For those interested, the entire NYLJ summary of the argument is now available at  
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1149757520194


__________________
James Sample
Associate Counsel
Brennan Center for Justice
212.992.8648 (direct)
james.sample@nyu.edu
www.brennancenter.org 

<JERRYGOLDFEDER@aol.com> 6/8/2006 1:23 PM >>>

Mr. Sample, whose employer the Brennan Center represented the plaintiff in 
the case on appeal, omitted a nugget from the New York Law Journal report, which 
underscores the essential problem with the District Court's stayed decision 
and order:

     "Mr. Schwarz [plaintiff-respondent's attorney] launched into the story 
of Judge Lopez Torres [the plaintiff], a Civil Court judge popular among voters 
and the Democratic Party.   She had received the most votes --more than 
200,000-- of any judicial candidate in the 2002 primary for Civil Court, but she 
could not obtain a nomination for Supreme Court despite seven years of effort.   
Mr. Schwarz said her failure boiled down to her unwillingness to hire as law 
clerks two people conncected with party leaders.
     Judge Straub's reply was curt: "That's politics.   Where's the 
constitutional infirmity?"
     Judge Sotomayor pressed the issue of constitutional rights.   She said 
the plaintiffs had tended to confuse, in their brief, the right to win with the 
right to have access to the system.
     "You just haven't articulated to me the constitutional right," she said. 
"If a candidate does not have the right to win, then what is it?"
     "It's to not be overly burdened in your efforts to win," Mr. Schwarz 
responded. "

[I represent a sitting Supreme Court Justice up for re-election this year.]


Jerry H. Goldfeder, Esq.
225 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
212-962-4600 (Voice)
917-680-3132 (Cell)
212-406-3548 (Fax)