Blago sues over special sessions
Monday, Aug 27, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson
As many of you have caught by now, the Governor is filing suit to force Speaker Madigan to hold special sessions
From Bernie Schoenburg…
The lawsuit, filed quietly in Sangamon County Circuit Court on Friday, also asks a judge to ban Madigan from excusing House members from attending special sessions.
Rebbeca Rausch, a spokeswoman for the governor, said the suit was filed to make sure the legislature deals with “critical issues facing the state.”
“It is imperative that (the governor’s authority to call special sessions) is preserved and honored,” she wrote in an e-mail to sj-r.com. “After lawmakers failed to follow the governor’s special session proclamations to address serious issues like funding for the CTA, RTA, and downstate mass transit, we asked the court to confirm the governor’s authority.”
Steve Brown, spokesman for Madigan, said the lawsuit is just a continuation of the governor’s repeated special session calls this summer.
I suspect there’ll be a motion to dismiss filed and the suit will be dismissed, Brown said. It has been well documented that some calls for special sessions came when there was no proposed legislation on which to act, he said.
They’ve made a farce of the special session process, Brown said of the governor.
From comments, the entire suit can be download here
Sorry for the brevity. Gotta run to teach a class.
Discuss.
- Skeeter - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:08 pm:
Nice work.
You beat your boss to the story.
- Siyotanka - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:10 pm:
Text of the suit can be had here…
http://www.sj-r.com/extras/pdfs/082707govsuit.pdf
- Political Observer - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:11 pm:
This is a very interesting suit that will be appreciated fully by only a handful of scholars of the Illinois Constitution.
As the members of the 1970 Con Con grow older or have passed on, there will be fewer to see how their work has been twisted to meet political whim.
- A Citizen - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:16 pm:
My guess is if the court does not dismiss the suit they will loudly see the Secial Sessions by this gov for what they really are - Punitive Special Tantrums” by a man who doesn’t play well with the other serious public officials. This suit is frivolous and yet another childish outrage by this hollow suit.
- Constitutional Crisis X2 - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:16 pm:
If JCAR passes the Gov’s healthcare enhancements, a big if, then there is the possibility of a second lawsuit to see if it is constitutional for he gov. to re-approp the veto cuts for his healthcare. What a state/laughing stock we live in.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:17 pm:
Steve Brown is always too understated.
Governor Blagojevich has made a farce of EVERYTHING.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:18 pm:
Note, for the record, Blagojevich’s lack of a lawsuit against the Senate, whose attendance record has been equally, if not more, defiant.
- Constitutional Crisis X2 - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:22 pm:
Good pick-up YDD!
- A Citizen - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:29 pm:
So now blago’s feud spills over into the judicial sphere. Well, he failed in the House, he failed in the Senate, his executive has failed - wonder if he can destroy the judicial branch? I doubt they will accept doubletalk and PR as testimony. The Peter Principle may apply to blago at this point more than ever.
- Siyotanka - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:37 pm:
It would be real interesting to do a side-by-side comparison of the house and senate sessions to see how showed, who didn’t and the causes of such…
- Siyotanka - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:38 pm:
how=who
- OneMan - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:39 pm:
Here is a dumb question, doesn’t he have to sue using his real name?
Be a real shame if there wasn’t a court reporter available for the case because of budget cuts.
- PJ - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:39 pm:
If the suit is thrown out, can he taken to a higher court for even MORE publicity?
It’s all part of his plan to stay in the news for his national ambitions…
- jwscott72 - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:40 pm:
Why doesn’t Blagoitis just ask the courts to allow him to excuse members on his own accord? Better yet, why didn’t he just ask the courts to allow him to legislate and appropriate of his own volition. THAT is what he really wants the courts to say.
- Linus - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:52 pm:
The Speaker should employ an “insanity” defense strategy, with a twist.
“Your Honor, I move to dismiss this lawsuit on the grounds that the PLAINTIFF is coo-coo for Coconuts.”
- MTP - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:54 pm:
Last week, Rod vetoed out a whole bunch of costs to run the Illinois Court system
Today, he wants them to be on his side.
The man (and I use that term lightly) is an idiot.
- game plan - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:55 pm:
Help me with the 7th circuit court. Is that an Illinois court or a federal court. If its the federal court what business do they care what Illinois does? If it is an Illinois court then there’s work to be done.
- Linus - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:57 pm:
Whoops.
That’s “coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs.”
Another example of why I failed the bar exam eight times. As did the governor, I think.
- Wumpus - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:57 pm:
They let Paul teach a class? What will happen next?
- Just Sayin' - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 3:57 pm:
Well, if the gov was so concerned, he could call out the State Police. But I doubt he would. Not enough testicular virility.
Also, if attendance is going to be a sign of fulfilling one’s constitutional duty, don’t you think Blago is setting a dangerous precedent for himself?
- Don't Worry, Be Happy - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:02 pm:
I found it interesting that the suit identifies the Speaker as a resident of Illinois, but doesn’t make the same claim about the Governor.
