutional, he should have mentioned that argument in his trial court memorandum, and he didn’t. Nevertheless, the vote in the State Court of Appeals was 4-4. Since he had also lost in the trial court, he is still off the ballot. He plans to ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to hear his appeal, and he may also go to federal court. Precedents from other jurisdictions that say candidates cannot be stopped from running for Congress, despite having broken campaign laws, include Hamburg v State of Wyoming, 820 P 2d 523, at 533 (1991), and United States v Richmond, 550 F Supp 605 (1982). Thanks to Randall Hayes for this news. For more, including links to the decision, see here.