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The Illinois Supreme Court has rejected Roland Burris's writ of mandamus to force Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White to sign paperwork making Burris's appointment to the U.S. Senate official. While U.S. Senate leaders have said the lack of a signature is the reason they won't seat Burris, White himself has already said that his refusal to sign is purely symbolic and not legally required. The State Supreme Court agreed.
Because the secretary of state had no duty ... to sign and affix the state seal to the document issued by the governor appointing Roland Burris to the United States Senate, petitioners are not entitled to an order from this court requiring the secretary to perform those acts. Under the secretary of state act, the secretary's sole responsibility was to register the appointment, which he did.What effect this has on Burris's appointment is anyone's guess as Senate Leader Harry Reid had set the Supreme Court clearance as a stipulation to seat Burris but, again, White's signature is not legally required. Read the Court's opinion here [PDF].
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For the lawyers: If Blago gets bounced, can Quinn rescind the appointment if Burris has not yet been seated?
Good question. I'm not a lawyer, but I'll guess that it depends on the procedure for what will happen if Blago gets bounced. But aside from that, it'll probably be a mess and there would definitely be a case to see if Quinn could rescind an appointment.....but somehow I doubt that would happen given that the new US senate seems to want to GBTW fairly quick.
I foresee a tremendous shitstorm with that. You think Bobby Rush is being an asshole now? Just wait until he rescinds the appointment of Roland "The Pharaoh" Burris.
Clearly, the Illinois supreme court is a bunch of racists. As is the senate. As is anyone who disagrees with this flummery.
When everyone you meet is an asshole, perhaps it's time to look inward.
By my reading of this the SC's announcement is a boost to Burris. The reason they rejected the writ is because the Sec of State doesn't need to certify the appointment. As such Burris has everything he needs to be our senator.
Burris is our next senator. Time to get out the chisel and get carving on his tomb.
I also am not a lawyer, but I can't imagine Pat Quinn having anything close to legal standing to rescind the Burris appointment. As has been noted many times, the appointment was completely legal under Illinois and federal law. Blagojevich's successor can't just go back and undo a legal act, anymore than he could unsign any of the bills Blagojevich signed.
I wonder what Harry Reid will do now that the Illinois court failed to make it easy for him to back down. It will be interesting to see how he rationalizes it now.