# Knutson v. Department of Secretary of State

> Supreme Judicial Court of Maine · August 20, 2008 · 954 A.2d 1054

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9699904

## Case

- **Full name:** John KNUTSON v. DEPARTMENT OF SECRETARY OF STATE and Herbert J. Hoffman
- **Court:** Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
- **Decided:** August 20, 2008
- **Citations:** 954 A.2d 1054; 2008 ME 124; 2008 Me. LEXIS 142; 2008 WL 2878318
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Silver
- **Judges:** Saufley, Clifford, Silver, Mead, Gorman
- **Cited by:** 13 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9699904

## Opinion text

STATEMENT OF NONCONCURRENCE
MEAD and SILVER, JJ.
[¶ 16] We would deny Hoffman’s motion for stay. It is incumbent upon a party seeking temporary relief from a judgment of the Court to demonstrate an appropriate basis and need for the granting of such extraordinary relief. At the heart of such a showing is proof that the stay would actually accomplish an affirmative result.
*1066 [¶ 17] As noted in the Court’s granting of Hoffman’s motion, it is unlikely that Hoffman -will succeed in (1) obtaining a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court, and (2) ultimately demonstrating that this Court construed an indisputably constitutional statute in an unconstitutional manner. More immediate, however, is the fact that any relief from the U.S. Supreme Court would almost certainly arrive well after the election and the administrative processes necessary to accomplish it. The short-term stay granted by this Court, therefore, would not likely create a procedural framework for any meaningful result for Hoffman, such as having his name appear on the ballot. Furthermore, Hoffman would likely be able to obtain a ruling on these issues regardless of whether a stay is granted, because this case would appear to fall within an exception to the mootness doctrine. See FEC v. Wise. Right to Life, Inc., 551 U.S. -, -, 127 S.Ct. 2652, 2662 , 168 L.Ed.2d 329 (2007).

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9699904. Public record. Not legal advice.