{"id":64679,"date":"2018-06-28T09:04:53","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T09:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/?p=64679"},"modified":"2018-06-28T09:47:40","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T09:47:40","slug":"district-court-judge-recommends-nelson-case-be-heard-in-local-courts-nelson-says-fiasco-is-unfortunate-and-unfair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679","title":{"rendered":"District Court Judge Recommends Nelson Case Be Heard In Local Courts; Nelson Says ‘Fiasco Is Unfortunate And Unfair’"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. CROIX — Chief District Court Judge Wilma Lewis has ruled that a lawsuit to determine whether Senator Positive Nelson should be allowed to run for the governorship in the 2018 general election, after his candidacy was deemed defective by Supervisor of Elections Caroline Fawkes because of filing issues, should be a matter heard in the territory’s local courts. Judge Lewis opined that while the District Court has jurisdiction over the matter, most of the complaints included in the suit against the Board of Elections and Election System of the Virgin Islands, pertain to local law.<\/p>\n

The Consortium had asked Mr. Nelson’s attorney, Trudy Fenster, why was the suit being filed in the District Court and not the local ones, to which she responded that Mr. Nelson’s citizen’s rights were violated by the defendants.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have first amendment rights, voting rights \u2014 you\u2019re disenfranchising people who signed the petition and who want to share their ideas and spread their political beliefs, which are in sync with the senator\u2019s. They\u2019re being disenfranchised,\u201d Ms. Fenster said outside the Election System on St. Croix on June 12<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cThen you have the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution which is being violated because you have to provide due process when you make a decision that is going to disenfranchise voters and prevent the candidates their access to the general election ballot in November. So if, for example, Supervisor Fawkes decided that there was a defect \u2014 and we\u2019re not saying there was any \u2014 411 C of Title 18 provides that they would have three days to cure. That\u2019s a due process right; it is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Virgin Islands Code. They were deprived of that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Nelson told The Consortium via text message that he wasn’t aware of the ruling, and at first chose to refrain from commenting until he could speak with his attorney. In the same message, however, he offered a comment: “This whole fiasco is unfortunate and unfair.”<\/p>\n

During a press conference late May at Gertrude\u2019s Restaurant, the senator said his running mate, Gary Udhwani, was deemed ineligible because of filing problems. Ms. Fawkes contends that Mr.\u00a0Udhwani\u2019s nomination was defective because though he filed on May 8, which was the last day for filing, some of the petitions were dated April 11 \u2014 well before Mr.\u00a0Udhwani\u2019s filing, which is a violation of the nomination process.<\/p>\n

But the senator said\u00a0he was not notified of his defective candidacy as local law dictates.\u00a0According to Virgin Islands Code \u00a7 411, Section C, \u201cWhen a nomination petition, nomination paper or nomination certificate is found to be defective, the candidate shall be notified immediately by special messenger with the reason or reasons therefor. If a new, valid petition, paper or certificate is not filed within three days thereafter, the candidate shall be disqualified for nomination or election.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her opinion issued with the ruling, Judge Lewis said the local courts have not interpreted multiple sections of local law as they relate to Mr. Nelson’s complaints. “Plaintiffs’ complaint is replete with alleged violations of local election laws, grounded in statutory provisions, including 18 V.I.C. [Virgin Islands Code] Sections 116, 346, 381, 411 and 412, for which there is a dearth of cases, or none at all, in which the local courts construe the statutory provisions in the specific contexts in which the challenges are presented in the complaint,” Judge Lewis wrote.<\/p>\n

