Three Lawsuits Involving Ralph Nader’s 2004 Candidacy are Still Active

Ralph Nader’s litigation on various election law issues from the 2004 election are still moving along in various courts.

Nader’s lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission, over the FEC’s refusal to even ask various state Democratic Parties and various law firms to respond to his complaint will be argued on January 14, 2013, in the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit. The Democratic Party spent millions of dollars in 2004 in a national effort to keep him off the ballot in as many states as possible in 2004, yet the party never reported these expenditures to the FEC. After years of stalling, the FEC dismissed Nader’s complaint, so in 2010 he sued the FEC for its failure to act. He lost in the U.S. District Court, where the judge said the FEC did not strictly follow the law but that the FEC behavior was “harmless” error. The appeal will be in front of Karen Henderson and A. Raymond Randolph (Bush Sr. appointees) and Thomas Griffith (a Bush Jr. appointee). The case is Nader v FEC.

Nader’s lawsuit against the Democratic Party, and the Maine Democratic Party, for its behavior in 2004 was set for a trial, but on October 11 the Democratic Party asked the Maine Supreme Court to stay the trial. The State Supreme Court is not likely to keep the stay intact for much longer, because that court already ruled unanimously on April 19, 2012 that the trial should go ahead.

Nader’s lawsuit to preserve his funds in his Washington, D.C. bank from being attached by Democrats who challenged his Pennsylvania petition is still pending. Although he lost last year, he asked for a rehearing, which is still pending. That case is Serody v Nader and Amalgamated Bank, in the D.C. court system’s Court of Appeals.


Comments

Three Lawsuits Involving Ralph Nader’s 2004 Candidacy are Still Active — 1 Comment

  1. Thanks Richard for the update, and please keep us posted as these processes move forward. SM

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.