Word: legalism
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Senator is frustrated, imagine how her constituents must feel. For four months, they have watched high-powered Washington attorneys question the legitimacy of the state's esteemed election process, using dizzying legal arguments and statistical gymnastics. Coleman has even suggested that an entirely new election might have to be held...
...further to go. On Friday, Minnesota's highest court refused Franken's request that Governor Tim Pawlenty and secretary of state Mark Ritchie be forced to award him the coveted election certificate, which, according to Senate rules, is necessary to seat a candidate. The ruling virtually ensures that the legal wrangling will continue for several more weeks and - if Coleman chooses to appeal the case, possibly to federal courts - perhaps even months...
...board certified Franken the winner of the state's protracted race by 225 votes in early January, Coleman filed an election contest on grounds that flaws in the state's election system were so widespread that they cost him the Senate seat. In the weeks that followed, Coleman's legal counsel has subpoenaed dozens of Minnesota voters and election officials to testify before a three-judge panel about irregularities in the state's vote-tallying process...
Nevertheless, election experts say no legal precedent or basis exists for a re-vote in Minnesota law. (A re-vote was conducted in a 1974 New Hampshire U.S. Senate race, but the margin was just two votes.) Besides, as the state retrenches in the face of a $4.5 billion deficit, another election would be costly. Secretary of state Ritchie, a Democrat, says it would cost the state between $3.5 million and $5 million. "It's pure fantasy, pure baloney," he says...
...French language lessons and other instruction he was given, Hassanzade was initiated into French boxing by a local social worker and savate coach, Bruno Cardoso. As well as taking the young Afghan under his wing - keeping tabs on his education and helping him with his request to obtain legal residency - Cardoso also shaped Hassanzade's raw athletic talent into the skilled boxing abilities that fueled his rapid rise...