So being from Massachusetts, I feel I should comment on the upcoming appointment of a new interim senator. First, a brief background:

Prior to 2004, Massachusetts law stated that any vacated senate seat would be filled by an appointment by the governor pending the next election. But in 2004, John Kerry, Senator from Massachusetts, was running for President. Polls showed he may win, and were this to happen he would vacate his seat. The problem for the hoodlums in the state legislature was that they had a Republican Governor, who presumably would appoint a Republican to the seat. The legislature could not abide that possibility, and so they changed the law, to state that an election must be held following a vacated senate seat. Republicans in the legislature objected that this would leave Massachusetts without a senator for a period of time, but Democrats in charge would rather go without than let then Governor Romney appoint someone, even temporarily. And so the law was changed.

Fast-forward to 2009 and Ted Kennedy is dead and suddenly, the Democrats who previously rejected the Republicans amendment to allow the governor to make a temporary appointment now want to change course and revise the law. It’s hypocritical and baldly partisan, but fine. They can do what they please.

Now as per the 2004 law that was passed, the special election is to be held in early January. This being late September, there is about 4 months time for an interim senator to serve. Except for one thing: the constitution of the State of Massachusetts requires any law passed by the legislature take effect 90 days from such passage. That means that an interim senator would only have one month to serve, basically right in the middle of the holiday season. This is a sub-optimal situation for those who wish to Rahm some health-care related legislation through on a party line vote.

Luckily for all involved, the Massachusetts Constitution provides an out: any legislation that is declared an “emergency” by the legislature (“such law is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or convenience.”) can take effect immediately, so long as such law is passed by a 2/3 majority in both the house and senate. Easy, right? And crystal clear.

Except that the new law passed by less than 2/3 in both houses.

So per a plain reading of the state constitution, the bill is not an emergency, and it will take 90 days to take effect, right? Well, no. Because Governor Deval Patrick plans on just “declaring” an emergency and appointing a senator anyway, constitution be damned.

I would presume that a lawsuit will follow. The Republicans may hold their fire until a vote on some sort of bill seems imminent, and save their money in the event that it doesn’t happen (which is entirely possible if the rumors of Robert Byrd being on his death bed are true). Nonetheless, it is sad to see the rule of law being so shamefully thrown away in our state. One day Democrats in this state will elect a leader they regret, and when that happens, their actions here will seem short sighted indeed.

Tags: Deval Patrick, LinkedIn, Massachusetts, Rule of Law, Rule of Men, Senate Seat, Ted Kennedy

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 9:42 am and is filed under News & Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.