On August 2, the Mayor of Warren, Michigan, James Fouts, filed a federal lawsuit to be allowed to run for re-election. Fouts v The Warren City Council, e.d., 2:23cv-11868.
He is serving his fourth term. Until 2020, Warren allowed elected city officials to serve five terms. In 2020, the voters amended the law to set the limit at three terms. But the 2020 amendment was silent about retroactive service. Typically when term limits are put in place, or amended for a shorter number of terms, terms served before the law was changed are not counted. But the Michigan Court of Appeals construed the law to bar Fouts.
The first round is August 8, so if Fouts win his lawsuit, he is asking that the August 8 election not count, and that a new first round be held, perhaps in late September. Here is the Complaint. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news. Warren is the third most populous city in Michigan.
LAWS — FOR THE FUTURE —
UNLESS SPECIFIC RETROACTIVE.
—
ONE MORE CONST AMDT-
NOOOO RETROACTIVE CIVIL LAWS.
NO CRIMINAL LAWS RETROACTIVE [EX POST FACTO] NOW – USA – 1-9-3, STATES 1-10-1
DUE TO OLDE ROTTED BRIT REGIMES – PURGING OPPONENTS
NOOO TERM LIMITS — EXCEPT FOR TOP EXECS- NOT HOLD SAME OFFICE IN NEXT TERM OF THE OFFICE.
IE *INVESTIGATE* EVERYTHING DONE/NOT DONE IN TERM.
OBVIOUS REASON – THE SUPER-DANGER FROM TOP EXECS IN WORLD HISTORY
IE THE EVIL LIKES OF LBJ, NIXON, CLINTON, TRUMP, BIDEN , ETC.
— ON TOP OF ALL THE TOP FOREIGN KILLERS/MONSTERS.
I don’t understand the argument that would involve the federal government here.
AZ loves career politicians. What a retard.
https://slaynews.com/news/34000-illegal-2020-election-ballots-found-michigan-during-forensic-study/
Democrats rigged 2020 Michigan election!
Chuck, that article doesn’t say that the study identified any instances at which any person cast more than a single ballot. Just because some absentee ballots were counted in which the voter hadn’t signed his or her absentee ballot request doesn’t indicate that the particular voter voted twice.
The study says there are flaws with 34,000 ballots, but Trump lost Michigan by 154,188 votes. Michigan was not close in 2020. Trump only got 47.8% in Michigan in 2020.
You are missing the point. If Detroit was rigged, what about the rest of the state? Audit the entire state. I believe Trump did win but Democrats rigged election.
Michigan was stolen, along with the whole national election.
Michigan, like Pennsylvania, would befit greatly from choosing their Presidential electors by district, like Maine and Nebraska. The effect of any fraudulent voting, alleged or real, would be confined to one or two districts, and wouldn’t result in determining the outcome of all of each state’s electoral votes.
Sounds like Richard Winger supports Michigan fraud.
WZ-
AGAIN G MATH 00000001 —-
1/2 OR LESS VOTES X 1/2 RIGGED CRACKED/PACKED G AREAS = 1/4 OR LESS CONTROL — ESP WITH 3 OR MORE CHOICES
EC WOULD BECOME LIKE THE USA H REPS GERRYMANDER SYSTEM —
EVEN WORSE WITH POSSIBLE NON-CONTIGUOUS DISTRICTS –
IE PACK THE MOST ENEMY VOTERS INTO THE FEWEST EC DISTRICTS–
DOWN TO THE PRECINCT LEVEL.
—
FOLKS WATCHING THE LATEST TV TRUMP APPEARANCE IN A FELONY CASE IN DEVIL CITY ???
The persecutors of Trump will get their just comeuppance soon enough. Turnabout is fair play.
@Ryan,
It appears to be a cranky old man who initially won in state court, but was overturned on appeal, and the Michigan Supreme Court refused to take an appeal.
Fouts has been mayor for 20 years and was a city councilman for 26 years before that.
