Obscure Texas case offers peek into role of court nominee

[kskiska]

Amid 2000 Election Turmoil, Harriet Miers Took On A Constitutional Battle

WASHINGTON -- President Bush cites many accomplishments of Harriet Miers to explain her nomination to the Supreme Court. One the White House doesn't mention is her successful argument during the disputed 2000 election that Dick Cheney is definitely not a Texan.

The way she did that was striking: Her legal team successfully persuaded a judge to take what her brief described as a "broad and inclusive" reading of the Constitution. That runs counter to a conservative tradition of legal interpretation that calls for a relatively narrow reading of constitutional texts. President Bush has long championed that philosophy, and much of his conservative base -- now hungry for clues about the little-known Ms. Miers -- has been eager for a Supreme Court nominee in that mold.

(snip)

The 12th Amendment sat silently on the books for 196 years until the Bush-Cheney ticket, after falling 543,895 votes short of the Gore-Lieberman ticket, nevertheless stood poised to claim 271 electoral votes to the Democrats' 266.

Annoyed by that prospect, three Texas voters filed suit under what they called the Constitution's Habitation Clause, seeking to prevent the state's 32 electoral votes from going to the Republicans. George W. Bush, then the state's governor, didn't deny his Texas standing, despite being born in Connecticut. But the plaintiffs also alleged that Mr. Cheney lived in Dallas as chief executive of Halliburton Co. Mr. Cheney contended he was a Wyomingite.

more…
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB112864645334762361-Sj2_Gofu_kpjkW4C082xxUY4W_E_20061006.html?mod=public_home_us

[zbdent]

1. Wasn't it also true that someone actually had to show Cheney where

his "Wyoming residence" was, so that he could claim being a Wyomingite?

;)

[UpInArms]

2. here's an historical link regarding that suit

http://austin.about.com/cs/georgewbush/a/cheney_texan.htm

Is Dick Cheney a Texan?
An Election 2000 Report

Is Dick Cheney a Texan? While lawsuits fly in Florida over the recount, another federal lawsuit is approaching the election from a different angle. Lawrence A. Caplan of Boca Raton, Florida charges that Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Dick Cheney is a resident of Texas and therefore the state's 32 electoral votes cannot go for Bush-Cheney.
UPDATE 11/22/00: Thrown out by a federal judge in Miami because the case wasn't filed in a district where the defendent lived, 3 Texas voters in the Dallas area filed their own lawsuit. The federal judge in Dallas has thus far refused to schedule an immediate hearing on the case and declined to issue a restraining order against the Texas electors to keep them from voting for Cheney. An appeal is under consideration.

According to the 12th Amendment of the Constitution, a presidential and vice presidential candidate residing in the same state cannot both earn that state's electoral votes. Governor George W. Bush is, without a doubt, a resident of Texas. Since 1995 Dick Cheney has lived in Highland Park (Dallas), Texas.

Voter Registration vs. Bona Fide Resident

In July, shortly before being named as Bush's running mate, Cheney changed his voter's registration from Texas to Wyoming where he was raised, served as a U.S. Congressman, and still owns a home. However, one of the requirements for Voter Registration in Wyoming is that the registrant "Be an actual and physically bona fide resident of Wyoming" living in the state for one year before becoming a resident.Interesting side note: According to a news report in the November 22, 2000 Austin American-Statesman, Cheney claimed the homestead tax exemption on his Dallas home (put up for sale just this month) which is only allowed on property the owner considers their main home. So, did he simply consider it his main home for tax purposes but not for Presidential electoral vote purposes?

Is a hasty change in voter registration sufficient to satisfy the spirit and letter of the law? Does being registered to vote in Wyoming mean that Cheney is no longer a Texas resident and more important, could it change the election outcome?

The 12th Amendment uses the term inhabitant not registered voter or resident. It says, "The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves;" then goes on to outline how the Electors of the Electoral College go about casting their votes.

...more...

This Miers is so blinded by loyalty to lies that she, too, should be imprisoned for treasonous and anti-American sentiment.

[w13rd0]

3. Wait...

...so this is another payoff to a co-conspirator in the coup BushCo used to take over this country. Well, no surprise there...

[daleo]

4. She seems to have been involved in a lot of shady Bush dealings.

No wonder he nominated her.

I read the article - it seems to me she didn't make any incisive arguments to win the case, she just had Republican judges on the bench. No doubt she could have clucked like a chicken, and the judges would have accepted her argument.

[kainah]

5. OK, now I'm mad

That bogus claim by Cheney to be a Wyoming resident has continued to stick in my craw since he pulled his fly-in stunt in the summer of 2000. I've been an election judge in Wyoming and I know what is required to register to vote in our state (we have same day registration) and he did not present it because he he did not have it! The only reason he was able to pull this off is because no little clerk in the Teton County Courthouse is going to challenge Dick Cheney. But everyone in Wyoming knows he used our state to get around the Constitution. Had he tried to get a resident hunting or fishing license that day, he would have been turned down. And, the result should have been that he could not claim the votes of the Texas electors for Vice President.

What continues to bother me is that somewhere, Cheney signed a false affidavit. Whether it was in Wyoming, where he swore that he was a Wyoming resident in 2000, or in Texas, where he claimed residency in 2000 to get a homestead exemption for his property taxes, somewhere Cheney filed a false affidavit. Which one was it, Dick????

Gee, Harriet, I haven't ranted about this on DU for years.....

[KoKo]

6. Wouldn't it be great if someone could re-open this and get a ruling? If

it's against the Constitution then it's against it. Why should he be exempt. It might be the kind of little "technicality" that could be cleverly used against them for stealing another election.

If only we had some really high-powered creative lawyers on the Dem side the way the Repugs do.

If it was a Democrat it would have been exposed and Cheney would have had to withdraw from the ticket because the Faux News and Limbaugh's would have drum beat it home and the Pundits would have carried on until something was done.

Yet, Cheney seems to be Above ALL LAW! Look at his Halliburton holdings and yet ...nothing is done about it.

What friends does he have that have given this man such enormous power?
He seems very undistinguished to be so Above the law? He's not a scion of a famous entitled American dynasty. He's very ordinary...so what it it? :shrug: