Ohio Secretary of State in contempt of court

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Last week, a federal judge ordered Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) to leave the state's early-voting window open for all of the state's eligible voters, overturning a Republican law approved last year.

Rather than comply with the court's order, Husted determined to simply ignore the court's order while he appeals the court's decision, without any order of stay. This is contempt of court. The Obama campaign has filed a motion for the court to enforce its order. Steve Benen writes, Federal judge orders Ohio's Husted back to court:

I'm not an attorney, but it's my understanding that federal courts get a little peeved when someone tries to ignore their decisions.

A federal judge ordered Secretary of State Jon Husted on Wednesday to
personally appear next week at a hearing about his reluctance to
restore early voting the weekend before the Nov. 6 election.

Judge Peter Economus, whose ruling Husted has resisted, scheduled the
hearing on Sept. 13 in the U.S. District Court in Columbus.

Economus set the hearing after President Barack Obama's re-election
team filed a motion Wednesday requesting the court to enforce its order
to restore in-person early voting during the final three days before the
presidential election.

Rick Hasen posted a copy of yesterday's order.

From
Husted's perspective, his appeal is likely to work — the 6th Circuit
Court of Appeals has a reputation for a conservative-friendly circuit —
so he doesn't see any point to making it easier for his own
constituents to cast ballots during the upcoming election. On the
contrary, as a Republican official, Husted is eager to make it more
difficult for Ohio voters to participate, not less.

Unfortunately
for the Ohio Secretary of State, however, judges don't much care about
defendants' expectations. Economus issued a ruling and he wants Husted
to follow it. Decisions from federal courts are not suggestions and
they're not optional.

Husted's lucky I'm not sitting as the Judge on this case. I would give him a weekend in jail to think about complying with my order. That is unlikely to occur, however. Elected officials rarely get jail time.