Thursday, June 04, 2009

South Carolina Supreme Court orders Sanford to apply for stimulus

The high court in South Carolina affirmed the state legislature's authority to order Governor Mark Sanford to apply for his state's share of the Obama stimulus plan, and has instructed him to do just that.

The court voted 5-0, with Justice Costa Pleicones concurring in a separate opinion, that the General Assembly had the authority in passing the state budget to order Sanford to apply for the money. Sanford contended that a federal law passed in February gave him the sole authority to apply for the money.

The justices also issued a rare writ of mandamus ordering Sanford to apply for the money.

The five-member court heard arguments Wednesday in two lawsuits that were filed last month seeking to force Sanford to apply for the money, the majority of which is designated by the federal government for K-12 and higher education. U.S. District Judge Joe Anderson on Monday sent the two cases back to the Supreme Court after Sanford tried to remove them to federal court.
How determined is this wingnut to force his state to suffer for the sake of his presidential ambitions... ahem... "conservative priciples"?

Frankly, Sanford might be breathing a sigh of relief. Now, he can still go to Iowa and New Hampshire in 2012 and say he said "thanks, but no thanks" to the stimulus money, but a bunch of activist judges forced him to take it.

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