CURRY Et Al. v. BAKER, CHAIRMAN OF ALABAMA STATE DEMOCRATIC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, Et Al.
Headline: Court denies pause of appeals ruling in Alabama Democratic runoff dispute, leaving the appellate decision in place and blocking a new election while possible Supreme Court review is sought.
Holding:
- Lets the appeals court’s reversal take effect, preventing the ordered new election.
- Leaves the state party’s certification of the Democratic nominee intact during review.
- Treats this dispute as a narrow, state-specific election issue.
Summary
Background
This application involves two candidates in the Alabama Democratic primary runoff held on June 24, 1986, and two voters who supported one candidate. One candidate initially received a majority of the votes in the runoff. A three-judge state court found that this candidate had encouraged widespread violations of a state party rule against crossover voting. The State Democratic Executive Committee investigated, concluded the other candidate received the majority of legally cast votes, and certified that other candidate as the party nominee. The campaign followed state-court and federal litigation seeking to overturn that certification.
Reasoning
A Justice considered whether to stay (pause) the Eleventh Circuit’s mandate while the case might be reviewed by the Supreme Court. The District Court had ordered a new election after finding a constitutional violation, but the Court of Appeals reversed that decision. The Justice applied the Court’s usual three-part stay test: likelihood of granting review, a significant chance the lower court was wrong, and likely irreparable harm if the mandate was not stayed. The Justice noted the dispute depends on unique Alabama rules, is unlikely to recur, and presents no conflict among federal courts. Although the applicants would be harmed if the new election did not occur, that harm alone did not justify a stay in these circumstances. The Justice therefore denied the application for a stay.
Real world impact
The denial lets the Eleventh Circuit’s reversal stand while any petition for Supreme Court review is considered. The ruling is narrow, tied to specific Alabama party rules, and does not establish a broad national rule on party certification or runoff contests.
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