Order of Contempt filed in high court by Tsosie and Whitehorne attorneys against Deschene, election office
Chris Deschene, whom has been center of the Navajo language debate about whether or not a Navajo Nation president should be fluent, smiles at his supporters in Window Rock. Former Navajo presidential candidates Dale E. Tsosie and Hank Whitethorne have filed an order of contempt against Deschene and the election office. (Times photo - Donovan Quintero)
WINDOW ROCK
Former Navajo presidential candidate Dale E. Tsosie looks on during a hearing at the Office of Hearings and Appeals in Window Rock. Tsosie and Hank Whitethorne, also a former Navajo presidential candidate, have filed a order of contempt against Chris Deschene and the election office. (Times photo – Donovan Quintero)
While the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors stated Monday that the Nov. 4 general election continues on as is, they, along with presidential candidate Christopher Clark Deschene, have received an order for contempt of court.
This is according to the motion that David R. Jordan, attorney for Dale Tsosie, and Justin Jones, legal counsel for Hank Whitehorne, filed Monday with the Navajo Nation Supreme Court.
Both Tsosie and Whitehorne are in suit against Deschene, and challenge his language fluency as a candidate for the position of Navajo Nation President. Their challenge of Deschene has led to a slew of court proceedings in which the high court ordered the Navajo Board of Election Supervisors and Navajo Election Administration to reprint ballots without the name of the disqualified candidate, Deschene, and postpone the Nov. 4 General Election.
“As of today’s date, Respondents have refused to comply,” they wrote in their motion for order of contempt of court. “The election is still scheduled for November 4, 2014 and Deschene is still on the ballot.”
The five-page ‘order for contempt of court’ is in response to the election supervisors and election administration’s failure to comply with the courts Writ of Mandamus that it issued Oct. 23.
The two legal counsels argue that the high court continues to have “subject matter and personal jurisdiction” over the case as well as the fact that it issued the Writ of Mandamus last week.
Jordan and Jones specifically say that that high court, in its writ, ordered the respondents – election board and election administration – to comply with Section 44 of the Election Code, which requires Deschene to be replaced with candidate Russell Begaye; immediately reprint ballots without the name of disqualified candidate Deschene; and postpone the Nov. 4 General Election.
They also argued that Chief Legislative Counsel Levon Henry agreed to the postponement of the election. Provisions of the Navajo Nation Election Code also permit for the postponement of an election, the pair of lawyers said.
According to Jordan and Jones, the respondents have “blatantly defied the Orders of this Court” and are neither “supported nor excused by the Council’s passage on October 23, 2014 of legislation that purported to alter the fluency requirement for presidential candidates.”
The order also lists various reasons why the motion for contempt should be granted, considering that Deschene had refused to obey the Office of Hearings and Appeals on numerous occasions throughout the proceedings of his qualifications, including his objection to a language fluency test.
“Deschene’s disqualification order has been deemed “final and enforceable” by this Court, and it must be obeyed by all,” Jordan and Jones state. “Respondents failure to follow the order of this Court is contempt.”
Former Navajo presidential candidate Hank Whitethorne looks on at a hearing at the Office of the Hearings and Appeals in Window Rock. Whitethorne and Dale E. Tsosie, another former presidential candidate, have filed an order of contempt against Chris Deschene and the election office. (Times photo – Donovan Quintero)
Specifically, the attorneys ask for a hearing on the motion and order the supreme court to have law enforcement officers present at the hearing, and order all members of the board of election supervisors and Edison Wauneka, executive director for the Navajo Election Administration, to be present for the hearing.
“If the members of the Navajo Election Administration or the Executive Director of the Navajo Election Administration are not present for the scheduled hearing, a Bench Warrant shall be issued for that individual,” the lawyers said.
The order also requests for each member of the election board and executive director to tell the high court their reasons for defying the court, and after providing their reasons requests that the law enforcers arrest them for Contempt of Court.
Jordan and Jones ask the court to grant the Navajo Department of Corrections the power to arrest the respondents – election board and election administration – until high court’s Writ of Mandamus are followed.
They ask that the election supervisors be immediately stripped of their elected positions as board members for their “blatant defiance of the lawful orders of this Court” and order the high court to consider disqualifying and making ineligible the election supervisors for any current and future tribal elected office.
“This shall include the current elections for 2014,” they lawyers wrote.
The order also requests that respondents pay for all legal fees and costs of attorneys in this case as well as the legal fees and costs for the attorneys in the proceedings of the Writ of Mandamus.
A hearing on this order for contempt is slated for Oct. 31.
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