The Kentucky Senate's 37th district constitutional conundrum appears to have the Lexington Herald Leader and Louisville Courier Journal all twisted up in their hopes to install more liberal Democrats in Frankfort.
Both papers today jump on a Franklin Circuit Court ruling that keeps open the question of who will serve the 37th Senate district -- Dana Seum Stephenson or Virginia Woodward.
The Senate voted to seat Stephenson because she won the election. Now Judge Graham is calling that decision "arbitrary." This is the key issue. Whether the decision of the Senate was arbitrary or whether the Court's calling it that is a violation of separation of powers should get the case to the Kentucky Supreme Court. Interestingly, Woodward's due process claims could possibly shift the case to federal courts should she lose before the Kentucky Supreme Court.
I doubt that Kentucky's Supreme Court is going to decide against the Senate on this issue. To do so would open up the legislature to excessive judicial control. Judges would only have to claim that a decision they didn't like was "arbitrary." While that would certainly be a liberal dream come true, the Supreme Court should be slow to go there. We expect more angry editorials about mean old David Williams and his iron fist. Funny.
