http://www.mncourts.gov/opinions/sc/curren...090697-6030.pdf

In a 5-0 ruling (MN has seven justices and two recused themselves) the Minnesota Supreme Court has affirmed the lower court rulings and declared Al Franken the winner of the Senate race.

They denied all claims by Coleman unambiguously.

So:

Should Governor Pawlenty sign the certification immediately?

Should the Coleman campaign continue to appeal to federal courts?

Did the MN Supreme Court rule properly?

According to The Washington Post, it appears the Minnesota Supreme Court ordered that Franken be certified.

The question is whether or not Governor Pawlenty is prepared to ignore a court order, thereby denying the people he "serves" their constitutional right to two senators. My guess is that he will not.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ml?hpid=topnews
Link may require free registration.

As an aside: This is more bad news for Republicans. It’s also bad news for Norm Coleman, who has now lost a governor’s race to a wrestler and a senate race to a comedian. Quite a track record there Norm.

I linked to the decision, and it does not, sadly, expressly order Pawlenty to do so. This may be because Pawlenty was not a party to the case and so it would be improper.



He has made every indication he will abide by the MNSC ruling, but I suppose it's possible Coleman could try to get a federal injunction on appeal.



He's a putz. I hated him since the day I met him - when he was introduced to me at a DFL (the Democrats in Minnesota, the Democratic Farmer-Labor party) convention in St. Paul, where he was going to challenge incumbent (also Democrat) Jim Scheibel for mayor of St. Paul. (Coleman originally ran as a Democrat.) I swear the instant I shook his hand I wanted to wash it.

A pity he won the race. Scheibel for his part did not seek reelection.

EDIT: To be clear, I mean it's a pity Norm Coleman won his 1993 race for St. Paul's mayor. Not Franken. I've got a long and deep history in MN politics. Sorry. I'm ecstatic for Franken.

edited to remove offensive term

Although Gov. Pawlenty was not named in the suit, he is the official responsible for certifying the election. Even if he is not expressly named, he is the Governor and only he can carry out the court’s decision and issue the "certificate of election."

If he refuses, I wonder if Franken can get a writ of mandamus requiring Pawlenty to perform his duty as governor.

From the last two pages of Raptavio’s link.

If Coleman insists on a federal appeal, I would think the first step would be to get an injunction to stop Pawlenty from certifying the election.

I don't think the federal courts really want to get involved in this, not after Bush v. Gore.

Update

This now appears to be a moot point. Norm Coleman has conceded.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31667236/ns/po...s-capitol_hill/

BTW: Congratulations to you, Raptavio, and other Minnesotans. Your state can now resume the proud heritage of Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Paul Wellstone in pursuing the public’s interests.

And how many months of the term have been used up in order to effect a win allegedly achieved in November? The wheels are really rusty, in my opinion.

Yay!

This probably means that Coleman will get a big fat bill for the court costs, the RNC isn't footing the bill and the point of carrying on the effort is lost.

Kudos to the MSC!

They are indeed, Paladin, but they were not assisted at all by Coleman's dilatory tactics.

In the end, however, our system cost us nearly six months of Senator-Elect Franken's six-year term, and there's much to learn from the experience. However, the right decision was made every step of the way.

The wheels of justice move slowly sometimes, but they ever stayed on the right track.

[/font]It's about time!!!

[font="Arial"] As finely balanced as the Senate is given the minority's willingness to fillibuster everything, this could make a real difference.