Torres v. New York State Bd. of Elections
| Decision Date | 30 August 2006 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 06-0635-CV. |
| Parties | Margarita López TORRES, Steven Banks, C. Alfred Santillo, John J. Macron, Lili Ann Motta, John W. Carroll, Philip C. Segal, Susan Loeb, David J. Lansner, Common Cause/NY, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. NEW YORK STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS, Neil W. Kelleher, Carol Berman, Helen Moses Donohue, and Evelyn J. Aquila, in their official capacities as Commissioners of the New York State Board of Elections, Defendants-Appellants, New York County Democratic Committee, New York Republican State Committee, Associations of New York State Supreme Court Justices in the City and State of New York, and Justice David Demarest, individually, and as President of the State Association, Defendants-Intervenors-Appellants, Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of the State of New York, Statutory-Intervenor-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr., Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law (Deborah Goldberg, James Sample, Adam H. Morse, on the brief), New York, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellees.
Kent A. Yalowitz, Arnold & Porter LLP (Angela D. Givens, Glynn Spelliscy, Elizabeth A. Wells, J. Alex Brophy, Amalia Jorns, on the brief), New York, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellees.
Jeremy M. Creelan, Jenner & Block LLP (Brian Hauck, Elizabeth Valentina, Carletta F. Higginson, on the brief), New York, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellees.
Andrew J. Rossman, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP (Steven M. Pesner, James P. Chou, James E. d'Auguste, Vincenzo A. DeLeo, Jamison A. Diehl, on the brief), New York, NY, for Defendant-Intervenor-Appellant New York County Democratic Committee.
Arthur W. Greig, New York, NY, for Defendant-Intervenor-Appellant New York County Democratic Committee.
Todd D. Valentine, Special Counsel to State Board of Elections, Albany, NY, for Defendants-Appellants New York State Board of Elections, Neil W. Kelleher, Carol Berman, Helena Moses Donohue, and Evelyn J. Aquila.
Carter G. Phillips, Sidley Austin LLP, Washington, D.C., for Defendant-Intervenor-Appellant New York Republican State Committee.
Joseph L. Forstadt, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan (Ernst H. Rosenberger, Kevin J. Curnin, David Sifre, Mary A. Gorman, on the brief), New York, NY, for Defendants-Intervenors-Appellants Associations of New York State Supreme Court Justices in the City and State of New York and the Hon. David Demarest.
Caitlin J. Halligan, Solicitor General (Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of the State of New York, Robert H. Easton, Mariya S. Treisman, Joel Graber, on the brief), New York, NY, as Statutory-Intervenor-Appellant and Counsel for Amicus Curiae New York State Legislature.
Adrian Zuckerman, Lowenstein Sandler PC (Robert C. Boneberg, Andrew R. Tulloch, Franklin R. Weissberg, on the brief), New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae Women's Bar Association of the State of New York.
Steven De Castro, Law Office of Steven De Castro, New York, NY, for Amici Curiae Boards of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, Dominican Bar Association, Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York, and James F. Castro-Blanco, Esq., Eliezer Rodriguez, Esq., and Fiordaliza A. Rodriguez, Esq., in their individual capacities.
John Z. Marangos (Denise Marangos, Robert Mulhall, on the brief), Staten Island NY, for Amicus Curiae Richmond County Bar Association.
Christopher W. Chan (Steven B. Shapiro, on the brief), New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae Asian American Bar Association of New York.
Preeta D. Bansal, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (Sheila L. Birnbaum; Bettina B. Plevan, President, The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, on the brief), New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae Bar of the City of New York.
Jonathan R. Dowell, Heller Ehrman LLP (Holly K. Kulka, Ellen G. Jalkut, Anh P. Le, on the brief), New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae Former New York State Judges.
Mariann Meier Wang, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP, New York, NY, for Amici Curiae The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, The Puerto Rican Bar Association, Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County, Inc., The Center for Law and Social Justice, The Amistad Black Bar Association of Long Island, and the Rochester Black Bar Association.
Monique Ferrell, Assistant District Attorney (Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Kings County, on the brief), Brooklyn, NY, for Amicus Curiae Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Kings County.
Norman L. Reimer, President, New York County Lawyers' Association, (Peter Bienstock, Stephanie G. Wheeler, Bradley P. Smith, Christopher F. Nelson, on the brief), New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae New York County Lawyers' Association.
Katherine B. Forrest, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (Joanne M. Gentile, Daniel P. Murphy, on the brief), New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae Fund for Modern Courts.
Bruce S. Kaplan, Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman, LLP (Gaurav I. Shah, Laurence D. Borton, Jonathan Gottfried; Edward I. Koch, Bryan Cave LLP, on the brief), New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae Edward I. Koch.
Tom Stein, Proskauer Rose LLP (Charles Sims, Peter Sherwin, on the brief), New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae Citizens Union of the City of New York.
Arthur N. Eisenberg (Steven Alan Reiss, David R. Singh, William R. Cruse, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, on the brief), New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae New York Civil Liberties Union.
Christopher Earl Strunk, Brooklyn, NY, pro se as amicus curiae.
Before: STRAUB, SOTOMAYOR, and HALL, Circuit Judges.
This case requires us to peer inside New York State's political clubhouses and determine whether party leaders have arrogated to themselves a choice that belongs to the people. The task falls to us by way of interlocutory appeal. Specifically, defendants-appellants appeal from the grant of a preliminary injunction by the District Court for the Eastern District of New York (John Gleeson, Judge).
In its opinion and order, the District Court found a clear likelihood that New York State's process for nominating Supreme Court Justices violates the First Amendment rights of plaintiffs-appellees, who consist of judicial candidates, Republican and Democratic voters from across the state, and the non-profit group Common Cause/NY.1 Accordingly, the Court preliminarily enjoined defendants-appellants New York State Board of Elections and its commissioners from enforcing the statutory provisions that regulate the nominating process. Although the Court declined to order the State Legislature to enact a new nominating system, it required that nominations for the office of Supreme Court Justice proceed by primary election until the Legislature enacts a new scheme of its own accord. The District Court then stayed its order until after this year's election cycle, scheduled to conclude in November.
The precise issues presented are whether the District Court exceeded its discretion in (1) finding a clear likelihood that New York State's system for nominating its Supreme Court Justices violates the First Amendment, and (2) remedying that violation by (a) facially enjoining the relevant statutory provisions and (b) requiring that Supreme Court Justice nominations be settled through primary elections until the State Legislature enacts corrective legislation. We hold that the District Court acted within its allowable discretion on all scores.
Given the number of issues involved, we set out the following table of contents:
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