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THE LATEST! from Ballot Access News
Nader Again Asks for Reconsideration on Pennsylvania Fees
December 19th, 2008
On December 19, Ralph Nader again asked the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court to reconsider the order that he must pay fees to cover the costs of removing him from the ballot in 2004.
Background:
from Ballot Access News:
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Won’t Re-Open Nader $80,000 Court Costs from 2004
December 5th, 2008
On December 4, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth refused to re-open the matter of whether Ralph Nader should pay approximately $80,000 in court costs, over the 2004 petition. Nader had asked that the matter be re-opened, given that earlier this year, the Attorney General indicted many people who challenged Nader’s petitions for using state resources instead of their own resources.
Nader’s response to above
from Ballot Access News:
Nader Files Brief in U.S. Court of Appeals in Opposition to Democratic National Committee
December 6th, 2008
On December 5, Ralph Nader filed this brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, in Nader v Democratic National Committee, 08-7074. He argues that the lower court erred when it refused to permit a trial in his lawsuit for damages against Democratic Party behavior in 2004.
The brief says, “The Conspirators filed 29 complaints before 19 tribunals (i.e., in 19 states) within 12 weeks, regardless of probable cause and regardless of the merits of the cases, as part of a coordinated nationwide effort to bankrupt the Plaintiff Candidates’ campaign and effectively bar them from running for public office; and in certain key states, where litigation alone would not be sufficient to accomplish their improper purpose, the Conspirators engaged in coordinated acts of sabotage and other systematic efforts to prevent the Plaintiff Candidates from complying with state election laws, in order to manufacture legal grounds for their otherwise baseless litigation.”
This brief further highlights the extent to which the Democratic Party’s challenge in Pennsylvania was brought using state government resources, which was illegal, since challengers to Pennsylvania petitions must be private, not government, entities.
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Kimberly’s rant as posted as a comment at Ballot Access News:
First of all, Nader and Romanelli being disrespected and attacked like this should be THE CAUSE CELEBRE of the movement of electoral activists.
Many of us go around fighting injustice and the oppressed all the time. Well, a band of major party leaders and patronage job holders did illegal things to thwart an independent candidate, attack his petitions, and slander him. And, now the major party courts are making the oppressed candidates pay. That should make us really mad. We should not stand by and take this.
Someone needs to redo all this as an action alert. Show me who to write, and where to send money. For real.
Secondly…
I wonder if there is a different angle for Nader/Romanelli to go, if the regular court system fails.
If I understand it, many of the people who challenged his petitions are facing criminal charges. Perhaps Nader and Carl Romanelli (another candidate this happened to) need to APPLY AT THE CRIME VICTIMS BUREAU for the money they were forced to pay in court costs. Perhaps they might even use the crime victims bureau as an advocate to right some other aspects of what happened to them, such as money lost for making copies when they were wrongly challenged?
Nader is free to ask the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to reverse the Commonwealth Court, and he and others are also free to file a federal case that would argue that candidates and political parties may not be charged money to pay for election administration. The recent federal case in Wilkes-Barre, that found a violation of the U.S. Constitution because the city forced proponents of an initiative campaign to pay $11,000 for the costs of invalidating their petition, may help.
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