Federal appeals court sends Georgia ballot-access case back to lower court News
andibreit / Pixabay
Federal appeals court sends Georgia ballot-access case back to lower court

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday remanded a case brought by the Libertarian Party of Georgia challenging the state’s ballot-access law to the lower court for failing to address the constitutionality of the law.

A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia had granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of the Georgia Secretary of State, concluding it did not need to apply the Supreme Court’s test for the constitutionality of ballot-access measures, established in Anderson v. Celebreeze. The summary judgment has been vacated and the district court will need to apply the Anderson test and consider the Equal Protection clause.

The Georgia law requires third-party candidates to submit petitions signed by 5 percent of the voters eligible to vote for that office in the last election. The Libertarian Party of Georgia introduced evidence that no third-party candidate has met that threshold, despite the fact that more than 20 candidates have tried since 2002.

The Eleventh Circuit declined to consider the case on the merits. The district court has been instructed to apply the Anderson test, which “emphasizes the relevance of context and specific circumstances to each challenge to ballot-access requirements,” and to consider the Equal Protection claim based on the different treatment of third-party candidates running for state-wide office and Congressional candidates.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

On November 27, 1983, the revised Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church went into effect. Learn more about the history of Canon Law from Professor Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.

Alfred Nobel creates Nobel Prize in his will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his will, creating the Nobel Prize. Learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Commission.