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Fitial: Palacios lacks standing to sue for veto of the casino bill
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Posted on Nov 29 2011
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter
Reporter
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial asserts that Rep. Joseph Palacios (R-Saipan) lacks standing to bring a lawsuit against his veto of the local Saipan casino bill.
Fitial, through assistant attorney general Michael A. Stanker, also argued that he fully complied with the CNMI Constitution in vetoing the Saipan and Northern Islands Casino Control Act of 2011.
Fitial asked the Superior Court to dismiss Palacios’ lawsuit.
In his motion to dismiss, Stanker said that Palacios fails to satisfy any of the three factors needed in order to be able to sue the governor for the veto action.
First, Stanker said, Palacios has not experienced a concrete and particularized injury as a result of Fitial vetoing HLB 17-44.
Second, even if Palacios had suffered an injury, which he has not, there is no causation as the governor is entitled to veto a bill for any reason, he said.
Third, the lawyer said, the veto will not be “redressed by a favorable decision” because the court cannot pass the law, the requested relief will not place the bill before the governor for approval, and the governor could still veto the bill even if the court gave a favorable decision.
“Therefore, Palacios fails to demonstrate any of the three elements of standing,” Stanker said.
