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BobL

The hearing will be in the court of US District Judge James Mahan, a Bush appointee from 2002. He was investigated for corruption by the 9th Circuit Court in 2007 but the investigation was dropped with no action against Mahan. It was about appointing friends and associates to lucrative receivership jobs in bankruptcy cases, with fees approaching $5 million. Investigations are ongoing about similar activity when he was a state judge before 2002.

The text of the initial filing about caucus sites is here:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pd...

There is a concept called laches, which relates to negligence in the enforcement of one's rights. It can be a defense if a plaintiff has waited a long time to come foward with a motion or a lawsuit, and if the delay or the late timing might work toward the advantage of the plaintiff. It could allow a judge to rule against a plaintiff if the timing turns out to be an important factor in the overall situation. Not sure if Judge Mahan is inclined to consider that or not.

The caucus rules were set up initially in March of 2007 and approved by the DNC in August. The suit was filed one week before the caucus date of 1/19.