Download or read book Sloan Vs Szalkiewicz and Board of Elections in the City of New York Appeal Brief written by Samuel H Sloan and published by Ishi Press. This book was released on 2013-08 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an Appeal to the Appellate Division First Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York following a decision of the Board of Elections in the City of New York to kick Sam Sloan off the ballot as a candidate for Mayor of the City of New York and also to kick two other candidates for lower offices off the ballot. At the Hearing on the Order to Show Cause before Justice Wooten on August 5, 2013, Defendant Board of Elections in the City of New York provided only one grounds for throwing the petitioners of the ballot. That ground was that under Section 132 (2) of New York Election law the subscribing witnesses to a Designating Petition must be registered to vote as a member of the Party whose nomination is being sought, and the subscribing witnesses were not Republicans with only one exception. Petitioners had submitted approximately 4500 signatures to run for election whereas only 3750 are required. (There are some differences in the count of the total number of signatures but all counts agree that more than 4200 were filed.) A few of the 4500 signatures collected were found invalid for various reasons including bad address or not registered to vote. However, a core of 3905 signatures were found to be good but invalid for one reason only which is that the Subscribing Witnesses to those petitions were not registered to vote as members of the Republican Party. In other words, had those 3905 signatures been witnessed by a Registered Republican Party Voter, then all three petitioners would be on the ballot. However, because they were witnessed by other voters, including Democrats, Libertarians and Blanks, those 3905 signatures were deemed invalid. There is a rule as interpreted by the Board of Elections that says that petitions for Republican Party Candidates must be witnessed (as well as being signed) by REGISTERED voters in the Republican Party, petitioners contend that such a requirement is unconstitutional under the First Amendment right "To Petition the Government." It seems obvious that a requirement that the signatures to a petition of any type are deemed valid if and only if they are witnessed by Registered Republicans. This is an infringement to the constitutional right "to Petition the Government." This law is obviously unconstitutional as applied in the circumstances of this case because it deprives the petition signers of the First Amendment right to petition the Government. The First Amendment states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. It is difficult to imagine a more blatant and obvious violation of a Constitutional Right than to make a rule that one may not petition the Government unless the petition is witnessed by Republicans!! What nonsense!!!!
Download or read book Motion to US Supreme Court for a Stay of Order of Board of Elections in the City of New York in Petition for a Writ of Certiorari in Sloan Vs Szalkiewicz written by Samuel H Sloan and published by Ishi Press. This book was released on 2013-08 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: MOTION PURSUANT TO RULE 23.3 FOR STAY OF DECISION TO REMOVE PETITIONER-CANDIDATES FROM THE BALLOT This proceeding is brought under Election Law Sections 16-100 and 16-102 and other provisions of New York Law. Sam Sloan is a candidate for Mayor of the City of New York. Richard Bozulich is a candidate for Comptroller of the City of New York. Thomas R. Stevens is a candidate for Public Advocate of the City of New York. All are registered Republicans. Supporters of the candidates circulated petitions and the requisite number of signatures were obtained to get on the ballot. The signed petitions were timely submitted to the Board of Elections in the City of New York. The Petitions complied in every respect with the election rules, including cover sheets and wording of the petitions. There were enough signatures, the cover sheet was done properly and the wording of the petition was correct. However, on July 31, 2013, all three of these candidates were thrown off the ballot after a hearing by the New York City Board of Elections for one reason only, which was that these were designating petitions for the Republican Party Primary, and the subscribing witnesses (not the signators) were not registered as Republicans with the New York City Board of Elections. The statute which under the interpretation by the Board of Elections requires the mere witnesses to be Republicans is Section 132 (2) of New York Election law states: There shall be appended at the bottom of each sheet a signed statement of a witness who is a duly qualified voter of the state and an enrolled voter of the same political party as the voters qualified to sign the petition, and who is also a resident of the political subdivision in which the office or position is to be voted for. This provision was declared unconstitutional in the case Lerman v. Bd. of Elections of N.Y.C., 232 F.3d 135, 145 (2d Cir. 2000). This is explained in Dekom vs. New York, 12-CV-1318 (JS)(ARL). However, at the hearing of this appeal before the Appellate