The Nelson suit calls for a temporary restraining order against Ms. Fawkes and the Board of Elections. See suit documents\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mr. Nelson\u2019s bid\u00a0had apparently ended<\/a>\u00a0when the senator announced a day before the deadline to file, that he could not find a running mate.\u00a0\u201cFriends, family, Virgin Islands territory, I\u2019m not going to tell you that what I\u2019m about to say is easy; it\u2019s not. It\u2019s not because I feel like I\u2019m the people\u2019s chance for good government. I feel like I\u2019m the most prepared and qualified\u2026 And unfortunately at this time, about 3:06 p.m. on Monday, May 7, I don\u2019t have somebody that I can tell you is my running mate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The following day \u2014\u00a0on May 8<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the senator\u2019s countenance at the Elections System\u2019s office was uplifted. Mr. Udhwani had joined the team and Mr. Nelson was praising God for the last-minute turn of fortunes.\u00a0\u201cSometimes when you get in that tight spot and you lean and God, God shows up. I serve a just-in-time God,\u201d he proclaimed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ST. CROIX — Chief District Court Judge Wilma Lewis has ruled that a lawsuit to determine whether Senator Positive Nelson should be allowed to run for the governorship in the 2018 general election, after his candidacy was deemed defective by Supervisor of Elections Caroline Fawkes because of filing issues, should be a matter heard in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[191,8,147],"tags":[8457,252,4565,68],"yoast_head":"\nDistrict Court Judge Recommends Nelson Case Be Heard In Local Courts; Nelson Says 'Fiasco Is Unfortunate And Unfair' - V.I. Consortium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find Virgin Islands new, opinion, politics, lifestyle, business and more\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ernice Gilbert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679\",\"name\":\"District Court Judge Recommends Nelson Case Be Heard In Local Courts; Nelson Says 'Fiasco Is Unfortunate And Unfair' - V.I. Consortium\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-28T09:04:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-28T09:47:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d227a4a2478d096447391f7d05afcb51\"},\"description\":\"Find Virgin Islands new, opinion, politics, lifestyle, business and more\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"District Court Judge Recommends Nelson Case Be Heard In Local Courts; Nelson Says ‘Fiasco Is Unfortunate And Unfair’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/\",\"name\":\"V.I. Consortium\",\"description\":\"Uniting the Caribbean\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d227a4a2478d096447391f7d05afcb51\",\"name\":\"Ernice Gilbert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50e9900b9c4e146fd5fb7b811fb4a06e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50e9900b9c4e146fd5fb7b811fb4a06e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ernice Gilbert\"},\"description\":\"I wear many hats, I suppose, but the one which fits me best would be journalism, second to that would be radio personality, thirdly singer\/songwriter and down the line. I've been the Editor-In-Chief at my videogames website, Gamesthirst, for over 5 years, writing over 7,000 articles and more than 2 million words. I'm also very passionate about where I live, the United States Virgin Islands, and I'm intent on making it a better place by being resourceful and keeping our leaders honest. VI Consortium was birthed out of said desire, hopefully my efforts bear fruit. Reach me at ernice@viconsortium.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/ernicegilbert.com\/\"],\"url\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"District Court Judge Recommends Nelson Case Be Heard In Local Courts; Nelson Says 'Fiasco Is Unfortunate And Unfair' - V.I. Consortium","description":"Find Virgin Islands new, opinion, politics, lifestyle, business and more","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ernice Gilbert","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679","url":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679","name":"District Court Judge Recommends Nelson Case Be Heard In Local Courts; Nelson Says 'Fiasco Is Unfortunate And Unfair' - V.I. Consortium","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-06-28T09:04:53+00:00","dateModified":"2018-06-28T09:47:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d227a4a2478d096447391f7d05afcb51"},"description":"Find Virgin Islands new, opinion, politics, lifestyle, business and more","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=64679#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"District Court Judge Recommends Nelson Case Be Heard In Local Courts; Nelson Says ‘Fiasco Is Unfortunate And Unfair’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#website","url":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/","name":"V.I. Consortium","description":"Uniting the Caribbean","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d227a4a2478d096447391f7d05afcb51","name":"Ernice Gilbert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50e9900b9c4e146fd5fb7b811fb4a06e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50e9900b9c4e146fd5fb7b811fb4a06e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ernice Gilbert"},"description":"I wear many hats, I suppose, but the one which fits me best would be journalism, second to that would be radio personality, thirdly singer\/songwriter and down the line. I've been the Editor-In-Chief at my videogames website, Gamesthirst, for over 5 years, writing over 7,000 articles and more than 2 million words. I'm also very passionate about where I live, the United States Virgin Islands, and I'm intent on making it a better place by being resourceful and keeping our leaders honest. VI Consortium was birthed out of said desire, hopefully my efforts bear fruit. Reach me at ernice@viconsortium.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/ernicegilbert.com\/"],"url":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64679"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/64681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}