The Tea Party bat just got bigger...

[Taco John]

Menendez recall petition effort can proceed, court rules

A state appellate court ruled Tuesday that the New Jersey secretary of state must accept a citizen petition to recall Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) submitted by a pair of conservative tea party groups, The Star-Ledger reports.
NJ Tea Parties United and the Sussex County Tea Party are seeking to force the Senator's removal because of his support of health-care reform and past votes to increase government spending. Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells last fall rejected a notice from the groups that they planned to begin an effort to recall Menendez. According to state law, the secretary of state must approve a notice before a recall committee can begin collecting signatures on a petition.

Today's ruling opens the door for the recall process to proceed.

After the notice is approved, the committee then must secure the signatures of 25 percent of registered voters of the affected district before a recall election can be held. There were 5.2 million registered voters in November, meaning the committee would have to secure 1.3 million signatures.
Menendez's lawyer had argued that voters do not have the right to recall a U.S. senator under federal law. If he survives the recall attempt, Menendez will come up for reelection in 2012.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/menendez-recall-can-proceed-co.html?wprss=44

[Taco John]

Tea parties win key victory in ousting Congress
Court rules 'no precedent' stopping voters from recall of U.S. senator

Posted: March 16, 2010
10:48 pm Eastern


By Drew Zahn
© 2010 WorldNetDaily



Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.

Tea partiers in New Jersey have moved one step closer to ousting a sitting U.S. senator that they say has shown "a total disregard for the people's wishes."

New Jersey Tea Parties United and the Sussex County Tea Party have joined forces to try an unprecedented way of sending a message to Washington: removing a senator through a recall vote.

A three-judge appellate panel ruled today that the New Jersey secretary of state must accept the tea partiers' notice of intent to recall Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and allow their joint recall committee to begin collecting the voter signatures needed to put the senator's name back on the ballot, two years before his term is supposed to end.

New Jersey is one of a handful of states that allows for the recall of its congressmen, thanks to a constitutional amendment New Jersey voters approved by a 3-to-1 margin in 1993.

Nonetheless, when the tea partiers filed to begin the recall process last September, New Jersey Secretary of State Nina Wells, under advisement of the state's attorney general, initially denied their notice, taking up the unusual argument that the state's constitutional amendment is … unconstitutional.

Executing a recall of a member of the U.S. Senate "is a matter of exclusive jurisdiction of federal authority," Wells responded in an official letter. "Neither the United States Constitution nor federal statute provide for a recall proceeding for a federally elected official."

The tea partiers, however, then turned to the courts.

Their lawsuit asked, "Can the state [of New Jersey], after amending its Constitution and passing legislation to guarantee its citizens access to a formal, state-endorsed mechanism to foster collective 'core political speech,' deny its citizens access to that mechanism because of the content of their political message?"

The state's appellate court today answered, "No."

The tea partiers explained their reasons for trying to oust Menendez, telling the New Jersey Herald their senator "does not represent the people the way his oath requires that he does," as evidenced by his votes on Medicare, health care and "extravagant, excessive multi-million dollar projects that offered little or no short-term economic benefits."

No U.S. senator, however, has ever been subjected to a recall vote, and, in fact, the U.S. Constitution doesn't provide any process for doing so. Consequently, Wells and her attorney have argued that the attempt is unconstitutional.

The court today, however, ruled that Wells determined this "albeit without citation to any specific legal authority."

And while the court's ruling suggests Wells' conclusion may in the end be correct, it admits the limits of judicial restraint prevent the court from stopping a legal process just because it might be ruled unconstitutional later.

"The language of the state constitutional amendment and the implementing legislation is clear and unambiguous," the judges stated. "No published opinion from any federal or state court in the nation has yet declared invalid a state recall measure's application to a member of the United States Senate or the House of Representatives."

And without that precedent, the judges decided, the court had no alternative but to order the recall process allowed to continue (though the order is stayed until further appeals by Wells can be heard).

"In sum," the ruling concluded, "there are a host of genuine arguments and counterarguments that can be articulated and debated about whether or not the federal Constitution would permit a United States senator to be recalled by the voters under state law. There is no express textual answer to this debate in the United States Constitution. Nor is there any precedent from the United States Supreme Court squarely on point.

"We are pointed to no precedential opinion which has held that the recall of a United States Senator cannot be conducted," the court said. "The silence of the federal Constitution may well result in the conclusion that it may be done."

Provided the court's order stands through further appeals, the tea partiers will then have 320 days to obtain the signatures of 25 percent of registered voters in New Jersey, roughly 1.3 million names, to place a recall on the ballot.

The effort to recall a senator is not entirely new, nor is it limited to New Jersey.

Peter Ferrara, a lawyer for the American Civil Rights Union, which is helping the tea partiers with their case, told the Washington Times, "Nine states, including 12 Democratic senators who are not up for re-election otherwise, could all be on the ballot with a recall.

"Given what they're doing on health care this year," he added, "that's just going to be a huge boost to the recall effort."

The other states that could attempt recalls of their congressional representatives are Colorado, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and Louisiana, where an effort is already underway to oust Democratic Sen. Mary L. Landrieu.

