Case No. 107713 – Bambenek v. Milorad R. Blagojevich
Attorney General Lisa Madigan wasn’t the only one to file suit today to remove Rod Blagojevich. Urbanagora contributor John Bambenek also filed suit today.
Here’s coverage of Bambenek’s filing in the Belleville News Democrat. You can download the pleadings for Bambenek’s case or AG Madigan’s case here at a special page on the IL Supreme Court’s website.
Illinois Review ran the following on Bambenek’s suit yesterday:
Suit to be filed Friday before Illinois Supreme Court to remove Governor
SPRINGFIELD – Frustrated by the lack of direct action on the part of state legislative leadership, two private Illinois citizens said Friday they will be filing a petition before the Illinois Supreme Court to temporarily remove Governor Rod Blagojevich from office.
“Attorney General Lisa Madigan has been bringing up the possibility of removing the governor from office based on Illinois Supreme Court’s Rule 382, which allows the court to move quicker than any other recourse,” petitioner John Bambenek of Champaign told Illinois Review today. “Illinois can’t wait for months for the Governor to step down, we have too many crucial issues before us to wait.”
“The standards for incapacity are very broad. We’re saying he’s unable to fulfill his duty to appoint someone to fill the U.S. Senate seat, since Senate Majority leader Harry Reid refuses to accept his appointment,” Bambenek said. “He’s also unable to function politically, because he’s been caught on tape compromising his office. We’re also stating in the petition that Attorney General Madigan has a potential conflict of interest, as she has stated her own interest in running for governor in the future.”
Bambenek, co-foundeer of Illinois Citizen Coalition will be joined in the petition by Hinsdale resident Adam Andrzejewski, director of the year-old good government group “For the Good of Illinois.”
Also, a fun fact John mentions on his blog, both he and Blago have been on the Daily Show.
Comment by Joshua on 14 December 2008 at 4:42 pm:
One of the best things Ragnar ever said to me was “Son, you’ve gotta be a hot man or a cold man. You can’t be a luke warm man.”
While John Bambenek and I don’t agree on many political issues, he never parts with Ragnar’s maxim, and I admire the hell out of that.