A U.S. District Court in Charleston, West Virginia, has set a hearing in Barr v Ireland for August 27 (Wednesday), at 1:30 p.m. The case challenges the August 1 petition deadline for presidential independent candidates, and the presidential nominees of unqualified parties. 2:08cv-0990.
Do they have a realistic chance? Do they have a good lawyer?
You know, Bob Barr should be there in person.
I predict the defense will use this argument:
1) The LP had almost four (4) years to collect signatures – can start petitioning for ballot access the day after the 2004 general election,
2) The LP could have used stand-in candidates as this is allowed in WV (and was used by the Constitution Party this year),
3) The LP didn’t bother to start petitioning until three weeks before the deadline,
4) Neither the Constitution Party nor Raplh Nader had any problems with the August 1 presidential deadline.
The constitutional cases over presidential deadlines don’t turn on how early a state permits petitioning to start. The New Alliance Party won a federal lawsuit against Nevada’s petition deadline in 1992 (which was in June) notwithstanding that Lenora Fulani had been running since early 1991. Lyndon LaRouche won similar lawsuits against Utah and New Jersey in 1984 even though he also had been running since 1983. Eugene McCarthy won his case against the early August deadline in Rhode Island even though he had declared as an independent in December 1974 (that is not a typo; he announced in 1974 for the 1976 election).
The issue is whether the states require these petitions before the two major parties have chosen their tickets. It is somewhat fortunate that the two major parties this year still haven’t revealed their v-p candidates.
Separate is NOT equal. EQUAL Protection Clause. 14th Amdt, Sec. 1.
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 495 (1954)
Way too difficult for the armies of MORON lawyers doing (and losing) ballot access cases for third party and independent candidates since 1968 — a mere 40 years of TOTAL legal malpractice by such MORON lawyers — especially the mini-armies of MORON LP lawyers since 1971.
EQUAL nominating petitions for ALL candidates for the same office in the same area. EQUAL deadlines. EQUAL everything.
P.R. for legislative bodies and Approval Voting for executive / judicial offices.
NO need for any MORON party hack extremist caucuses, primaries and conventions.