FL appeals court to hear lawsuit against DNC about the primary and delegates. ?

[madfloridian]

I put the question mark because one article sounds like the court may or may not.

Are you asking yourself why? Me, too. I mean we have our president-elect, the delegates were all seated, and you would not think the lawsuit would be needed. The court even appeared reluctant to step in and tell the Democrats how to run their party, but apparently they are going to do so.

Appeals Court To Hear Florida Democrat Delegate Case

ATLANTA - A federal appeals court will hear a Tampa Democrat's claim that the national party acted improperly when it stripped the state's convention delegates because it made its primary earlier.

Political consultant Victor DiMaio sued the national and Florida Democratic parties in federal court in August 2007 over the decision to strip the state's delegates. A federal district judge dismissed the case in May, and national party leaders eventually restored all 211 members of the Florida delegation for the presidential convention this past August.

But DiMaio's attorney, Michael Steinberg, says the appeals court should weigh in because the law setting Florida's primary date has not changed and could lead to future problems.

Here is more about it. This article sounds less sure it will be heard.

Court to hear case or not

Activist Victor DiMaio asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta Thursday to rule that the Democratic National Committee disenfranchised Florida's Democratic voters by taking away the state's delegates when it defied the party by scheduling its primary before Feb. 5.

The party later decided to penalize Florida Democrats by restoring their delegates but only giving them half votes. The dispute was later settled and all delegates got full votes at the August convention. But DiMaio and his supporters still want a court to determine whether the DNC had the right to take away the delegates.

The three-judge panel didn't immediately issue a ruling, but two of the judges said they weren't convinced the case was still valid. They peppered DiMaio attorney Michael Steinberg with questions about whether the case was moot seconds after he opened his arguments.

"It sounds to me like you have some convincing to do," U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Stanley Birch said after listening to the barrage of questions.

Here is more background on this case that never seems to go away.

FL activist suing the DNC for discrimination....against white people.

South Carolina and Nevada were allowed to hold their primaries before February 5th because the high percentage of blacks and Hispanics in those states helped compensate for the pasty complexion of Iowa and New Hampshire.

That's the basis for an amended legal filing planned by Tampa Democratic activist, Victor Dimaio and attorney Michael Steinberg who are suing to have Florida's entire Democratic delegation seated at the National Convention in Denver this summer. DiMaio's original lawsuit claimed the DNC's punishment of Florida violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment, but that suit was kicked back by the federal appeals court in Atlanta. Steinberg had a brainstorm when he read discovery papers in a similar lawsuit filed by Senator Bill Nelson that showed the DNC put South Carolina and Nevada's primary dates ahead of 46 other states to give minorities more of a voice in the nominating process. Since the DNC receives federal money to hold their convention, the party is subject to federal civil rights law.

What an interesting turn of the worm. Sometime next week, we may have democrats suing democrats for carrying out a very democratic policy of advancing minorities. Steinberg and DiMaio acknowledge with a grin that their reverse racism accusation will ruffle feathers, but hope the conservative judiciary will be delighted to strike a blow against affirmative action and rule in their favor. Their only objective, they claim, is to see all of Florida's delegates seated based on the January 31st primary election.

These two have even threatened to take the case to the Supreme Court using Rule 11.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that no federally funded organization can discriminate based on race. What Steinberg and DiMaio discovered was that Democratic primaries in Nevada and South Carolina were allowed to occur before the window of other primaries because of their racial demographics.

If they lose the appeal, Steinberg has a backup plan to use Rule 11, which would take the case out of circuit courts and move immediately up to the Supreme Court.

Just what we need.

[Freddie Stubbs]

1. Perhaps some people believe that it is important to make sure that this does not happen again

[RB TexLa]

2. Iowa and New Hampshire need to go 51st and 52ed in line in 2012