Lopez Torres v. NYS Board of Elections
Court Cases

– 01/16/08

In New York State the Supreme Court is the trial court of general jurisdiction. New York's Constitution provides that "the justice of the supreme court shall be chosen by the electors [i.e., the voters] of the judicial district in which they are to serve." In practice, however, New York Supreme Court judges are selected through a de facto appointment system, which is largely controlled by county leaders of the two major political parties.

Onerous structural obstacles designed to ensure that county leaders-- not voters-- select Supreme Court judges have prevented Lopez Torres and other highly qualified judges from becoming justices on the New York Supreme Court.

• U.S. Supreme Court Opinion

• New York Leaders on the Lopez Torres Case

• 2nd Circuit Opinion

• District Court Opinion

U.S. Supreme Court Briefs in Support of Respondents

• Brief of Respondents

• Combined brief on behalf of City of New York, the New York State Bar Association, the New York City Bar Association and the Fund for Modern Courts

• Brief of Former Assistant United States Attorney General for Civil Rights (1990-1993) under President George H.W Bush and Former New York State Senator, John Dunne


• Brief of Charles J. Hynes, Districts Attorney for Kings County, New York


• Combined brief on the behalf of former New York Judges and the American Judicature Society


• Brief on the behalf of the Washington Legal Foundation


• Combined brief on the behalf of the Campaign Legal Center, the Reform Institute, and Political Scientists Thomas Mann and Norm Orenstein


• Brief on the behalf of Prominent Constitutional and Election Law Professors


• Brief on the behalf of Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch


• Brief on the behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union and New York Civil Liberties Union


• Brief on the behalf of The New York County Lawyers Association


• Combined brief on behalf of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Puerto Rican Bar Association, the Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County, the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College, the Amistad Black Bar Association of Long Island, and the Rochester Black Bar Assocation

• Reply Brief for Attorney General of the State of NY

• Reply Brief for 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, Honorable David Demarest, J.S.C.

• Reply Brief for New York State Board of Elections, Douglas Kellner, Neil W. Kelleher, Helena Moses Donohue and Evelyn J. Aquila

• Brief of the New York County Democratic Committee, New York Republican State Committee, Associations of Supreme Court Justices in the City and State of New York, and the Honorable David Demarest


• Brief of the Attorney General


• Brief of the New York State Board of Elections, Douglas Kellner, Neil Kelleher, Helena Moses Donohue, and Evelyn Aquila


• Amicus Brief of the Mid-Manhattan Branch of the NAACP and the Metropolitan Black Bar Association


• Amicus Brief of the Asian American Bar Association of New York


• Amicus Brief of the Republican National Committee

• Amicus Brief of the Cato Institute, Reason Foundation, and the Center for Competitive Politics

• District Court Papers


• Appeals Court Papers


• For the Plaintiffs-Appellees


• For the Defendants-Appellants


• Petition and Opposition for a Writ of Certiorari


• Plaintiffs' Exhibits
  
  • Report of the New York Judicial Committee of Women on the Courts (1996)
  • Report of the New York Judicial Committee of Women on the Courts (2002)
  • Report of the Judicial Task Force on Diversity (1992)


Other Resources

Tags: Democracy, Fair Courts, State Judicial Elections