Durbin: Burris failed to get signature, shouldn't be seated

SPRINGFIELD - The battle over whether Roland Burris will become the next U.S. Senator from Illinois ping-ponged Friday between legal and political venues in Springfield, Chicago and Washington D.C.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Friday morning that Secretary of State Jesse White does not have to sign the ceremonial appointment certificate required by the U.S. Senate before Roland Burris can take his seat.

However, on Friday afternoon in Chicago, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said the Senate "must insist" on that signature, and that the seat might stay vacant until the certificate is signed. Durbin suggested the seat remain empty until Gov. Rod Blagojevich's impeachment trial is over. Blagojevich named Burris to the seat.

U.S. Senate leadership issued a terse statement saying, "The Senate Parliamentarian, the Secretary of the Senate and Senate Legal Counsel are advising Senate Leadership as we consider a way forward."

White is required under state law to file and register Blagojevich's letter of appointment, which he did on Dec. 31, 2008. White is not obligated to sign a special certificate or do anything more, a unanimous court declared.

White filed the record of Burris' appointment in his office but refused to cosign Burris' ceremonial appointment certificate following allegations Blagojevich attempted to sell Obama's seat for a high-paying job or campaign donations.

"I want to be clear," White said in a prepared statement Friday, "that I could not and will not in good conscience sign my name to any appointment made by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill the Senate vacancy."

Burris considers himself the rightful senator and is now threatening to sue in federal court if his appointment remains stymied.

White insisted the decision of whether to seat Burris remains with the Senate.

Burris, a former state attorney general and comptroller, is not implicated in the charges against Blagojevich, and his attorney, Timothy Wright, told reporters that, Durbin's position notwithstanding, Burris has provided all the documentation the Senate sought in order to be seated. He said Burris was elated by the court ruling.

On Tuesday, Burris was turned away from the Senate because his "certificate of appointment," signed by Blagojevich, was not countersigned by White and the state seal was not attached. Durbin said Senate rules observed for more than a century require that signature. The state high court said the Illinois constitution and laws do not. "The only purpose a signature and seal could serve in this case is an evidentiary one. It would confirm that the appointment had, in fact, been made," wrote Justice Lloyd Karmeier.

"At this point, however, there is no question at all that the governor did, in fact, make the appointment," Karmeier wrote.

Friday's court decision bounces back to Senate Democrats in Washington the ultimate decision of whether to seat Burris.

After initially being unified in their rejection of Burris or any Blagojevich appointment, some Senate Democrats have expressed willingness to compromise on seating Burris.

Many Illinois Democratic officials, including House Speaker Michael Madigan, who also serves at the state party chairman, have said they expect Burris will ultimately end up serving out Obama's term.

Republican officials, however, continue to gripe that the power to pick Obama's successor wasn't given to voters via a special election. Democrats decided to sit on that idea after seeing the possible $30 million price tag and possibility of the GOP winning the Democratic seat.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=4&type=video&item=47">Sec. of State Jesse White press conference</a></li> </ul> <h2>Related documents</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="/pdf/107816.pdf">Illinois Supreme Court Opinion </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>