Legal News

Patrick Taps Paul; GOP Files Suit

By Ashby Jones

In about an hour, a Massachusetts state judge, Thomas Connolly, is slated to decide whether Massachusetts state governor Deval Patrick overstepped his authority in appointing Paul Kirk as an interim U.S. senator. The appointment was made on Thursday. If allowed, Kirk will take the seat that opened up when Ted Kennedy died last month. Kirk would presumably hold the seat until an an interim election was held, likely sometime early next year.

But first, before Mr. Kirk goes to Washington, there’s this little hurdle, in the form of a lawsuit.

“It’s a rogue governor trying to skirt the will of the Legislature and the will of the people,” said Jennifer A. Nassour, chairwoman of the state GOP, at a press conference after the hearing. Nassour added: “The governor has over stepped his constitutional boundaries, and we’re hoping that the judge rules in our favor.” Click herefor the GOP’s filing challenging the appointment.

In a separate filing, Assistant Attorney General Peter Sacks argued that the Supreme Judicial Court in a 1975 ruling had made it clear that a governor does not need legislative approval to invoke an emergency. He also said that the Republican effort should be tossed out because Patrick has made the appointment under the new law, making their challenge moot. Click here for the Boston Globe story.

So who is this Paul Kirk fellow? Click here for a profile from the NYT. For starters, he’s a lawyer (Harvard, Harvard Law). He was also the head of the Democratic National Committee for a period of time, and a close confidant of Ted Kennedy’s for a number of years. But perhaps most importantly, in lo these closely divided times, he’s not known as a partisan player.

"The people who've been around a long time know him and like him," said Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr. to the NYT. Fahrenkopf was chairman of the Republican National Committee when Kirk led the D.N.C. "He has shown that he's someone who can be trusted, who's straight."

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on September 25, 2009 (boomark / email).