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Last Updated: September 10, 2010 at 1:40 PM

Curley v. Lake County Board of Elections

Case Information

Date Filed / Ended: October 2, 2008 / October 31, 2008
State: Indiana
Issues: Voter Registration, Early Voting
Courts that Heard this Case: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana (Case 2:08-cv-00287); Indiana Supreme Court (Case 45A03-0810-CV-512); Indiana Court of Appeals (Case 45A03-0810-CV-512)

Issue:

Whether the Lake County Board of Election’s establishment of satellite offices for in-person absentee ballot voting violates Indiana state election law. The Board of Elections claims that it was obligated to take the challenged actions in order to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

Status:

NOTICE: The electronic dockets for the state courts in this case are not freely available to the public. Filings in this case are not being monitored on a daily basis. Select documents will be added to this page when possible.

Indiana Court of Appeals Documents

Order (entered 10/24/08)
Motion for State of Indiana to Intervene or file amicus brief (filed 10/27/08)
Plaintiff-Appellant John F. Curley brief (filed 10/27/08)
Order (denying stay) (entered 10/28/08)
Order (denying motion to intervene, granting motion to file amicus brief) (entered 10/28/08)
Decision (entered 10/31/08)

Indiana Supreme Court Documents (2nd Appeal)

Verified Motion to Acknowledge Jurisdiction and Establish Expedited Briefing Schedule (filed 10/23/08)
Order (entered 10/24/08)

Special Superior Court Proceedings

Order (entered 10/22/08)

Indiana Supreme Court Documents (1st Appeal)

Order (entered 10/14/08)

Superior Court Documents

COMPLAINT filed in Lake Superior court (filed 10/2/08)
MOTION for Temporary Restraining Order (filed 10/2/08)
TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER signed by Judge, Lake Superior Court, Civil Division (entered 10/3/08)

U.S. District Court Documents

NOTICE OF REMOVAL by Lake County Board of Elections (filed 10/3/08)
Proposed MOTION to Intervene (filed 10/3/08)
BRIEF in Support of Proposed MOTION to Intervene (filed 10/3/08)
- Affidavit Balanoff
- Affidavit Bolling
Proposed MOTION To Enjoin Pending State Court Proceedings, etc. (filed 10/3/08)
Proposed Answer (filed 10/3/08)
STATE COURT RECORD (filed 10/3/08)
MOTION HEARING held on 10/3/2008 before Judge Joseph S Van Bokkelen regarding MOTION for Temporary Restraining Order. Issue of whether this Court has jurisdiction discussed. Argument presented by both sides. Defts move to admit State Court Order issued today by Judge Hawkins and ask that the order be vacated. Ptys agree that no additional voting locations will be opened through the close of day, Thursday, October 9, 2008. Ptys have until noon on Wednesday, 10/8/08 to file briefs re: Court's subject matter jurisdiction and any other briefs. Motion Hearing continued for 10/9/2008 09:00 AM in US District Court - Hammond before Judge Joseph S Van Bokkelen) (Entered: 10/06/2008)
APPENDIX to Proposed MOTION to Intervene (filed 10/6/08)
- Declaration of Aaron , Declaration of Arkush ,
- Declaration of Macri , Declaration of Peterson ,
- Declaration of Phillips , Declaration of Stringer ,
- Declaration of Taggares , Declaration of Ventura
Emergency MOTION to Vacate TRO by Plaintiffs (filed 10/7/08)
- Exhibit A - Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
ORDER GRANTING Motion to Vacate Circuit Court's 10/6/08 TRO and orders the Lake County Circuit Court to STAY any proceedings (entered 10/7/08)
Transcript of State Court TRO hearing (filed 10/7/08)
MOTION to Remand to State Court filed by Intervenor Defendants (filed 10/7/08)
MEMORANDUM in Support of MOTION to Remand (filed 10/7/08)
MOTION to Expedite Motion To Remand (filed 10/7/08)
Memorandum in Support of Petition to Remove and this Court's Jurisdiction (filed 10/9/08)
Motion to Vacate Court's Oct. 7 Order & Memo in Support (filed 10/9/08)
RESPONSE to Motion to Remand (filed 10/9/08)
Supplemental Memorandum In Opposition To Motion For Temporary Restraining Order (filed 10/9/08)
BRIEF in Support of MOTION for Temporary Restraining Order (filed 10/9/08)
Joint MOTION for Leave to File Instanter Oversized Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (filed 10/9/08)
- Joint Memorandum of Law
- Exhibits to Joint Memorandum
ORDER granting Joint MOTION for Leave to File Instanter Oversized Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (entered 10/10/08)
RESPONSE in Opposition regarding MOTION to Vacate Order (filed 10/11/08)
ORDER granting Motion to Remand to State Court (entered 10/13/08)
MOTION HEARING held on 10/10/2008 regarding MOTION for Temporary Restraining Order filed by John B Curley (filed 10/13/08)

Commentary

FAQ on social welfare organizations

Donald B. Tobin

The Frank E. and Virginia H. Bazler Designated Professor in Business Law and a senior fellow at Election Law @ Moritz explains the nuances of social welfare organizations and federal regulations related to them.

more commentary...

In the News

How Did The IRS Get The Job Of Vetting Political Activity?

Professor Donald Tobin was interviewed by the Boston NPR station on its show Here & Now about the Internal Revenue Service's investigation into groups classified as social welfare organizations (marked by the 501(c)(4) tax classification). The IRS was in search of groups that are not focusing primarly on the social welfare of the country, but have a strong political advocacy facet. Political advocacy groups might want to be classified as 501(c)(4) organizations because under that classification they do not have to disclose their donors.

"The key is if you are going to be engaged in candidate-type advocacy, and if you're going to intervene in elections and engage in election advocacy, we want disclosure of who your donors are," Tobin said.

“What groups are trying to do here is avoid having to disclose,” Tobin continued. “By earning the classification of social welfare, they’re avoiding the campaign disclosure that’s required for political organizations. So that’s really the underpinning of why we have this mess of the IRS having to get in and investigate and figure out whether an organization is political or not.”

more EL@M in the news...

Info & Analysis

Ohio House Committee Recommends Upholding Landis' Election Victory

Yesterday, an Ohio House of Representatives committee recommended 5-4 that the Ohio House uphold the election victory of Republican State Representative Al Landis over Democratic challenger Josh O'Farrell. In February, the Ohio Supreme Court sent the O'Farrell v. Landis record to the House for consideration. According to an article in the Canton Repository, committee chairman and State Representative Matt Huffman said he expects a vote by the full House later this month.

more info & analysis...

Major Pending Cases

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