I know he doesn’t live in Springfield, but does he now not live in Illinois at all?
- Anon - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:02 pm:
Do you think the governor even knows what mandamus means?
- It's Broken - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:03 pm:
Despite my personal feelings, looking solely at the complaint, Blago may have a valid argument here. It will be interesting to see the answer that Madigan files. You can be sure that if Madigan WERE to lose, he would pull out some obscure House rule to exact his revenge on the Gov. This is our government.
- Lainer - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:04 pm:
“Game Plan,” this is a state lawsuit, filed in the 7th Judicial Circuit, which covers Sangamon County.
- dc - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:05 pm:
The lawsuit is a press release disguised as a Jay Hoffman floor speech. Interesting that Hoffman is the only other legislator singled out by name in this suit.
It was also interesting that the Governor felt the need to validate his office by listing the 1.7 million votes he received across the state, while also hinting that Madigan only served one district and only received a little more than 20,000 votes.
Can a constitutional officer be sued for filing a frivilous suit? If so, would the Attorney General represent the Governor? That would be hilarious!
- Lainer - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:06 pm:
By the way, I started reading the suit itself and had to stop halfway through because I was laughing too hard
- too funny - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:08 pm:
Rep. Fritchey has a great take on this.
http://johnfritchey.blogspot.com/
- Anon - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:11 pm:
Anyone catch the names of the Gov’s Legal Team? One, Andrew Stolfi, is currently being paid by IDHS, not the Governor’s Office. Why is he being hidden? Just thought that was interesting!
- Siyotanka - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:16 pm:
Check out page 11 of the suit, Count II, para. A, #43, “the General Assembly SHOULD ‘convene’ as a body.” NOT shall, NOT will, but should…interesting language?
- Team Sleep - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:20 pm:
The governor has too many attorneys under his control. I know he’s the governor, but why does he need an army of suits? If this is what they are doing with their (expensive) time, I want a refund.
Maybe the governor will start suing all of us on the blog for libel. This would be after he sues L’Oreal for falsely advertising a product that holds his hair for only 13 hours instead of 14.
I just had the Family Guy episode when Mayor Adam West spends the city’s budget on a huge statue of the Smacks Frog.
- Just My Opinion - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:29 pm:
I thought I had seen it all and read it all, but you really have to go to the lawsuit and read the junk that’s in that thing.
Question #1, who will represent whom? Will Lisa represent both, one or none? Will Winston & Strawn now dip into the state coffers for payment if Blago asks them to handle the lawsuit?
Question #2 - Why file it in Sangamon County? Why not go to a county where you could have a better guarantee of a favorable ruling? It’s convenient that Blago is using the excuse that Sangamon County is where business is transacted when we all know better with Blago.
Question #3: Why in #8 of the lawsuit does Blago mention he was re-elected with 1.7M votes? In #9, why mention that MMadigan was elected by 20,216 votes? Does Blago now think we are all smart enough that we can carry his little math project to another dimension and figure Blago’s totals are statewide and MMadigan’s totals are district wide?
Question 4: What idiots put this guy back in office and are there enough idiots left who still believe he is doing everything right and is the savior of the state to vote him back into any office next election?
Question #5: Will someone please save us from this insanity? This lawsuit has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the Illinois Constitution and who has authority to do what. It’s nothing but politics and one-upmanship. It’s war - plain and simple - on Blago’s part. Unfortunately, he doesn’t realize for MMadigan, this is just a huge game of Wack-a-Mole. Blago’s the mole and Madigan has the hammer.
- Scheduler - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:30 pm:
Who do you think will represent the Speaker in this lawsuit?
- Mr. W.T. Rush - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:39 pm:
Everyone expects Blaggo to dole the case out to some Loop law firm for a $1 million no bid fee unless Madigan has it tosssed right away.
Is he still in hiding at Rednour’s pool?
- Scheduler - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:42 pm:
JMO: Sorry, your post was not up yet when I posted. To answer your queries:
#1: Excellent question. No easy answer, though.
#2: Statutorily, he has to file in Sangamon County as it is the State’s “legal residence.”
#3: Because he’s Blagojevich.
#4: I’m still trying to figure that out; it’s obviously not most of the posters here, that’s for sure.
#5. He’ll eventually self-destruct under the weight of his own incompetence. There is no Peter Prescription for this.
- Concerned Voter - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:47 pm:
So the guv is suing basically because the leader, IN HIS OWN PARTY, of the house doesn’t want to hold special sessions when there is nothing to vote on. This is hilarious.
Just this morning, Tom Cross was on local radio, WJOL 1340 am, talking about concerns of the area and the budget overtime mess. They don’t have anything up on their website, but I remember when he was asked about the mess, his general response was that - the republicans in Illinois have their own issues right now, but It was just a really strange vibe coming from the Dem side down there. He wasn’t specific, but said that some of the closed door meetings were the oddest ever.
It just got weirder.
- Champ - Monday, Aug 27, 07 @ 4:53 pm:
Hey Just Sayin’
The guv cannot call the State Police. The IL Constitution does not allow for it.