Lawyer of the Day

Lawyer of the Day: Roland "Self-proclaimed Trail Blazer" Burris

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Lawyer-politicians from Illinois are a mixed bag. One is Time’s person of the year and will be installed in the White House by the end of the month. Another has disgraced the governor’s office with federal corruption charges and the threat of impeachment. Today’s Lawyer of the Day was appointed by the latter to fill the seat of the former, and the Howard University law grad is adamant about filling that Senate seat.

As Rod Blagojevich might say, Roland Burris has got something f***in’ golden, and he doesn’t want to give it up for f***in’ nothin’.

Today, Burris is going to the opening session of the 111th Congress and he wants his seat. His sheer audacity might be enough to qualify him for the ATL Lawyer of the Day honor, but Burris has even more going for him: a death mausoleum. From CBS News:

The 71-year-old has built a mausoleum listing his achievements. The granite structure, with two columns supporting a covered area and three tablets, list his political and business accomplishments — “First African-American in Illinois” to become the attorney general, state comptroller, vice president of Continental Illinois National Bank, etc. — with the term “Trail Blazer” chiseled in large type above.

Burris is hoping to add “U.S. Senator” to the list (and there is room in the granite for it), but there are several roadblocks on the way to Capitol Hill.

More on Burris’ fight for the Senate, and our suggestion for his mausoleum, after the jump.


Though Illinois secretary of state Jesse White has refused to sign the paperwork that would officially send Burris to the Senate, Burris tells Fox News via Wonkette:

“What has been done here is legal. Th-That’s legal. I am the junior Senator in Illinois. I wish my colleagues in the press would recognize that.”

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It’s not so much the press that needs to recognize it. It’s Burris’ would-be colleagues in the Senate. And they’re threatening to bar his entry. From CNN:

The aide familiar with Senate Democratic leaders’ plans said if Burris tries to enter the Senate chamber, the Senate doorkeeper will stop Burris. If Burris were to persist, either trying to force his way onto the Senate floor or refusing to leave and causing a scene, U.S. Capitol Police would stop him, said the aide.

“They (police) probably won’t arrest him” but they would call the sergeant-at-arms,” the aide said.

Burris doesn’t seem to quite have the letter or the spirit of the law on his side. But if the Senate refuses to seat him, his lawyer plans to head to court.

He may not get to add “Illinois Senator” to his mausoleum at the end of the day, but he is welcome to carve “Above The Law Lawyer of the Day” in stone.

Update (12:39): Roland Burris has been officially turned away by the U.S. Senate:

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“My name is Roland Burris, the junior senator from the state of Illinois,” Burris told reporters later as he stood in the rain outside the Capitol. “I was advised that my credentials were not in order.”

Meanwhile, UCI School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky thinks that is a bad idea:

The relevant provision of the Constitution is found in Article I, Section 5. It says: “Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members.” But the Supreme Court has been clear that these words do not bestow on the House or the Senate unfettered discretion in deciding whom to seat.

You’d think that a contested, 200-plus vote Senate victory would be the biggest legal issue in Washington today, but nobody puts Blagojevich in a corner.

Defiant Burris Says Senate Seat Is His [New York Times]

Roland Burris Has Already Constructed His Terrifying Death Chamber [Wonkette]

Aides: Democrats have plan if Burris shows up [CNN]

Burris’ Resume Carved In Stone [CBS News]

Burris lawyer prods Senate Democratic leaders [Associated Press]

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