AG Hangs Lynchburg Republican Unit Lawsuit Out To Dry

We said this suit was incoherent and the AG office did an Amy Coney Barrett on it. OPINION with a dollop of derision.

What a compatible partnership this would be.

"Atomic smack down" and "brutal beating" come to mind while reading the Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares' motion to dismiss the Lynchburg Republican Committee's lawsuit. Lynchburg is suing the Department of Elections to overturn an anti-voter disenfranchisement law passed in 2021.

The AG's motion to dismiss gutted every argument and claim made in the suit filed by Veronica Bratton (Lynchburg Republican Committee Chairwoman) and attorney Rick Boyer of Integrity Law.

The judge will schedule a hearing to consider the AG's motion. As Miyares clearly explains, Lynchburg's lawsuit is so deficient that dismissal is almost inevitable.

The AG's evaluation of the lawsuit is pointed and laugh-out-loud funny. It doesn’t just politely disagree with Lynchburg's assertions. Instead, it says the lawsuit’s authors don't understand the law and "fundamentally misunderstand the statute." I think they knew it was a bucket of hogwash.

Folks, this scathing rebuke is in perfect harmony with last week’s Supreme Court's striking down of universal injunctions, as well as Amy Coney Barrett's brutal takedown of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. It seems the AG’s office thinks Boyer and company find “legalese boring,” and plaintiffs decry an imperial voter rights law while embracing imperial convention gaming schemes!

The AG's criticism of the suit trashes reputations.

The AG's response is directed at EVERY unit committee member who voted to join this lawsuit at the behest of their chairman. Your reputation, along with that of Boyer and Co., and the unit chairs, is downgraded to DOOFUS. Those Chairs pushed the suit because they are still sore about losing primaries (examples: Bob Good, Hermie Sadler, Duane Adams, etc.) and they beclowned themselves to get conventions back with a suit that cited “Baptists and Buddhists.”

The only disappointment with the AG's motion is that it didn't comment on Rick Boyer's frankly bizarre inclusion of "Buddhists and Baptists" in his demand to overturn a state law passed in 2021. Perhaps the AG's staff were too perplexed, or maybe they were laughing too hard.

Orange Cat Bad predicted the AG's "motion to dismiss" in his widely praised, insightful analysis of Lynchburg's lawsuit from a couple of weeks ago.

OCB WANTS A COPY OF THE SUIT TO LINE HIS LITTER BOX.

OCB plans to congratulate the AG's office on their accomplishment and invoice them for a CONsultant fee of one case of Friskees. The motion to dismiss is a masterclass in cat swatting dumb dogs.

Brief overview of the AG's "motion to dismiss"

The Introduction section provides a summary of their findings and conclusions. Here are some quotes:

"The Complaint should be dismissed because the challenged Virginia election statute does not violate the First Amendment and has not injured the Plaintiffs."

"Plaintiffs, the Lynchburg Republican City Committee and its Chair (collectively, the ‘Committee’), fundamentally misunderstand the statute."

"The challenged statute does not bar the Committee from holding a convention, and therefore does not injure it."

"The Commonwealth's sovereign immunity also independently bars most of the claims. "

The "Argument" section – main points

A. "The Committee lacks standing." It says you don't have "standing" to sue if you haven't suffered an injury. The statute doesn't require the Committee to use an open primary, so any claims of actual injury or potential future injury are unfounded.

B. "The Committee's claims are not ripe for review". Lynchburg spins out several possible doom-and-gloom scenarios, but none have yet materialized. You can't sue just because you are afraid something might happen.

C. "Sovereign immunity bars most of the claims". Chalk this one up to "You can't sue da-Man".

Direct quote: "Sovereign immunity bars all of the claims against the Virginia Department of Elections and the State Board of Elections, as well as all of the state law claims against all defendants. The Court should therefore dismiss those claims."

D. "The Committee fails to state claims upon which relief can be granted". This is a favorite!

* "The Committee's claims contradict the plain text of the statute."

* “The statute does not violate the First Amendment or the right to free association.”

* "The statute also does not prohibit the use of 'conventions, mass meetings, and party canvases."

Units that DID NOT sign on to this idiotic suit: Buckingham, Campbell, Charlottesville, Charlotte, Danville, Prince Edward, Powhatan

Units that SIGNED ON to this idiotic suit: Albemarle, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Goochland, Halifax, Hanover, Louisa, Lunenburg, Lynchburg, Mecklenburg, Nelson, Nottoway, Pittsylvania

Background:
5&Dime recently covered Lynchburg's lawsuit. The law undermines the local party cartel (especially CONsultants) that has used conventions for many years to nominate their preferred candidates (i.e., clients).

Conventions are rigged by making it tough for people to attend. The law requires open primaries (run by the state) to be used instead of conventions, etc., unless the party provides a way for people who can't attend the event in person to vote (e.g., absentee ballot).

Our party "leaders" are in melt down, major temper tantrum mode because conventions are out and they suck at "controlling" primaries (ex.: Bob Good, Herme Sadler, Duane Adams, etc.).

That's why they are suing to get the law overturned – they want their conventions back! The suit was an attempt to force a convention to bring back Bob Good!

Waaaaah! Somebody call a waaaaambulance!

Five and Dime is an opinion blog. I employ satire, commentary, and fact to entertain and convey my opinions on religious, cultural, and political issues.

I expect you to know the difference.

Here is the previous post on this silly suit.