Senate Sued For Denying Burris Seat

4704690Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch is suing the U.S. Senate "for denying former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris his rightful position as the junior Senator from Illinois."

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of an Illinois resident named John Vincent. It says, "The U.S. Constitution guarantees Plaintiff the right to representation by two U.S. Senators in the U.S. Senate... [Therefore, the U.S. Senate's] refusal to allow Mr. Burris to be sworn in as the junior U.S. Senator from the State of Illinois and to otherwise occupy his rightful position as member of the U.S. Senate violates the U.S. Constitution."

Burris, of course, was appointed to Barack Obama's Senate seat by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has been charged with effectively trying to sell the seat.

"Blagojevich may be a crook but the Burris appointment is consistent with the law and must be respected," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in the statement. "The Senate has no legal authority to deny Mr. Burris his rightful position in the U.S. Senate."

As we noted in an earlier post, Senate Democrats this morning left the door open for Burris to eventually be sworn in as a senator, though there are a number of steps that they say must take place before that happens. They had previously vowed not to seat anyone appointed by Blagojevich. Burris was rebuffed in his attempt to be sworn in yesterday.

The Congressional Black Caucus, meanwhile, is calling on the Senate to allow Burris to fill the seat.

CBC chair Barbara Lee said the 41-member caucus voted unanimously to support seating Burris today, the Associated Press reports.

Burris would become the only black senator in the new Congress if he is seated.