On January 16, U.S. District Court Judge John P. Bailey ruled that the lawsuit Constitution Party of West Virginia v Jezioro, no. 2:08-cv-61, should proceed to trial. The party had filed the lawsuit on April 18, 2008, against the state Division of Natural Resources, over whether the state was unconstitutionally preventing the party from circulating its ballot access petition in state parks. The Division of Natural Resources had then tried to get the case dismissed without a trial, but the Court issued a 17-page ruling saying that a trial is needed. Judge Bailey is a Bush Jr. appointee at the federal court in Elkins.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
The fact that the Judge has issued a Motion for Summary Judgement speaks well in our favor. It indicates that he feels that there is no dispute of the facts, so therefore a jury is not needed. The CPWV’s attorney told me that this is the first time in his 40-year career that he has ever seen a judge skip mediation (what the defense is asking for to settle) and go straight to summary judgement.
In a nutshell, Judge Bailey is not going to tell the state of WV what to do regarding state law. However, he will set them right as far as state violation of federal law. This will rely, most likely, on 42 U.S.C. 1983 which is a well established civil rights action from over 100 years ago.
We’re not expecting any substantial monetary compensation, but as a federal court ruling, a favorable decision is likely to have NATIONAL implications/significance for ballot access petitioning in all U.S. states.