Torres v. N.Y. State Bd. of Elections

No. 1:04-cv-01129-JG-SMG (E.D. N.Y. filed, Mar. 18, 2004) ; Clearinghouse Number: 55589

Description

Voters and Candidates Challenge New York’s System for Selecting Major Party Candidates for Supreme Court Judicial Positions

Abstract

Candidates who had unsuccessfully sought to run as major party candidates for New York supreme court judgeships, potential candidates deterred by the insurmountable barriers to running without major party endorsement, and several New York voters deprived of the ability to vote for their candidates of choice sued the New York State Board of Elections for violating the First and Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in board’s system for determining major party candidates for supreme court and the state’s trial courts. As described in the complaint, state election law delegates extraordinary authority to the Democratic and Republican parties to determine how judicial district nominating conventions are run, resulting in what plaintiffs call sham elections both at the conventions and in the general elections. Plaintiffs charge that candidates and convention delegates are handpicked by party leaders and that challengers to the party-backed candidates have no meaningful alternate routes to major party ballot lines. Plaintiffs charge that the system severely burdens candidates’ and voters’ fundamental right to vote and associational right under the First and Fourteenth Amendments without any compelling or important state interest. Plaintiffs allege that the system violates the equal protection clause by imposing virtually insurmountable burdens on challenger candidates for supreme court while imposing much lesser burdens on candidates for other local and statewide offices. Plaintiffs seek declaratory relief; injunctive relief allowing the state legislature to enact a new system; alternate injunctive relief mandating direct primary elections for supreme court and a method to gain a place on the ballot by petition; and costs and fees.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Plaintiffs represented by Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr., Burt Neuborne, Deborah Goldberg, Jeremy Creelan, Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, 161 Ave. of the Americas, 12th Floor New York, NY 10013 (212.998.6730)
Docket Date
2004-03-18 00:00:00+00:00

Files

Filed under: