Friday, January 9, 2009

Petition for Mandamus Denied! Burris Still Wins!

As predicted in an earlier post, Roland Burris filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus before the Illinois Supreme Court. Today, the Illinois Supreme Court issued its opinion denying the writ. But Burris still won his case.

Why? A Writ of Mandamus can only issue where the petitioner (Burris) has no other remedy. The Court ruled that under Illinois law the registration of the appointment was all that was required for it to become official. The Illinois Secretary of State , Jesse White, was not required to actually issue a certified copy for the appointment to be valid: the registration was the operative official act. Thus, the Court could rule that no mandamus was necessary and still allow Burris to win.

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