On January 8, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida) refiled his proposed constitutional amendment for a direct election of the president. It is SJR 4.
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On January 8, the 7th circuit refused to rehear Stevo v Keith, the case that challenged the number of signatures for an independent candidate for U.S. House in Illinois. The original unfavorable decision had been issued on October 1, 2008.
On January 8, the 7th circuit refused to rehear Stevo v Keith, the case that challenged the number of signatures for an independent candidate for U.S. House in Illinois. The original unfavorable decision had been issued on October 1, 2008.
Texas will have a new Speaker of the House of Representatives, when the legislature convenes next week. He is Joe Straus, age 49, who has only served two terms and has never been a committee chairman. The outgoing speaker, Tom Craddick, had been in the House since 1969. Republicans control the new House by a narrow margin (76-74) but not all Republicans were willing to re-elect Craddick.
It is not clear if having a new Speaker will make it easier to pass ballot access reform or not. If you are a Texan and have some insight into this, please comment. Texas drastically toughened ballot access in 1967.
At least two of the many lawsuits on whether Barack Obama meets the constitutional qualifications to be president are now reported. The Connecticut Supreme Court reported Wrotnowski v Bysiewicz at 958 A 2d 709 (decision of Nov. 3, 2008). And the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia reported Berg v Obama at 574 F.Supp.2d 509 (decision of Oct. 24, 2008). Both decisions had said the plaintiffs don’t have standing. “Reported” means the case was considered significant enough so that it should be printed in the West Lawbook Company’s books of court decisions. The company has enjoyed this responsibility since the 19th century.