Mass. judge rejects bid to delay Kennedy successor
BOSTON — A Massachusetts judge on Friday rejected a Republican request to delay the swearing in of Edward M. Kennedy's temporary replacement in the Senate.
The state GOP had argued that Gov. Deval Patrick — a Democrat — exceeded his constitutional authority by appointing Paul G. Kirk Jr. on Thursday. Lawmakers passed a bill this week giving Patrick the power to choose an interim senator, but laws usually take effect in 90 days.
Patrick got around that delay by signing a letter that declared the bill emergency legislation. The appointment is critical to his fellow Democrats, who need Kirk's vote to restore their 60-vote, filibuster-proof margin in the Senate. President Barack Obama and his staff lobbied for the change as they try to win approval this year for their top legislative priority, overhauling the nation's health care system.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly denied the party's request to delay Kirk's swearing in. Vice President Joe Biden was slated to do so at the U.S. Capitol two hours after the ruling was issued.
Connolly also granted the state's request to dismiss the case.
"The (Republican) Party has not shown that it has a chance to succeed on the merits and, therefore, any risk of harm to the party will not outweigh the risk of harm to the governor and the commonwealth," Connolly wrote in his decision.
The GOP did not immediately say if it would appeal. Instead, it issued a statement saying the governor's action — and its fight — should convince voters of the need to restore partisan balance in the state. Only 21 Republicans are in the 200-member Legislature.
"It is up to the voters of Massachusetts to finally decide enough is enough and to refuse to re-elect the entrenched incumbents responsible for raising our taxes in the middle of a recession, turning a blind eye to public corruption and manipulating the law to keep their grip on power," said GOP Chairwoman Jennifer Nassour.
On Wednesday, the Legislature amended the state's Senate succession law so the governor could appoint an interim senator during a five-month special election campaign to fill the seat permanently. Kennedy died Aug. 25 of brain cancer.
Legislative Republicans, as well as a host of Democrats, objected to the change, and after it was approved, they defeated a separate request to attach an emergency preamble to the bill. Patrick added the emergency preamble to the bill just moments before he named Kirk, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, to succeed Kennedy.
"The governor's power to declare an emergency is not absolute," attorney James O'Brien argued on behalf of the Republicans. "By granting the governor the power to appoint by way of an unconstitutional maneuver, this establishes a dangerous precedent."
Connolly sounded a skeptical note, foreshadowing his eventual decision, by asking O'Brien to define the irreparable harm the party would suffer — one requirement for granting an injunction.
"The net effect of the motion is that the commonwealth would not have two senators in Washington for 90 days?" Connolly asked O'Brien.
"That is correct," the attorney replied.
"How does that affect the Massachusetts Republican Party?" the judge asked.
O'Brien said the irreparable harm was the abuse of the constitutional process by allowing one person — the governor — to supersede the authority of the Legislature.
Patrick put the law into effect immediately by declaring it was subject to a citizen referendum. In that case, a governor is allowed to declare an emergency and make the law effective immediately. The intent of that constitutional provision is to prevent a group of angry citizens from pre-empting a law during the 90-day enactment period.
"We believe the irreparable harm is the misuse of the constitution," O'Brien told Connolly.
Assistant Attorney General Peter Sacks, representing the governor, said the GOP confused the referendum process. Patrick said the emergency the state faced was lack of representation during the health care and other debates under way in Washington.
"The urgency is not to escape the complaint," Sacks said. "There is simply no reason to delay it and every reason in the world, your honor, to make it as quick as possible."
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Vizepräsident Joe Biden hat am Freitag, dem 25. September, den 71 Jahre alten ehemaligen Parteivorsitzenden der Demokratischen Partei im US-Bundesstaat Massachusetts Paul Kirk als Nachfolger des verstorbenen langjährigen US-Senators Edward Kennedy vereidigt. Mit der Ernennung verfügen die Demokraten wieder über 60 Mandate im Senat und können so einen Filibuster der Republikaner abwehren. Dies ist für die Verabschiedung der US-amerikanischen Gesundheitsreform von Bedeutung. Diese wurde von Präsident Barack Obama zu einem Hauptziel seiner Präsidentschaft erklärt und war zeit seines Lebens ein Anliegen des verstorbenen Senators.

Die Ernennung Kirks ist umstritten. Sowohl die Demokraten als auch die Republikaner kritisierten, dass Kirk bereits der sechste neue Senator sei, der in diesem Jahr vereidigt wurde, ohne dass dem eine Wahl vorausgegangen sei. Kirk tritt eine viermonatige Amtszeit an, die nach der Wahl eines regulären Senators in einer Nachwahl am 19. Januar 2010 endet. Der Demokratische Senator Russ Feingold aus Wisconsin trat dafür ein, eine Verfassungsänderung herbeizuführen, sodass frei werdende Sitze im Senat durch Nachwahlen und nicht mehr durch Ernennung durch den Gouverneur des jeweiligen Bundesstaates nachbesetzt werden.

Der Versuch der Republikanischen Partei, die Vereidigung des neuen Senators auf juristischem Weg zu verhindern, scheiterte zuvor. Erst am Mittwoch, dem 23. September, hatte die Volksvertretung des Bundesstaates Massachusetts eine Gesetzesänderung verabschiedet, die es Gouverneur Patrick ermöglichte, einen Nachfolger für Kennedy vor Ablauf der bis dahin geltenden 90-Tage-Frist zu ernennen. Die Republikaner halten in dem aus 200 Abgeordneten bestehenden Parlament des Bundesstaates nur 16 Sitze.

Vor der Vereidigung hatte Kirk gemeinsam mit seiner Frau Gail auf dem Nationalfriedhof Arlington jeweils eine weiße Rose und eine rote Nelke an den Gräbern von Edward Kennedy, Robert Kennedy und John F. Kennedy niedergelegt. Mit der Familie Kennedys verbindet Kirk eine langjährige Bekanntschaft. Von 1969 an war Kirk für acht Jahre persönlicher Assistent Edward Kennedys. Das Ehepaar Kirk lebt unweit der Kennedys am Cape Cod. Kirk studierte an der Harvard-Universität Rechtswissenschaften und machte 1964 seinen Abschluss.