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Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Ind. Courts - Yet more on Vanderburgh Little Hatch Act cases

Updating this ILB entry from Jan. 16th, quoting a story from the Evansville Courier & Press that begins:

A ruling on whether the local Republican Party owes a Democratic officeholder thousands of dollars in legal fees will hinge on arguments about the party's intentions.
Thomas B. Langhorne of the C&P reported Feb. 2 in a story beginning:
A judge has ruled the Vanderburgh County Republican Party does not have to reimburse Democratic County Councilman Ed Bassemier for the roughly $12,000 he spent defending himself against a GOP lawsuit that the party ultimately dropped.

The lawsuit alleged Bassemier was ineligible to seek office in 2008 under the Little Hatch Act, which limits the political activities of people whose jobs are funded at least in part by federal money. Bassemier is safety director at Evansville Regional Airport, which receives federal funds.

“The Court does not find that (GOP Chairman Nick) Hermann prosecuted this claim for the primary purpose of harassing or maliciously injuring Bassemier,” Judge Carl Heldt’s ruling says. “The Court also finds that there are reasonable attorneys who would consider that Hermann’s claim was worthy of litigation.”

The C&P has also made available a copy of Judge Heldt's 5-page, Jan. 29th ruling - access it here.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 3, 2009 08:33 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts