I don’t want to get in the habit of throwing stones at the Judicial Branch, since, as G. Mark Mickelson once told me, legal minds can differ.
However, Governor Kristi Noem has appointed to the South Dakota Supreme Court a judge who made two notable mistakes last summer. Noem’s pick, Polo native and University of Virginia law grad Judge Patricia Jean Devaney, ruled wrong in two big election law cases last summer.
In July 2018, Judge Devaney allowed two illegitimate Democratic District 7 House candidates to remain on the ballot, despite their clear failure to follow the law and submit enough valid signatures on properly completed and notarized petitions to qualify for the ballot.
In August 2018, Judge Devaney allowed Republican Senator Lance Russell to return to the District 30 Senate ballot despite clear statutory language prohibiting him from appearing as a candidate after his withdrawal from the race. Following that case, the Legislature rewrote the laws in question to allow candidates to change their minds in Russellian fashion without any legal risks.
That’s my only blogging experience with Judge Devaney. I’m sure she’s ruled wisely on other cases. But if you happen to bring any election law cases to the South Dakota Supreme Court in the coming years, you’ll want to read closely Devaney’s 2018 cases and tead carefully around her misunderstandings of election law.
Read this, Gov. Noem. This, THIS is how a Real leader speaks and leads.
http://strib.mn/2VnT41c
Cory, although it is clear that you personally disagree with the decisions, I didn’t see anything in your article or the links indicating the decisions had been reversed, set aside, or over-ruled as incorrect. Were the decisions you reference actually reversed or questioned by the SD Supreme Court?
If the decisions have not been reversed or otherwise invalidated by a higher court, then even if there are reasonable arguments that the decision was wrong, the decisions cannot accurately be characterized as erroneous nor the deciding judge “errant.”
Gov Tim Walz gave a very passionate and humane State of the State address the other night without a teleprompter. He had real people with real stories there and what they’re battling, be it going without healthcare, mental illness, job cuts. This is what leadership is.
Walz started his first job at Pine Ridge and would be fighting hard for the SD Reservations affected by the flooding if he was SDs governor, not neglecting them.
Noem’sState of the State was focused on herselfand Mentioning her family farm’s sob story again. Really, Noem campaign team you need to move on from that tiring theme.
Since the election is over, I would note that I think you misinterpret what happened in the Democratic District 7 House candidates. You were write on the substantive law. The problem is that the petitioner didn’t follow anywhere near the right procedure to kick someone off the ballot. Filing an affidavit with the clerk of court is not going to get it done, even moreso if you do not schedule a hearing until after the primary election. You need to bring a writ of prohibition/mandamus action. The lesson from that is if you want to litigate one of these, you better have an election lawyer (or have a really good handle on civil procedure if you are not a lawyer), or you are going to lose.
Also, Judge Devaney got the substantive law right on Sen. Russell. But it was a good idea to clean up the law to prevent confusion.
write = right
I believe that Judge Delaney made correct legal rulings in both cases.
Imagine that…
It is a one party run state with red control over the entire gubmint, the judiciary and the soopreme court. What would be the use of trying to get a ruling against any one of these red people?
And then explaIN, if you can, why wingnuts in DC are stocking all the lifetime judgeships with right wing ideologues instead of impartial jurists.
DeVaney is the judge who helped Dan Lederman and the attorney general’s office abolish the Constitution Party of South Dakota, and she’s the very picture of the Pierre-insider, establishment-crony status quo that Noem’s campaign repeatedly condemned during last year’s primary.
Seems like a great fit for Gilbertson’s goons.
In the interest of full disclosure, I lost the prime of my life, the opportunity to raise a family, and dozens of personal friends because AG employees and supreme court “justices” were winking at each other in the halls of the state capitol:
https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/rec.music.christian/0fuc26fMYUE
The Constitution Party is solely – or dually – responsible for its own demise. The two factions managed to convolute things so badly through incompetence and ignorance that there was no way for any court to sort out who should be in control under the law. Like two wolves fighting to the death over a field mouse, they were.
Bear, alas, I don’t think anyone took it to the Supreme Court.
JLB, the complications necessary to properly enforce plain petition law—not to mention the fact that the state takes no action to enforce its own laws to protect the integrity of elections and leaves it to private citizens to litigate—would appear to leave the door wide open for candidates to simply ignore petition law. Sure, why bother?
Well stated, Cory.
However, perhaps, I ‘dare’ think that to be reluctant to throw stones at the Judicial Branch is to truly be derelict of your duties – if you wish to be a blogger and/or modern-day journalist.
No member of the Judicial Branch should ever be immune to critique nor criticism. Sure, legal minds can differ, but morality is a pretty darn basic construct.
We can only one day see if Judge Patricia Devaney fruits anything worth a sh!t. After-all, sensible people have almost ‘nothing’ to do with South Dakota state government.
I trust a Gov. Kristi Noem Judicial appointment as much as I trust that idiots will stop being stupid in the 2020 election.
https://www.sheilakennedy.net/2019/04/checks-and-balances-2/
Sheila Kennedy lays it on the line- the plan wingnuts are using to protect their questionable activities from questions- seat ideological and partisan judges with no input from the other party involved.
True, Adam. We must be willing to criticize any public official who deserves. I nonetheless recognize that, should I walk into the South Daktoa Supreme Court and face the relatively absolute power of Judge Devaney, I may get a somewhat less than warm reception for whatever constitutional arguments I have to offer.
She’s a great pick, but that’s just based on her legal ability. I know nothing of her politics, except that she’s been attacked on blogs from both end of the spectrum
Well, heck, I guess if blogs on both sides are attacking her, she may have some merits. But when has she incurred the right wing’s wrath?
“Rorschach” writes:
You sound like Pat Powers. One “faction” consisted of Terry LaFleur and Lori Stacey trying to ignore the party’s bylaws and tear it apart. The other “faction” consisted of pretty much everyone else trying to honor the party’s bylaws and hold it together.
It would be difficult to convince me that none of the highly paid government lawyers in the attorney general’s office could have (1) figured that out and (2) found at least a shred of evidence to present in court. That is, if they had any genuine desire to present an actual defense against Lederman’s lawsuit, as opposed to just rolling over and paving the way for Judge DeVaney to deep-six the entire party.
This is the face of a recipient of a Quid Pro Quo rendered by Kristi Noem. Judge Patricia DeVaney aided and abetted Noem’s gubernatorial election in 2018 by ordering the CPSD off the Ballot in November 2018; then in January 2019 Noem appointed her to the State Supreme Court in reward for DeVaney’s help getting Noem elected. Quid Pro Quo at its finest.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj0yuXi9KDmAhVMLKwKHU-_Dc0QFjACegQIBxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdakotafreepress.com%2F2019%2F04%2F04%2Fnoem-names-errant-election-law-judge-to-supreme-court%2F&usg=AOvVaw19z4MvRi0Q5EUK8TNdfsuK&fbclid=IwAR39RjlkNmBZ7ZJ7OkosY3_qXsAjtLvpoQJZFa9CibGGwmsjtcI5Mds3Mbs
Hey, Terry! Tell me why it helps our understanding for you to post a Google search link to the same article on which you are commenting?