By Sarah Anne Hughes and Matt Cohen

Former At-Large candidate Paul Zukerberg’s effort to keep the attorney general election in 2014, as opposed to 2018, has hit a roadblock. The lawyer and declared AG candidate‘s petition for an injunction against the Council-approved delay was denied by a District Court judge.

“While Zukerberg raises an interesting challenge, the Court has no power to rule on that question today, as none of his claims is ripe for review,” judge James E. Boasberg wrote in his opinion. Ripe in this case refers to the fact that the Council’s delay of the voter-approved attorney general election from 2014 to 2018 has yet to pass Congressional review and therefore isn’t law yet.

In assessing finality and concreteness in the context of this dispute, then, the Court must decide whether the 2013 Act, which would effectively cancel the 2014 Attorney General election, is final enough for the Court to consider Plaintiff’s challenge – that is, whether action pursuant to the Act is “certainly impending.” To state the question is to supply its answer, for it is uncontroversial that a law that has not yet been passed, is not yet binding, and may never “have its effects felt” at all cannot be considered final. The case law supports that commonsense notion.

The judge later wrote, “Just because the 2013 Act’s passage is likely or even ‘inevitable’ does not mean it is ripe for review.”

So what’s next for Zukerberg? Well, he’ll keep fighting. In a phone call with DCist, Zukerberg says an attorney general election “will happen in April 2014. There’s no question about it.” Currently, the Council’s bill to delay the election is awaiting the mandated 30-day congressional review. If Congress doesn’t veto the cancellation (they most likely won’t), Zukerberg can file another injunction after the review period. “Once Congress enacts the law canceling the 2014 Attorney General election,” Zukerberg says, “one minute after midnight i’m going to be back in that courtroom fighting to ensure that [an election] does happen in April 2014.”

In a release, he added that “This week we saw Mayor Gray’s hand-picked Attorney General stand in the way of federal prosecutors seeking information on the most significant scandal to hit the District in a generation. It is impossible not to view these actions and wonder if this is why our elected officials do not want an independent Attorney General elected by the people.”