State Libertarian party tries to halt debate By Associated Press, 10/3/00 BOSTON -- Just hours before the first presidential debate was set to begin, Massachusetts Libertarians asked a judge to force debate organizers to include their party's candidate, Harry Browne. The Libertarians claim in a lawsuit filed Tuesday morning that the state Legislature spent $900,000 to help the University of Massachusetts defray the costs of hosting the debate. Since the Libertarian Party is officially recognized in the state, Browne should be allowed to participate, they say. "It is an outrage that taxpayer money is used to fund biased, exclusionary debates," said state party chairman Elias Israel. "The Libertarian Party will not go to the back of the bus in Massachusetts." The Libertarians are asking the court to allow Browne to participate, to close the debate, or force the return of the public money. Attorney Thomas Robertson, who is representing the Libertarians, said that it would be "unreasonable" to ask for a debate shutdown, but said he hoped Browne could be ordered to participate or be allowed, at least, to make a statement. The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which organized the debate, required candidates to win at least 15 percent of a national poll to participate in the debate. Green Party candidate Ralph Nader and Reform party candidate Pat Buchanan also fell far short. A hearing was scheduled for 2 p.m. on the motion filed in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston. The state, Gov. Paul Cellucci and University of Massachusetts President William Bulger are named as defendants. A spokesman for Cellucci didn't immediately have a comment. A message left for Bulger's spokesmen wasn't immediately returned. The attorney general's office, which serves as the state's lawyer, didn't immediately comment.