Extend or end? Minn. Senate race up to high court

Legal News Center

In an hour of rapid-fire questions over Minnesota's disputed Senate election, the state's highest court focused on whether vote-counting flaws alleged by Republican Norm Coleman were severe enough to deny Democrat Al Franken the win.


Barely a minute into oral arguments, justices challenged Coleman's attorneys on the adequacy of evidence they presented in an election trial and the legality of their suggested remedy: that more ballots be counted even if some absentee voters didn't fully comply with the law.

"It's possible there are statutory violations which do not rise to the level of constitutional violation," Justice Alan Page said, alluding to a threshold appeals courts often turn to before reversing a lower-court decision.

The state Supreme Court justices can confirm Franken as the victor or reopen the count as Coleman wants.

Franken hopes the court orders that he immediately receive the election certificate required to take office. Franken is the potential 60th vote for Democrats in the Senate, though two of those are independents.

The court's involvement is the latest but maybe not the final stop. If Coleman loses, he could file a new case in federal court or petition for review by the U.S. Supreme Court, which isn't certain to take the case. If Franken doesn't like the result, he could ask the Senate itself to weigh in.

Related listings

  • Top court to hear business-method patent case

    Top court to hear business-method patent case

    Legal News Center 06/01/2009

    The Supreme Court said on Monday it would hear the Bilski patent case, which would tell high tech and software companies how far they could go in patenting software, financial strategies and other abstract processes. An appeals court which specialize...

  • Lawyer to fight extradition of US murder suspect

    Lawyer to fight extradition of US murder suspect

    Legal News Center 05/28/2009

    The lawyer for a 26-year-old man accused of fatally shooting two young men in Georgia said Wednesday he will fight extradition because he believes his client will not receive a fair trial in the southern U.S. state. Michael Registe is accused of the ...

  • Court nominee urged special rights for Puerto Rico

    Court nominee urged special rights for Puerto Rico

    Legal News Center 05/27/2009

    Supreme Court nominee Sonya Sotomayor wrote as a Yale Law School student that Puerto Rico should maintain its seabed rights if it pursues U.S. statehood. The article, "Statehood and the Equal Footing Doctrine: The Case for Puerto Rican Seabed Rights,...

Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

Business News

St Peters, MO Professional License Attorney Attorney John Lynch has been the go-to choice for many professionals facing administrative sanction. >> read