A Republican has also heard the stirrings of recall when some Louisiana citizens who objected to his vote against the stimulus bill sought to remove Rep. Ahn Cao last year. The attempt failed to generate enough signatures before the state's 180-day time limit expired.

[Taco John]

The Tea Party just got teeth.

[JK/SEA]

Screw the tea party. We need a hand-cuff party.

[Taco John]

NJ court: Tea party bid to oust senator must wait

Tue Mar 16, 3:51 pm ET
TRENTON, N.J. – A New Jersey appeals court has put on hold a conservative tea party group's effort to throw a Democratic U.S. senator out of office.

The three-judge panel Tuesday initially ordered the secretary of state to accept the group's petition seeking to recall Sen. Robert Menendez.

But then court issued a stay in the event of an appeal. Menendez and the state have 45 days to file one.

The group wants to begin collecting the 1.3 million voter signatures they need to get a recall on the ballot.

The court set aside the larger question of whether voters have a constitutional right to recall a federal lawmaker.

New Jersey is among 18 states that allow recalls of statewide elected officials. There is no right to recall congressmen and senators under the U.S. Constitution.

The court says it would take up that question if the petition drive succeeds.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_nj_senator_recall

[tremendoustie]

The court says it would take up that question if the petition drive succeeds.

[/URL][URL]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_nj_senator_recall (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_nj_senator_recall)

Great. Spend tons of money to collect over a million signatures, and then will tell you if it's all meaningless or not. Jerks.

Good for them getting this far anyway, hopefully it will succeed.

[nobody's_hero]

New Jersey is among 18 states that allow recalls of statewide elected officials. There is no right to recall congressmen and senators under the U.S. Constitution.

Unrelated issues should be split into different paragraphs, shouldn't they?

It sounds like New Jersey's court system is about to decide whether or not its constitution trumps the Federal government's unenumerated powers.

Now there's a tremendous chance to set a 10th Amendment precedent for New Jersey if there ever was one.

[Krugerrand]

The "Recall" strategy just might not be such a bad idea.

[rancher89]

Recall and nullification.

Like coffee and donuts / wine and cheese / peanut butter and jelly / Mom and apple pie.....:D

[Elle]

22 Democrats from Michigan voted AGAINST a bill yesterday that would allow Michigan residents to opt out of the Obamacare. The resolution did not pass. I am going to put together a recall for these 22 people. I have a bit of research to do on their voting records to see what else they have done to further screw WE THE PEOPLE.

[Chester Copperpot]

Menendez recall petition effort can proceed, court rules

A state appellate court ruled Tuesday that the New Jersey secretary of state must accept a citizen petition to recall Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) submitted by a pair of conservative tea party groups, The Star-Ledger reports.
NJ Tea Parties United and the Sussex County Tea Party are seeking to force the Senator's removal because of his support of health-care reform and past votes to increase government spending. Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells last fall rejected a notice from the groups that they planned to begin an effort to recall Menendez. According to state law, the secretary of state must approve a notice before a recall committee can begin collecting signatures on a petition.

Today's ruling opens the door for the recall process to proceed.

After the notice is approved, the committee then must secure the signatures of 25 percent of registered voters of the affected district before a recall election can be held. There were 5.2 million registered voters in November, meaning the committee would have to secure 1.3 million signatures.
Menendez's lawyer had argued that voters do not have the right to recall a U.S. senator under federal law. If he survives the recall attempt, Menendez will come up for reelection in 2012.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/menendez-recall-can-proceed-co.html?wprss=44

Taco JOhn great news..

Where can I sign up.. Im from NJ and this guy Menendez has got to be the biggest liar in congress.. at least his staff sure is..

The last time I called his office I told his staffers very calmly that the previous 3 times I called that I had been lied to each time.... I want to know their position on such and such issue and dont just tell me what you think I want to hear.. tell me the truth.. so the 4th time they didnt lie..

but theyre a bunch of scumbags..


for some reason people in NJ think we dont have any ability to recall our officials.. We do.. its in the NJ constitution

[Chester Copperpot]

Im going to call Menendez's office and ask them if they know where I can get in touch with the people to sign the recall election... thats gonna be priceless!!

[Juan McCain]

This is great news.


. . . We need a hand-cuff party.


Recall and nullification.

Like coffee and donuts / wine and cheese / peanut butter and jelly / Mom and apple pie.....:D

Recalls and nullification . . . the new American pastime.

[Taco John]

The "Recall" strategy just might not be such a bad idea.

It's a great idea - in fact it's the best way that Tea Party/Libertarian types can effect change in DC right now. If Libertarians can mobilize to recall senators who are operating outside of their contitutional mandate, we might see a lot more congress people being cautious about what they do.

[Wolverine302]

22 Democrats from Michigan voted AGAINST a bill yesterday that would allow Michigan residents to opt out of the Obamacare. The resolution did not pass. I am going to put together a recall for these 22 people. I have a bit of research to do on their voting records to see what else they have done to further screw WE THE PEOPLE.

please forward your findings here. :mad::mad::mad: