In the Courts Archives

Wisconsin's New Aristocracy Is on the Ballot

By ACRU Staff|2012-04-27T09:21:45-04:00April 27th, 2012|

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Senior Fellow for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published April 26, 2012 on Forbes.com.

Our Founding Fathers carefully eliminated in American law every special legal privilege of the old aristocracies of Europe. They strongly favored instead equality under the law, later enshrined in the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, which means not equality of result, but that everyone plays by the same rules.

A recall election for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is scheduled for June 5. But on the ballot that day will effectively be whether we should […]

Texas Hold 'Em Unfolds in El Paso

By ACRU Staff|2011-10-02T23:17:20-04:00October 2nd, 2011|

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published October 3, 2011 in The Washington Times.

North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue spoke for many politicians on Tuesday when she suggested suspending congressional elections for two years to give the politicians a free hand without voter input.

“You want people who don’t worry about the next election,” Mrs. Perdue, a Democrat elected in 2008, said to a Rotary Club gathering. Although a tape of the speech reveals that she made the statement in a serious manner, she later insisted she had been joking.

But the insularity of elected officials is […]

Reckless Congress Makes Case for Recall

By ACRU Staff|2010-12-20T10:41:01-05:00December 20th, 2010|

ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight wrote this column appearing December 17, 2010 on The Washington Times website.

If ever a Congress epitomized the need for more accountability, it’s the 111th lame-duck gang. Sorry, that’s unfair to gangsters. With most Americans distracted by holiday plans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, has sprung another Christmas surprise, vowing to ram through a far-left agenda in the waning days of 2010. Last year, he put a giant lump of coal in Americans’ stockings with Christmas Eve passage of Obamacare.

This year, he has tried to force through a pork-loaded $1.1 trillion spendathon, […]

New Jersey Supreme Court Rules State Constitution's Recall Law Unconstitutional

By ACRU Staff|2010-11-19T16:27:10-05:00November 19th, 2010|

ACRU will file amicus brief when case involving effort to recall Sen. Robert Menendez is appealed to U.S. Supreme Court.

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled 4-2 on Thursday that a provision in the state Constitution providing for recall of all elected officials, including Congressmen and U.S. Senators, was unconstitutional, overruling a unanimous lower court decision..

“This decision sets up a perfect test case over whether we the people in America will enjoy the freedom to maintain the continuous democratic accountability provided by recall, which is now essential to maintaining a functioning democracy in our country,” said American Civil Rights Union General Counsel Peter Ferrara, […]

Complaint Filed in North Dakota Supreme Court to Allow Recall of U.S. Senator Kent Conrad

By ACRU Staff|2010-07-21T16:55:44-04:00July 21st, 2010|

On July 14, North Dakota joined New Jersey in an effort to recall a U.S. Senator.

RecallND filed a complaint with the North Dakota Supreme Court claiming that the state’s Secretary of State has unconstitutionally blocked a petition to recall U.S. Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND).

The complaint indicates that on May 13 North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem published an opinion concluding that the North Dakota State Constitution does not allow for the recall of a U.S. Senator. On the same day, the office of the North Dakota Secretary of State claimed to have no authority to approve the circulation of RecallND’s recall petition.

ACRU Files Brief Urging N.J. Supreme Court to Allow Menendez Recall Petitions

By ACRU Staff|2020-04-23T21:52:58-04:00May 11th, 2010|

On May 10, 2010, the American Civil Rights Union filed a brief with the New Jersey Supreme Court urging the justices to affirm a state appellate court ruling ordering the Secretary of State to recognize a recall notice for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D). If the court concurs, petitioners could begin immediately to collect the 1.3 million signatures needed within 320 days to put Menendez on the ballot. Menendez, who was elected in 2006, is not slated for re-election until 2012.

“The New Jersey Supreme Court must either affirm the ruling of the court below, or expressly overrule all the New Jersey precedents holding that […]

ACRU Files Brief Urging N.J. Supreme Court to Allow Menendez Recall Petitions

By ACRU Staff|2010-05-10T15:51:59-04:00May 10th, 2010|

The brief, filed by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara, makes it clear that the court is deciding only the validity of a lower court’s […]

ACRU Urges NJ Supreme Court to Deny Sen. Menedez Petition to Hear Recall Appeal

By ACRU Staff|2020-04-23T21:52:59-04:00April 21st, 2010|

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) petitioned the New Jersey Supreme Court to hear his appeal from the ruling of a state appellate court that a citizens committee seeking a recall election to remove him from office could proceed to circulate petitions to collect the signatures required under the New Jersey Constitution to qualify for such an election.

The American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) filed an amicus curiae brief on April 21, 2010 with the New Jersey Supreme Court urging it to deny the petition from Senator Menendez to hear the case on the grounds that the circulation of petitions and the collection of signatures is political activity […]

COMMITTEE TO RECALL ROBERT MENENDEZ v. NINA WELLS, SECRETARY OF STATE, ET AL.

By ACRU Staff|2010-02-08T18:50:27-05:00February 8th, 2010|

February 9, the American Civil Rights Union filed an amicus brief in support of a grassroots citizens effort to petition for recall of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ).

The Sussex County Tea Party and NJ Tea Parties United, which filed the original petition request to gather signatures as The Committee to Recall Senator Robert Menendez from the United States Senate, contend that Menendez has violated his oath of office by voting for unconstitutional measures such as the attempted government health care takeover bill.

The New Jersey Secretary of State at the time rebuffed the request. So the matter is in court. Menendez is up for re-election […]