John Branson

Justice Souter: U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter has jurisdiction over the Hoffman case.Herb Hoffman, an independent hoping to run for U.S. Senate, claims his First Amendment rights were violated when the Maine Supreme Court ruled against him last month.

The decision disqualified him from the ballot, but according to his campaign he hasn't been removed yet.

It’s not certain if the Court will hear the case, however Justice David Souter has acknowledged the petition and has requested several briefs in response to the petition that were filed today.

Souter oversees emergency petitions from this region.

The Hoffman petition could be considered in two stages, one contingent on the other.

Herb Hoffman, the independent U.S. Senate candidate who was booted off the ballot by the Maine Supreme Court, hopes to bring his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Attorney John Branson took the first steps toward doing so by requesting the Maine court delay the implementation of a decision that removed the independent U.S. Senate candidate from the ballot.

Hoffman had qualified to compete against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Bangor) and U.S. Rep. Tom Allen (D-Portland) for the U.S. Senate seat. His qualification for the ballot was challenged by the Maine Democratic Party, who petitioned that three signature sheets be disqualified because Hoffman did not witness all of the signatures, instead using assistants.

Read the court's opinion here 

Herb Hoffman has pledged to continue to fight, but for the moment he’s off the ballot.

The state’s Supreme Court sided with the Maine Democratic Party, who challenged the independent seeking a U.S. Senate seat on the grounds that three signature sheets on his nominating petition were invalid.

The party brought the complaint first to the Maine Secretary of State’s Office, and then the Maine Superior Court, both of which ruled against them.

In a ruling which was handed down at 4 p.m. Monday, the Supreme Court overturned the Superior Court’s ruling.

The opinion read: “We conclude that the plain language of the statute requires that each of the three petitions be stricken in their entirety, and, thus, we must vacate the judgment of the Superior Court affirming the Secretary's determination that the three petitions were valid.”