Class Action?
The Utah Republican Party has long had its problems with the "fringe" element and those constant complainers who want to spend hours in party caucuses and conventions debating the finer points of GOP rules and regulations.
But when that intra-party sniping began to clog up the courts with frivolous lawsuits, at least one federal judge, a long-time Republican operative himself, was not amused.
U.S. District Judge for Utah Ted Stewart recently dismissed a lawsuit filed by Republican activists Jim Decker, Ella Duke-Baxter and Maxine Barney, who claimed their civil rights were violated because the Republican Party "interfered" with one person's participation in its convention and a state district judge issued a restraining order against another Republican, even though none of the plaintiffs were the affected people in those alleged wrongs.
The defendants in the case were "Utah State Republican Boss Hogs, Mark Towner and Honorable Sandra Peuler."
Peuler granted a restraining order against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Ridgway, banning him from getting close to Towner, a Republican rival.
After pointing out the ambiguity of the plaintiffs' claims ("In response to the question: Was the defendant acting under the authority or color of state law at the time these claims occurred? Plaintiffs responded: Possibly.") Stewart concluded the plaintiffs made "no allegations that these defendants took any actions and list no causes of action." He also noted the plaintiffs have no standing to demand that federal law enforcement officers be compelled to accompany a person, someone other than the plaintiffs, to a political convention.
"It appears that plaintiffs seek to challenge an injunction issued by a state court against a non-party," the judge wrote. "This does not state a claim for a violation of the plaintiffs' constitutional rights."
No wonder it takes so long for litigation to wind its way through the federal courts.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
But when that intra-party sniping began to clog up the courts with frivolous lawsuits, at least one federal judge, a long-time Republican operative himself, was not amused.
U.S. District Judge for Utah Ted Stewart recently dismissed a lawsuit filed by Republican activists Jim Decker, Ella Duke-Baxter and Maxine Barney, who claimed their civil rights were violated because the Republican Party "interfered" with one person's participation in its convention and a state district judge issued a restraining order against another Republican, even though none of the plaintiffs were the affected people in those alleged wrongs.
The defendants in the case were "Utah State Republican Boss Hogs, Mark Towner and Honorable Sandra Peuler."
Peuler granted a restraining order against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Ridgway, banning him from getting close to Towner, a Republican rival.
After pointing out the ambiguity of the plaintiffs' claims ("In response to the question: Was the defendant acting under the authority or color of state law at the time these claims occurred? Plaintiffs responded: Possibly.") Stewart concluded the plaintiffs made "no allegations that these defendants took any actions and list no causes of action." He also noted the plaintiffs have no standing to demand that federal law enforcement officers be compelled to accompany a person, someone other than the plaintiffs, to a political convention.
"It appears that plaintiffs seek to challenge an injunction issued by a state court against a non-party," the judge wrote. "This does not state a claim for a violation of the plaintiffs' constitutional rights."
No wonder it takes so long for litigation to wind its way through the federal courts.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
12:46 PM
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