Well, That Went As Well As Could Be Expected

We had the oral argument for the show cause hearing for our writ of mandamus claim in our case against the Wayne County Clerk for their delaying and failure to accept CPL applications.

It went, as the title suggests, as well as could be expected.

One fun detail we shared with the Court was the County proceeding to poach our named plaintiffs and thus trying to get the case dismissed as moot.

For example my client had applied on February 11, 2021 and was given an appointment date of January 25, 2022   - yes almost a year after being scheduled in order for a few minute appointment for the county clerk to just accept her application.  Until the application is accepted, you have no remedy nor ability to get a CPL.  A right delayed being a right denied and all that.

We will note that no other County service is having such a delay - not marriages, not getting birth or death certificates, nothing else.   Indeed, no other County in this state is delaying accepting applications like this, none.

We file our complaint on March 25.  On March 30, funnily enough, my client's appointment gets moved up to June 30, 2021, and then on April 8, 2021 it is moved to April 24, 2021 in order to take place before the show cause briefs are due.

Funny how that happens, and it just happened to occur to all the named plaintiffs.  Next time we will file as John and Jane Does.

The law states the application shall be turned in during normal business hours, and the clerk shall do what they're supposed to do with it during normal business hours - not 11 months later.

I believe we did a good job arguing the law and facts of the case, but there's a good chance the judge will just agree with the County and say Covid makes it necessary for the delays, so we will see what happens.  Decision should be soon.