Division on August 13, 2013 and before a panel of the New York Court of Appeals on April 21, 2013, counsel for the Board of Elections and the Department of Law suggested that the Lerner decision has been overruled by the Maslow case, which is Maslow v. Board of Elections in City of N.Y., 658 F.3d 291 (2d Cir. 2011). Petitioner-Appellant contends that the Maslow case has nothing to do with the instant case because the Maslow Case was a test case for declaratory relief, not an actual case, whereas in the instant the petitioners have been trying hard to get on the ballot and have spent considerable money to do so, yet have been thwarted by an unwritten rule they had no way to know about. The First Amendment to the Constitution provides: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Here the law clearly infringes the Constitutional Right "to petition the government." There have been several cases on this subject, but all of them have been federal cases. The subscribing witness rule was found unconstitutional in Kaloshi v. New York City Board of Elections, 02 CV 4762, 2002 WL 31051530 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 6, 2002). This is a lengthy and reasoned opinion that declared the specific statute in question to be unconstitutional. This is the only reported case that deals directly with this statute. The main operative fact is it is undisputed that the petitioners collected 3905 valid signatures whereas only 3750 are required, except that these 3905 signatures were declared invalid because the signatures were not witnessed by Republicans. While there have been several federal cases related to this issue, there has never been a reported state case directly on this issue.
Download or read book Petition for a Writ of Certiorari in Sloan Vs Szalkiewicz and Board of Elections in the City of New York written by Samuel H. Sloan and published by Ishi Press. This book was released on 2013-08 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Petitioner Respectfully Prays that a Writ of Certiorari issue to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, First Department to review the decision of the Supreme Court of the State of New York dated August 9, 2013, Index No. 101087/2013, and the decision of the Appellate Division, First Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York dated August 13, 2013 which denied the validation petition of the above candidates to be reinstated on the ballot after these candidates were removed from the ballot solely because their petition signatures had not been witnessed by enrolled Republicans. On August 21, 2013, the Court of Appeals of the State of New York denied the motion by Petitioner for Leave to Appeal to the New York Court of Appeals. The Candidate-Petitioners and their supporters circulated petitions to be placed on the ballot. Petitions containing more than 4500 signatures were timely filed by "Cindarella Time" which was midnight on July 11, 2013. As this filing was facially valid, petitioner-candidates were placed on the ballot. However, a General Objection was by one Sal Caruso was filed on July 15, 2013 followed by a Specific Objection on July 22, 2013. A hearing was held before the New York Board of Elections on July 30, 2013 following which these candidates were kicked off the ballot on July 31, 2013 for one reason only which was 3905 of these signatures had not been witnessed by enrolled members of the Republican Party. Rather the signatures had been witnessed by other voters including Democrats, Libertarians and Blanks. Petitioners filed a petition to validate their places on the ballot on August 1, 2013. A show cause order was issued requiring the objector and the Board of Elections to appear on August 5, 2013. On August 9, 2013 Judge Wooten denied the Validation Petition without opinion. Petitioner appealed and this appeal was heard by the New York supreme Court Appellate Division First Department which affirmed the decision of the Supreme Court without opinion. Petitioner then filed a motion for leavbe to appeal with the Court of appeals of New York. This was denied on August 21, 2013. This petition for Certiorari follows. This proceeding is brought under Election Law Sections 16-100 and 16-102 and other provisions of New York Law. Sam Sloan is a candidate for Mayor of the City of New York. Richard Bozulich is a candidate for Comptroller of the City of New York. Thomas R. Stevens is a candidate for Public Advocate of the City of New York. Supporters of the candidates circulated petitions and the requisite number of signatures were obtained to get on the ballot. The signed petitions were timely submitted to the Board of Elections in the City of New York. The Petitions complied in every respect with the election rules, including cover sheets and wording of the petitions. There were enough signatures, the cover sheet was done properly and the wording of the petition was correct. However, on July 31, 2013, all three of these candidates were thrown off the ballot after a hearing by the New York City Board of Elections for one reason only, which was that these were designating petitions for the Republican Party Primary, and the subscribing witnesses (not the signers) were not registered as Republicans with the New York City Board of Elections.
