Federal Trial Court Dismisses Miller's Election Case

US Senate Candidate Joe Miller's federal court case alleging
violations of the Election and Equal Protection clauses of the US
Constitution was dismissed today,
according to an Anchorage Daily News report. Judge Beistline dismissed
Millers' case entirely before the State of Alaska even responded. The
state's response was due tomorrow, December 29. In dismissing the case,
the judge lifted the injunction he had placed on the state against
certifying Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the incumbent as the winner.

In the federal court system, a case may only be appealed a Circuit
Court of Appeals on the grounds of judicial error committed by the trial
court (US District Courts) judge. Both sides in a appeal have three
minutes to present oral arguments. Appeals are generally heard by a
panel of three judges; however, in rare cases they may be heard en banc
- that is all active judges for whichever one of the 13 Circuit Courts
of Appeals has jurisdiction over a case. The final stop in the appeals
process is the US Supreme Court which hears cases only after granting a Writ of Certiorari.
The US Supreme Court grants Certiorari only to a fraction of the cases
brought before it - roughly 100 out of 10,000 or .01%, making the
Circuit Court of Appeals the final arbiter in 99.9% of the cases.

Joe Miller, therefore, must be able to argue an error of law on Judge
Beistline's part to have basis for an appeal. Should he be able to
argue this, The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which has jurisdiction
over Alaska would hear the case. If Miller has no legal basis for an
appeal, his entire electoral journey likely has reached its conclusion
today.

Complete Transcript: US
District Court, District of Alaska: Miller v. Lieut. Gov. Mead
Treadwell, in his Official Capacity, and State of Alaska, Division of
Elections