Judge William M. Ray
A federal judge agrees a Catoosa GOP ballot case has standing, allowing it to proceed and potentially set precedent on party control over primary candidates.
Judge William M. Ray II made it abundantly clear in a short statement that he is in agreement with a decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that a case he had prevented from going to trial does indeed have standing and should proceed.
“The mandate of the United States Court of Appeals having been read and considered,†Ray wrote in his July 15 response to the June 12 11th Circuit order, “it is Ordered and Adjudged that the mandate of the United States Court of Appeals be, and it hereby is, made the judgment of this court.â€
Ray, a judge in the Rome division of the United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia, had ruled that the Catoosa County Republican Party had no standing when it appealed to his court to overturn a decision by the Catoosa County Board of Elections to allow candidates on the GOPÐÔÊӽ紫ý primary ballot against the GOPÐÔÊӽ紫ý wishes.
The GOP was suing on Constitutional freedom of association and speech grounds. It has the right, GOP leaders said, to accept or reject candidates on its primary ballot based on how closely those candidates adhere to the partyÐÔÊӽ紫ý principles.
A state court judge and then Ray had ruled against the GOP. The GOPÐÔÊӽ紫ý appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals turned the tide.
With the 11th CircuitÐÔÊӽ紫ý ruling and RayÐÔÊӽ紫ý statement that his court is aligned with it, the case will move forward, possibly setting a precedent for the actions of political parties in the future.
Tamara Wolk is a reporter for The Catoosa County News in Ringgold, Ga., and Walker County Messenger in LaFayette, Ga.Â
Reporter
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to read or post comments.
Ensure your press release runs prominently on our website and in our E-mail Newsletter. Guaranteed placement on these platforms is $25.
Note: All submissions will go through our editorial approval process before being posted.
Please disable your ad blocker, whitelist our site, or purchase a subscription
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.