Via the AP:Illinois AG threatens to act soon against governor
Illinois’ attorney general on Thursday threatened to go to the state Supreme Court to have embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared unfit to hold office if he doesn’t resign soon.“I am prepared to take action,” state Attorney General Lisa Madigan said on CNN.
[...]
“I have the opportunity to go to our Illinois Supreme Court and ask them to declare our governor is unable to serve and put in our lieutenant governor as acting governor,” Madigan said.
This strikes me as an unusual, and indeed legally questionable, route.1 If the government of the state of Illinois thinks the Blagojevich to go, then they have a clear route to take: impeachment.
According to Clarence Page (appearing on the Diane Rehm Show today), the state legislature will meet in special session next week. Whether they will pursue impeachment remains to be seen.
Sphere: Related Content- Granted: I am hardly an expert on Illinois law. [↩]
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December 11th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Well, I am no expert in legal matters, either. But as long as we share this disability…
I know these “unfit” clauses exist in many constitutions, but I assume they are meant to be used in cases of physical or mental incapacity, not breech of trust (which, as you say, is what impeachment is for).
Still, I wonder if a pending federal case against a state governor could be grounds for at least temporary suspension. I am not sure whether it would be a good principle or not, were the answer to be yes. The opportunity for federal intervention into state politics would be troubling. Yet as long as the determination is made by a state constitutional officer, maybe it’s a good safety valve?
I don’t know. There must be some precedent here.
December 12th, 2008 at 12:20 am
what’s all this talk about calling for Blagojevich to “resign?” … “throw him in prison” sounds a lot more fitting
it gives me chills to see how calm and collected he continues to act
December 12th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Robert: one step at a time.
But yes, he demeanor is remarkable.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
[...] strikes me as the proper move, although I know no more details that those listed above. It seems, as I noted the other day, that there exists a constitutional provision to remove Blagojevich, and that is the impeachment [...]