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The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to throw Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) a lifeline in his struggle to get his name on the ballot so that he can stay in the U.S. Senate for the next few months, through the end of the current Congress. Justice Stephen Breyer, to whom the case was directed, suggested that the case simply comes too late.
For those not following the legal drama in Illinois, here's the background. After Barack Obama was elected president, creating a vacancy in the Senate, the Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, appointed Burris to fill the remainder of the Obama Senate term -- until January 2011 -- and Burris was seated in January 2009. But a group of Illinois residents sued, claiming the U.S. Constitution required the state to schedule an election at some point to fill out the term, rather than simply allowing the governor's appointment to carry Burris all the way through to its end.
A federal appeals court agreed, and ruled that Illinois law requires the state to let voters decide at the Nov. 2nd general election who will serve out the term. To accommodate the state's complaint that it didn't have enough time to meet such a requirement, further court wrangling produced another judicial order in early August: the candidates would be the same ones who are already running for the Senate in Illinois for a full term beginning in the next Congress. That left Sen. Burris out in the cold, because he chose much earlier not to run for another term.
In early September, Burris went to court hoping to get his name on the ballot for what's left in the Senate term. He argued that because the deadline for becoming a Senate candidate expired before the courts ordered a special election, potential candidates for the unexpired term had no chance to get themselves on the ballot. The state, on the other hand, urged the court to leave this mess alone. Burris may be a casualty on the legal battlefield, the state said, but that's nothing compared to the chaos that would result if the Supreme Court were to step in and order further changes to its election plans.
Burris directed his appeal to Breyer, who late Monday turned him down. Without elaboration, Breyer cited three previous Supreme Court cases in which justices declined to take up last-minute appeals. Two of them involved 11th-hour challenges to election ballots. Without actually saying so, Breyer strongly suggested it's simply too late in the process for further court interference.
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Did Burris really THINK that he HAD a chance to retain that seat? Seriously...his appointment to President Obama's Senate seat was WRONG to began with-- one that he KNEW he didn't have a snow balls chance in hell of surviving...and especially given the circumstances surrounding it's appointment...
Rod B only created a bigger mess for Democrats with that Burris appointment and Burris shouldn't have accepted it--there wasn't any significant history created for him...other than ethical questions as to him accepting that seat...
Right on the money. Burris and a snowball in hell would have the same chance.
Kirby,
Ditto!! wet and done! lol!!! I REALLY disapproved of the way that Burris got that Senate seat...there is NO way that he should have accepted it. NO WAY...
I can't believe this guy. What a goof.
Hey - that's SENATOR goof, and with that title, comes an ego the size of... ILLINOIS!!
Pietro,
Ditto-- I recall that seating and it was extremely contentious--especially among us liberals...because many of us disapproved of his actions...we saw this coming months ago...Burris didn't have the parties interest at heart when he accepted the seat.
His chances of re-election were nil to begin with...
Watching that whole soap opera when he was appointed was kind of fun, but having him in the senate with no power didn't do Illinois any favors. I wonder why he did it.
He just wanted to be a U.S. Senator. That's why. Sometimes a dream gets in the way of good sense.
Dream? No, another nightmare for Illinois. He thinks he's owed, entitled to that Senate seat for as long as he wants it. He's a putz:
http://www.sj-r.com/news/x1579124963/Funeral-directors-subpoena-Burris-papers
double post, sorry
Burris - Possibly the most ignorant man to ever hold political office.
Illinois has clueless Burris and "Someone Please Tell Me What To Do and How To Vote..............Durbin.
What an embarrasment these two are to the voters of Illinois.
Do you live in Illiniois? Do you live near Illinois? I do. I read the weekly summary of voting in the Sunday paper and can tell you this, Durbin has no trouble deciding how to vote. He votes just as do republicans, his conscience. I'll take Durbin's conscience voting any day over what I see in republican votes. Durbin has a conscience, the GOPers have Wall Street not Main Street as theirs.
Burris and Durbin aren't the only Illinois pols we have to be embarrassed about. Look at the rest of the misfits, crooks and liars Obama brought with him, compare the mess they've made there to what we have here, similar? Every voter should take a good, hard look at Illinois before they cast their ballots.
Burris, just go home, you got what you wanted, a nice tax payer provided pension, great health benefits for life and for this you did everything that Obama wanted. What more do you want from the American people...maybe you should hook up with Carter, and re-write the history of the United States.
TJM07,
Burris now has Health Benefits for life??
Gross negligent statements are what has divided our nation and allowed lies and false statements to thrive unabated.
If you did a little research (a common piece of advice offered here at First Read by both sides), you would know that Burris has to be a member of Congress for 5 YEARS before he can receive a pension under the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) due to his age (72).
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm
Burris may qualify for the Illinois State Employee Retirement System of course
http://www.state.il.us/SRS/SERS/retireben_sers.htm
Everyone in Illinois knows that the seat belongs to Rep. Jessie Jackson Jr. He and his Daddy paid for it, it now belongs to their family and woe to anyone who stands in their way. RE: Burris, just how dumb can one negro get? He makes Sarah Palin look and sound like a Nobel Laureate.