Illinois high court gives Burris a boost

Just days after his prospective colleagues in Washington turned him back from the Capitol, Democrat Roland Burris seized on an Illinois high court decision filed Friday to assert he should be accepted as President-elect Barack Obama’s replacement in the U.S. Senate.

Armed with the Illinois Supreme Court ruling, Burris’ lawyers vowed to return to Washington on Monday and file suit in federal court unless top Senate Democrats reverse their rejection of impeached Democratic Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich’s choice for the seat.

“He is now the junior senator from the state of Illinois,” said one of Burris’ lawyers, Timothy Wright. “It’s done.”

Key senators did not immediately accept that legal view. Democratic Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the state’s senior senator and the assistant majority leader, argued Burris still did not meet the criteria.

Senate Democratic leaders have balked at accepting Burris, citing the fact that Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has refused to sign the appointment paperwork submitted by Blagojevich. In an effort to gain that signature, Burris’ lawyers went to the Illinois Supreme Court and asked that White be ordered to sign the document.

The Illinois justices did not do that, but their ruling said there was no legal requirement that White sign the paperwork and that it was enough that he had simply registered the appointment of Burris.

Shortly after the ruling, White produced a copy of a document from his office showing that he had registered the appointment. In a statement, he said he had done everything required and “could not and will not in good conscience sign my name to any appointment made by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.”

Burris’ legal team said it sent a copy of the court ruling and the new document from White to Senate Democratic leaders.

At a news conference, Durbin said 125-year-old Senate rules demand that the secretary of state sign the appointment paperwork from Blagojevich, regardless of the Illinois court decision.

“At this point, we’ve clearly reached an impasse,” Durbin said. “In this case, there is a missing signature under Senate rules.”

Later Friday, however, Durbin and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) issued a one-sentence statement saying that they were seeking legal advice on how to respond to the newly released paperwork from White.

Durbin called for leaving the Obama vacancy open while Illinois state senators decide on impeachment charges approved by the Illinois House on Friday. Federal prosecutors arrested the governor a month ago, alleging that he abused his authority to fill the seat by attempting to sell it for personal gain.

According to sources, Obama urged the U.S. Senate leadership earlier this week to quickly settle the dispute involving his former job.

On Friday, Obama’s transition team sought to distance itself from the legal morass. A senior official with the transition team who asked not to be identified said the Obama team’s “philosophy” was that the Burris matter was an issue for the U.S. Senate, Illinois lawmakers and White.

--

dmihalopoulos@tribune.com

Jill Zuckman in our Washington bureau contributed to this report.