Comments on Advance Indiana™: Bosma Attorney Accused Of Threatening/Intimidating Attorneys In Soliday Case

Damn it, Gary, I lova 'ya more than my luggage, bu...

2007-03-10T00:14:00.000-05:00

Damn it, Gary, I lova 'ya more than my luggage, but sometimes, you wander into oblivion, and this is one of them. (Apologies to Olympia Dukakis)

I posted earlier that it was a candidate's responsiblity to know where (s)he lives. That remains true.

I said nothing about your individual voter's rights or residency. Clerks can and do err on those issues.

I spoke of candidates for office.

It was and is the candidate's sole responsibility. Anything less is insane. If a clerk makes an address or precinct error, the correct residence must be brought forth, and wherever that residence is, there's your answer. I understand, in this case, by a hundred feet or so, it's in the wrong district.

If a legtimate error is made by an election official, it doesn't change the situation. The correct residency, by the state-drawn districts, must be determined.

As the poster above noted, a legislator cannot represent a district where (s)he does not live.

It is really pretty simple.

And this representative's removal from the legislature should be swift and unyielding. It won't change the face of things much--it's a solid GOP district. But the precinct committeepersons will not select, at a caucus presided over by the state party chair or his designee.

It'll stay Republican, in all liklihood. Just not the incumbent Republican. He can buy a house across the street and run next year.

It may be the clerk's fault. It may even be the cl...

2007-03-09T19:50:00.000-05:00

It may be the clerk's fault. It may even be the clerk's responsibility. It doesn't matter, though: you can't represent a district that you don't live in. See Ind. Const. Art. IV, Sec. 7:

No person shall be a Senator or a Representative, who, at the time of his election, is not a citizen of the United States; nor any one who has not been for two years next preceding his election, an inhabitant of this State, and, for one year next preceding his election, an inhabitant of the district whence he may be chosen. Senators shall be at least twenty-five, and Representatives at least twenty-one years of age.

Doesnt the statutory definition of a Legislative D...

2007-03-09T18:06:00.000-05:00

Doesnt the statutory definition of a Legislative District specifically include text stating that the precincts included are of the precincts as defined at the date of the redistricting? Doesnt the State Election Commission have to approve any precinct boundary changes? Peterson did that precinct consolidation effort a few years ago but was stymied by the State blocking it. Clerks cant change precincts willy-nilly!

As I understand it, Wilson, the clerk redrew an ex...

2007-03-09T17:49:00.000-05:00

As I understand it, Wilson, the clerk redrew an existing precinct which was in the district Soladay now represents to add a subdivision where Soladay resides. While the old boundaries of the precinct were entirely in the district, the subdivision was not. The clerk failed to check out the statutory description and assigned these folks to the wrong legislative district.

A dumb question: what is the core issue here? Did ...

2007-03-09T17:43:00.000-05:00

A dumb question: what is the core issue here? Did the Clerk misread the statutory definition of the District (which is specified by text enumerating the included precincts) and assign Soliday's precinct to the wrong District on the local public records, maps and the voting machines? Or did the Clerk move around the precinct boundaries after the Legislature had enumerated the included precincts? Was Soliday's address intended by the Legislature to be in the District he was elected from?

anon 4:12, every two years I cast my vote and my b...

2007-03-09T16:56:00.000-05:00

anon 4:12, every two years I cast my vote and my ballot shows I live in Rep. John Day's district. People who live across the street from me vote in Rep. Jon Elrod's district. It would never occur to me that I really live in Elrod's district when the clerk has been telling me I live in Day's district all these years. Your position is untenable that I'm supposed to know the clerk screwed up in assigning my precinct to a legislative district other than where I actually reside.

Evan Bayh Indiana Supreme Court residency case. R...

2007-03-09T16:29:00.000-05:00

Evan Bayh Indiana Supreme Court residency case. Read it and weep.

Brian Bosma is the Monroe Gray of the statehouse.

2007-03-09T16:23:00.000-05:00

Brian Bosma is the Monroe Gray of the statehouse.

The clerk's responsibility? Are you serious?It is...

2007-03-09T16:12:00.000-05:00

The clerk's responsibility? Are you serious?

It is the responsibility of every candidate for office to ensure(s)he lives in the proper place. Period.

The correct response should've bene, when the residency issue was poitned out, a resignation by the good representative. He can run next time. A new election would likely yield another Republican in this district, but who knows?

The immunities clause for legislators in the state...

2007-03-09T15:34:00.000-05:00

The immunities clause for legislators in the state constitution reads: "Senators and Representatives, in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest, during the session of the General Assembly, and in going to and returning from the same; and shall not be subject to any civil process, during the session of the General Assembly, nor during the fifteen days next before the commencement thereof. For any speech or debate in either
House, a member shall not be questioned in any other place."

Generally, this immunity would apply to a legislator like Soliday in civil cases, but where you are challenging the person's legal right to be a legislator under the constitution itself, it would seem the immunity shouldn't apply.