Idaho’s Republican Legislature Gives Their Own GOP $100,000 For Suing Them

Posted by | April 11, 2011 09:52 | Filed under: Top Stories


by toma

Normally, you figure conservatives would get pissed off about being sued. Lawyers, litigiousness and the ABA are hardly things that make right-wingers stand up and salute, much less happily crack open their wallets. Perhaps we should merely consider who Idaho Republicans were paying in a recent successful lawsuit to overturn the state’s election system: the Idaho Republican Party.

The House has voted 44-22 in favor of SB 1202, the bill to pay $100,000 to the Idaho Republican Party for legal fees in its recent successful lawsuit against the state to overturn Idaho’s primary election system. Nine Republicans joined all 13 of the House Democrats in opposing the move.

Closing the primary was the Idaho GOP’s goal all along. They were angry that non-Republicans could vote in it.

Seems they had 3 ways to get that done. They could get the party to do it,  but the members voted against it. They could get the legislature to do it, but they didn’t have the votes there, either. So they could try to sue the state, calling an open primary a violation of their rights.

Even though other states run their primaries this way, a judge agreed with the GOP: it was “unconstitutional.” The weirder part came in how their attorney got paid:

Rep. Darrell Bolz, R-Caldwell, the bill’s House sponsor, said, “You must realize that the civil right attorney fee award act of 1976 states that the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees.” However, that hasn’t happened in this case; the state has reached a settlement with the party, reducing the claimed fee amount from $144,000 to $100,000, but the court hasn’t ordered fees to be paid.

Recap: if the GOP lost, the attorney would get nothing. If the GOP won, he could get whatever fees were awarded. But the court hadn’t awarded anything. Gee, maybe somebody should step in and help the GOP’s attorney out, you know? The GOP’s own legislators would do nicely:

“I have to point out, we’re paying $100,000 for the Republican Party to sue the Republican Legislature, defended by the Republican secretary of state, in order to close primaries in Idaho – I just think this is so bad it’s comical,” said Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, who voted against the bill, said, “They weren’t forced to submit that bill … and I found it insulting that they did that. I don’t believe it’s appropriate that the taxpayers pay that money.”

That’s the party of personal responsibility. When the same people who sue your government can vote to charge you for it, it’s professionally irresponsible. It’s nothing personal.

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Copyright 2011 Liberaland
By: toma

Foul-mouthed blogger.

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