Warren elects 5 city councilmen from districts, and 2 at large. Warren set term limits of 3 4-year terms per office.
There was a later a court ruling that the district councilmen and at large councilmen were different offices and a councilman could serve 24 years between the two.
So in 2016 the mayoral term limit was increased to 5 terms. Fouts had just begun his third term so it would let him be elected two additional terms.
In 2019, Fouts was elected to his fourth term. Meanwhile the ruling on council members was reversed, so now city council members could only serve 12 years while the mayor could serve 20.
So the council proposed that mayoral term limits be reduced back to 12 years. The mayor vetoed this but was overridden by the council 7-0. The voters approved this in 2020.
Fouts at that time was in his fourth term. They didn’t kick him out.
I suspect that there is animosity between the mayor and the council. It appears that in the 2019 election several council races were quite close, and perhaps the council was turned over while Fouts hung on.
Sounds like AZ except for initially winning?
I was saying Jim Riley that the ordinance of the law was local, and then it was ruled on by the Michigan courts in line with Michigan law. What’s the argument that this should be in federal jurisdiction?
Looked him up. He turns 81 years old August 8th. He’s like my previous city’s mayor and wants to die in office.
So, couple months older than Biden.
Everyone knows Beijing Biden cheated to get in office.
@Zane,
Houts was first elected to the city council when he was 34. He is now 80. He may believe that he is indispensible and beloved by the people of Warren.
He was first elected as mayor in 2007 after the previous mayor had been term limited (3 terms). In 2016 just after being elected to his 3rd (and last term), the term limit for mayor was increased to five terms. While it might be claimed that this was to equalize terms wiyh council, it seems more likely it was just to permit Fouts to run again.
The city council turned over in 2019, with just one of seven returning, and there appears to have been an interpretation of the city council term limits that had blocked some of the council members from running for election.
Ryan had asked what were the federal issues. The reason for going to federal court was because he had lost in state courts. It is unlikely that a federal court will overturn an interpretation of Michigan law.
I suspect a federal court will not enjoin an election in which 3/5 of absentee ballots have already been returned.
Likewise, Biden got elected at a young age.
brain dead courts NOT automatically requiring a new election if the election is illegal.
thus the nonstop machinations to get past the next election –esp since 1964 — hacks staying in POWER.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2023/08/04/court-blocks-mississippi-ban-on-voting-after-some-crimes-but-gop-official-will-appeal-ruling/70532272007/
Court blocks Mississippi ban on voting after some crimes, but GOP official will appeal ruling
Emily Wagster Pettus Associated Press
Jackson, Miss. – Mississippi is violating the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment by permanently stripping voting rights from people convicted of some felonies, a federal appeals court panel ruled in a split decision Friday.
Two judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ordered the Mississippi secretary of state to stop enforcing a provision in the state constitution that disenfranchises people convicted of specific crimes, including murder, forgery and bigamy.
—
ONE MORE PERVERSION OF 14-1 AMDT.
NOTE 14-2 AMDT — NOT ENFORCED BY MORON COURTS SINCE 1868.
AZ supports criminals voting. Shocker.
I bet he wants retards to be allowed to vote too.
KANE —
BETTER TO HAVE *RETARDS* VOTE — COMPARED TO HAVING BAN TROLL MORONS VOTE.
—-
P-A-T
So you would cancel your own voting rights? I don’t believe you.
@Ryan,
There is a picture of Fouts in his Wikipedia article.
The main argument is that he is being denied his first Amendment right to run for office. The SCOTUS has ruled that there must compelling reason for exclusion. Fouts argues that misapplication (according to the lawsuit) of the law by the Michigan courts does not form that basis. He also claims that the interest of the city council is to serve their selfish political ambitions and not the citizens of Warren (the city clerk had originally placed Fouts on the ballot, the city council sued to remove him which resulted in the Michigan court decision).
I really thought this was a pro se filing. IMO, it is at the pound the table stage (the facts and law are not on his side)
Sounds like a crank + grumpy old man. Kind of like AZ except he’s actually been elected.