Appeals court rules part of state election law
unconstitutional
By MARK JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

July 20, 2006, 1:36 PM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. -- An election law that prohibited a
political party from
attacking or supporting candidates in another
party's primary was ruled
unconstitutional Thursday by a midlevel state
appeals court.

The ruling will allow political parties to try to
influence another party's
primary election, the judges said, citing freedom of
speech protections.

In practice, major parties have preferred to let
opposition party candidates
attack each other and save campaign dollars for the
weeks running up to the
general election.

A state judge had ruled in 2004 that the Working
Families Party, an
up-and-coming player on the state political scene,
improperly intruded on
the Democratic primary for Albany County district
attorney by backing one of
the candidates in the race.

The candidate supported by the Working Family Party,
David Soares, easily
defeated incumbent Paul Clyne in the primary.

Republicans, Clyne supporters and others challenged
the Working Family
Party's support for Soares, arguing that under state
election law a party
must stay out of other parties' primaries.

State Supreme Court Justice Bernard Malone Jr.
agreed. He said four
pro-Soares mailings funded by the Working Families
Party, and the party's
spending of $121,776 in the Democratic primary
campaign, clearly indicated
it was trying to influence the Democratic race.

On Thursday, the Appellate Division of state Supreme
Court reversed Malone's
decision, ruling the state law was a violation of
First Amendment rights and
"cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny."

"It is a great victory for the free speech of
citizens and the free speech
of political parties," said Richard Brodsky, a
Democratic Assemblyman who
argued on behalf of the WFP. "Elections matter and
the ability to speak in
support of a candidate matters."
__

On the Net:
Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial
Department:
http://courts.state.ny.us/ad3/Index.html
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.

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