Download or read book Appellant s Brief in Sloan Vs Caruso to Us Court of Appeals written by Sam Sloan and published by . This book was released on 2013-10 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This proceeding is brought under Election Law Sections 16-100 and 16-102 and other provisions of New York Law. Sam Sloan is a candidate for Mayor of the City of New York. Richard Bozulich is a candidate for Comptroller of the City of New York. Thomas R. Stevens is a candidate for Public Advocate of the City of New York. At the Hearing on the Order to Show Cause before Justice Paul Wooten on August 5, 2013, Defendant Board of Elections in the City of New York provided only one grounds for throwing the petitioners of the ballot. That ground was that under Section 132 (2) of New York Election law the subscribing witnesses to a Designating Petition must be registered to vote as a member of the Party whose nomination is being sought, and the subscribing witnesses were not Republicans with only two exceptions. Petitioners had submitted approximately 4500 signatures to run for election whereas only 3750 are required. (There are some differences in the count of the total number of signatures but all counts agree that more than 4200 were filed.) A few of the 4500 signatures collected were found invalid for various reasons including bad address or not registered to vote. However, a core of 3905 signatures were found to be good but invalid for one reason only which is that the Subscribing Witnesses to those petitions were not registered to vote as members of the Republican Party. In other words, had those 3905 signatures been witnessed by a Registered Republican Party Voter, then all three petitioners would be on the ballot. However, because they were witnessed by other voters, including Democrats, Libertarians and Blanks, those 3905 signatures were deemed invalid. Petitioner Sam Sloan is a long standing registered voter in the Republican Party and he also circulated and witnessed some of the petitions and signed one of the petitions himself. The petitions he witnessed were deemed valid but all or almost all of the others were deemed invalid on the ground that the subscribing witness was not registered as a Republican. Frankly, the petitioners are newcomers to this process and were not aware that there was any requirement that the signatures be witnessed by members of any political party. Had they known about this they might have tried to find witnesses who are Republicans but failing that they would likely have given up trying to run for election as finding any witnesses is a difficult task under any circumstances. Witnesses must sign a declaration equivalent to an affidavit under penalty of perjury and must be prepared to be subpoenaed to testify in court under oath. Obviously, not many people are going to be willing to do that. Now that the petitioners have found out the hard way that there is a rule as interpreted by the Board of Elections that says that petitions for Republican Party Candidates must be witnessed (as well as being signed) by REGISTERED voters in the Republican Party, petitioners contend that such a requirement is unconstitutional under the First Amendment right "To Petition the Government." It seems obvious that a requirement that the signatures to a petition of any type are deemed valid if and only if they are witnessed by Registered Republicans cannot be Constitutional. This is an infringement to the constitutional right "to Petition the Government."
Download or read book Amnesty International Report 2012 written by Amnesty International and published by Amnesty International British Section. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 419 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Amnesty International Report 2012 documents the state of human rights in 155 countries and territories in 2011. Throughout the year the demand for human rights resounded around the globe. The year began with protests in countries where freedom of expression and freedom of assemblywere routinely repressed. But by the end of the year, discontent and outrage at the failure of governments to ensure justice, security and human dignity had ignited protests across the world. A common strand linking these protests, whether in Cairo or New York, was how quick governments were to prevent peaceful protest and silence dissent. Those who took to the streets displayed immense courage in the face of often brutal crackdowns and overwhelming use of lethal force. In a year of unrest, transition and conflict, too many people are still denied their most basic rights. As demands for better governance and respect for human rights grow, this report shows that world leaders have yet to rise to the challenge.
Download or read book Terrorism Media Society written by Tomasz Płudowski and published by Wydawnictwo Adam Marszaek. This book was released on 2006 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The European Value System written by Jadwiga Koralewicz and published by Instytut Studiow Politycznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk. This book was released on 1999 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
