Federal Lawsuit Filed to Keep Former President Donald Trump Off the Oklahoma Republican Presidential Primary Ballot

On September 6, John Anthony Castro filed a federal lawsuit to keep former President Donald Trump off the Oklahoma Republican presidential primary ballot.  Trump v Ziriax, w.d., 5:23cv-781.  “Here is the Complaint.  The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Jodi W. Dishman, a Trump appointee.

Castro lives in Texas and is seeking the Republican presidential nomination.  He hopes to avoid standing problems, given that he is a candidate, not just a voter.  He has similar lawsuits pending in some other states.  His Oklahoma Complaint contains a factual error.  He says Oklahoma permits write-in votes, but it does not.


Comments

Federal Lawsuit Filed to Keep Former President Donald Trump Off the Oklahoma Republican Presidential Primary Ballot — 20 Comments

  1. COURTS ARE BRAIN DEAD ABOUT *STANDING* RE: UN-QUALIFIED CANDIDATES ON BALLOTS

    THEY ARE SAME AS ANY UN-QUALIFIED ENTIRE PARTY–

    A WASTE OF TIME/EFFORT BY ALL CONCERNED—-

    ELECTION OFFICIALS / VOTERS / QUALIFIED OFFICE CANDIDATES

    P-A-T

  2. LOL. It’s hilarious how confident he sounds:

    “Entitlement to Relief: Because this state permits write-in candidates and their votes to be counted, ballot placement is not legally determinative of the legal inquiry as to whether an individual is a “candidate” under state law.”

    Does this guy have any legal training?

  3. > He has a JD and LLM

    Hmmm … the plot thickens. By my estimation there are only two reasons someone who has a JD and an LLM would not be licensed to practice law by any state …

    “Mr. Castro is not licensed to practice law by any state bar in the United States” [https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2018-05-01/moodys-gartner-tax-law-llp-rejects-allegations-in-john-anthony-castro-247-million-lawsuit]

  4. Actually I take that back, I suppose there are probably more than TWO reasons. He might have worked in policy or maybe as in-house corporate counsel. Don’t know enough about his background.

    Still, seems strange to assert [Oklahoma] “permits write-in candidates” when it’s a well known fact it famously does not.

  5. I accidentally face the correct answer. Castro also claims a JD and LLM. Which makes KrenshawTX question relevant. Why all that time in school and no law license?

  6. I assume there are similar processes in other states to Oklahoma’s where there is a challenge period after filing. Being from here and having observed how things work closely for a long time it seems likely to me that the court will require a challenge through that avenue before becoming willing to hear the case.

  7. >Why all that time in school and no law license?

    Typically the reasons one would have multiple law degrees but no license are:

    (a) You got your degree for hobbyist reasons or personal interest

    (b) You are working in a law-adjacent field that doesn’t require you to be licensed, including but not limited to academia or policy analysis

    (c) You are unable to pass the bar exam — I think about 25% of people are never able to pass the bar

    (d) You are unable to pass the character exam — If you have a criminal record that can be disqualifying, though I’m not saying he has one … other possible reasons to fail the character exam can include:

    …(1) you are unable to obtain character affidavits from your law school and past employers (without commenting on the likelihood of this being the case with Castro, I do generally observe that it appears his law school disciplined him [https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_tosses_georgetown_law_graduates_suit_over_school_job_fair_ban] and, from looking through the federal court database, in 2018 he unsuccessfully sued a former employer in Ohio),

    …(2) you have untreatable substance abuse disorders,

    …(3) you have not been responsible with past financial obligations (against, without commenting on the likelihood of this being the case with Castro, I generally note that this article [https://www.politicspa.com/lawsuit-seeking-to-prevent-trump-from-appearing-on-2024-pa-ballot-filed-in-commonwealth-court/125012/] says he’s being sued by AmEx)

  8. Castro sounds like a sleazy fraud merchant…because that is exactly what he is.

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