Steve Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian candidate for Governor of California, was released from the Placer County jail on April 5. He has a rare medical condition that is eased by marijuana, and he had been imprisoned solely because of his marijuana usage.
Last month, the Democratic Party tentatively approved a rules change, to let one or two states hold a presidential caucus before the New Hampshire primary. Under current Democratic Party rules, only Iowa is permitted to hold a nominating event before New Hampshire. Eight states have applied for permission to hold an early caucus: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada and South Carolina.
Michigan Democrats say that if the national party doesn’t choose them for one of the early caucus slots, that they (in combination with the Michigan Republican Party) will pass a bill in the Michigan legislature, providing for a February 5 presidential primary in that state, whether it is approved by the national party or not.
On April 15, Physics Professor George Phillies of Massachusetts declared his intent to become the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. He has run for congress in 1996 and 1998 as a Libertarian, and has long been active in the party. He says Karen Kwiatkowski has agreed to serve as his vice-presidential running mate, if he is nominated. Kwiatkowski is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force and an expert on foreign policy.
Knox County, Tennessee, holds a primary for partisan county offices on May 2, and a general election in August. 42 people have filed declarations of write-in candidacy in the May primary. This is because last week, the State Supreme Court upheld the county’s term limits law. Many incumbents whose names are already printed on the primary ballot will be disqualified after the primary, even if they win, because they have served enough terms already.
Therefore, lots of newcomers hope to win the primaries for these soon-to-be vacant seats. Because the term limits decision came after the ballots had been printed, it was too late to remove the disqualified incumbents, and too late for new candidates to get their names on the primary ballots. Hence, the newcomers are depending on write-ins. Thanks to Michael Morrison for this story.
On April 14, the 8th circuit ruled that most of the walkways on public universities are unlimited designated public fora. Bowman v White, 04-2299. This 3-0 decision should make it easier for petitioning to be carried on, in the outdoor, open areas of publicly-owned colleges and universities, at least in the states inside the 8th circuit. Those states are North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas.
The lower court had ruled that public college campuses are not public fora at all. As a result of the 8th circuit decision, the university may still require 3 days notice before outsiders wish to engage in First Amendment activity, and the university may still ban such activity during finals week. But a university rule that let outsiders speak on only 5 days per semester was declared unconstitutional.
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