Oops! Kobach lawyer files document with all-caps notation 'Probably not worth arguing?'
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach/Shutterstock.com.
A lawyer representing Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach apparently had some doubts about making a standing argument in a suit challenging a state law requiring proof of citizenship to vote.
The doubts were expressed at page 62 of a document filed on Tuesday, report the Topeka Capital-Journal, the Kansas City Star, Above the Law and tweets by a Huffington Post reporter and Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project.
Fourth on a list of proposed legal conclusions in the case is a statement that three plaintiffs “lack standing? PROBABLY NOT WORTH ARGUING?” No. 5 on the list is blank.
Moriah Day, a Kobach spokesman, told the Capital-Journal that a corrected document has been filed. “It appears that a member of the legal team originally filed a draft copy instead of the final version of the document,” Day said.
The lawyer who signed the document was Garrett Roe, a deputy assistant secretary of state. The standing argument is not in the corrected document.
It wasn’t the first misstep in the case. On April 18, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson held Kobach in civil contempt of court for failing to follow court orders after she barred enforcement of the proof of citizenship law. Robinson said Kobach didn’t send required notices to would-be voters who were unable to supply citizenship proof when registering at drivers’ license facilities.
The case is Fish v. Kobach.
This is from Kobach's proposed conclusions of law following our trial last month. I agree with him that it's "probably not worth arguing" that our clients lack standing. #ProofreadYourBriefs pic.twitter.com/Ob9Dv9lJkI
— Dale Ho (@dale_e_ho) April 24, 2018
