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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Ind. Courts - Supreme Court grants immediate review in Lake County election case

Late yesterday Bill Dolan posted a story headed "Janiec to appeals court: Count me in or election doesn't count" on the NWI Times website. Some quotes:

HAMMOND | Lawyers for Republican George Janiec are asking the Indiana Court of Appeals to cancel and rerun the May 3 Hammond mayoral primary if Janiec isn't part of it.

They made the request this week in a 38-page legal brief seeking to overturn last month's decision by the county elections board to remove Janiec as a mayoral candidate and Lake Superior Court Judge Jesse Villalpando's refusal to restore Janiec's candidacy.

The appellate court hasn't set a date to hear the matter.

Janiec is asking the appeals court to rule on his status as a candidate before Wednesday. If it cannot act that quickly, attorneys R. Cordell Funk, of Schererville, and William Fine, of Highland, will request a May 3 election without him void.

"If this court cannot rule before April 27, 2011, then in addition, Janiec requests that the court void the Republican and Democratic primary results for the position of Mayor of the City of Hammond and order the elections board to promptly rehold that primary as far in advance of the November 2011 general election as possible," the attorneys wrote.

Late this afternoon the Supreme Court filed a per curiam order granting an emergency petition to transfer under Rule 56(A):

From George Janiec v. Lake County Board of Election and Registration, a 3-page order:

This matter comes to us on a Verified Petition for Emergency Transfer under Appellate Rule 56(A). Appellant George T. Janiec, a Republican Party candidate for the office of Mayor of the City of Hammond and an incumbent member of the Hammond School Board, was removed from the May 3, 2011 primary election ballot by Appellee Lake County Board of Election and Registration (“the Board”). Janiec challenged the Board’s decision in the Lake Superior Court, requesting judicial review and injunctive relief. The trial court found in favor of the Board. Janiec appealed the trial court’s decision and sought immediate transfer of the appeal to this Court. Both parties have filed principal appellate briefs in support of their respective positions.

The Board and Lake Superior Court held that Janiec’s candidacy was inconsistent with the ethical policies applicable to members of the Hammond School Board. The Court finds no basis in statute or law for disqualifying Janiec on this basis. See Burke v. Bennett, 907 N.E.2d 529, 532 (Ind. 2009) (disqualification statute to be construed “consistent with the longstanding respect for the right of the people to free and equal elections”). Accordingly, the Court hereby GRANTS the Verified Petition for Emergency Transfer and REVERSES the Lake Superior Court’s “Judgment Order” issued on March 30, 2011. The Board and its members are ENJOINED from removing Janiec’s name from the ballot as a Republican candidate for Mayor of Hammond in the May 2011 primary election.

The Court then details steps to be followed to put Janiec back on the ballot.

See this March 30, 2011 ILB entry for background.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 21, 2011 05:26 PM
Posted to Indiana Government