The Term Limits Lawsuit
By Azi PaybarahHere’s the lawsuit being filed later today in a federal court in Brooklyn to block Michael Bloomberg and the City Council from extending term limits.
The plaintiffs included well-known critics like Guy Molinari, Bill Thompson, Betsy Gotbaum, Bill de Blasio and Letitia James, as well as anti-development activist Phil de Paolo, state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long and a few prospective 2009 candidates including Ken Diamondstone, Ari Hoffnung, Alfonso Quiroz, and Jo Anne Simon.
The lawsuit says, “Allowing a self-interested Mayor and City Council to dismiss the results of two recent referenda undermines the integrity of the voting process, effectively nullifies the constitutionally-protected right to vote, and perniciously chills political speech by sending the unavoidable message that the democratic exercises of initiatives and referenda can be disregarded by public officials, in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States."
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The other lawsuit
This one will be tough to win, since the City Council has the legal authority to change term limit law.
The Campaign Finance Board, however, does not have the legal authority to grant a "do over" to high-spending candidates who change their minds about which office to run for. Their "advisory opinion" was proposed on the first business day after Speaker Quinn announced her support for the Mayor's bill, and voted on even as Mayor Bloomberg was holding that mockery of a "hearing" and signing the term limits bill.
Stay tuned for further developments; there will be a lawsuit.
I never knew this is
I never knew this is possible. Changing the term limit law is a big deal, I don't think it's supposed to be easy. As the lawsuit says, it's a matter of integrity...
Gordwick, Motion for Reconsideration
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