United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
03-7679 United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit GREEN PARTY OF NEW YORK STATE, a political party duly organized under the laws of New York State, MARK DUNLEA, Chairperson of the Green Party of New York State, RACHEL TREICHLER, duly enrolled member of the Green Party of New York State, JAMES LANE, duly enrolled member of the Green Party of New York State, SHANNON M. HOULIHAN, JOHN N. WARREN and LISA CHACÓN, Plaintiffs-Appellees, LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF NEW YORK STATE INC., CAROL M. O’HEA, ANNE M. NOLAN, KENNETH C. DIEM, NEW YORK STATE RIGHT TO LIFE PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, and MARIJUANA REFORM PARTY OF NEW YORK STATE, Intervenors-Plaintiffs-Appellees. v. NEW YORK STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS, CAROL BERMAN, NEIL W. KELLEHER, HELEN MOSES DONOHUE and EVELYN J. AQUILA, in their official capacities as Commissioners of the New York State Board of Elections, Defendants-Appellants, NANCY MOTTOLA SCHACHER, WEYMAN A. CAREY, MICHAEL J. CILMI, MARK B. HERMAN, NERO B. GRAHAM, VINCENT J. VELELLA, DOUGLAS A. KELLNER, FREDERIC M. UMANE, TERRENCE C. O’CONNOR, STEPHEN H. WEINER, in their official capacities as Commissioners of the New York City Board of Elections, and as representatives of all commissioners of the county boards of elections in New York State, Defendants. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK BRIEF OF PLAINTIFFS-APPELLEES GREEN PARTY, ET AL. BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE AT NYU SCHOOL OF LAW Jeremy Creelan Deborah Goldberg 161 Avenue of the Americas, 12th Floor New York NY 10013 (212) 998-6730 Attorneys for Plaintiffs-Appellees Green Party, et al. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .............................................................................................iii COUNTER-STATEMENT OF THE CASE ...................................................................... 1 COUNTER-STATEMENT OF THE FACTS .................................................................... 2 A. Section 5-302.1: Its Operation and a Comparison to Other States’ Voter Enrollment Schemes ....................................................................................................... 3 B. The Political Parties’ Use of Voter Lists and Party Enrollment Information......... 5 1. Party Organizing................................................................................................. 6 2. Education and Advocacy on Issues .................................................................... 7 3. Fundraising ......................................................................................................... 8 4. Get Out the Vote (“GOTV”) Operations ............................................................ 8 C. The Importance of Party Enrollment to Voters’ Political Associations ................. 9 D. The Green Party .................................................................................................... 10 E. The Intervenor Political Parties ............................................................................ 11 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ........................................................................................ 12 ARGUMENT.................................................................................................................... 14 I. THE DISTRICT COURT PROPERLY EXERCISED ITS DISCRETION IN GRANTING A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION......................................................... 14 A. An Award of a Preliminary Injunction Is Reviewed for Abuse of Discretion..... 15 B. The District Court Properly Found That Plaintiffs Would Suffer Irreparable Harm Without a Preliminary Injunction................................................. 16 C. The District Court Properly Found a Substantial Likelihood of Success on the Merits................................................................................................ 19 1. The District Court Properly Subjected Section 5-302.1 to Strict Scrutiny... 20 2. The Plaintiff Parties Demonstrated, and the State Board Did Not Even Attempt to Contest, the Severe Burdens Imposed by Section 5-302.1........ 22 3. The State Board Cannot Identify Any State Interest to Justify the Severe Burden on Plaintiff Parties’ First Amendment Rights ........................ 22 a. The State Board Cannot Justify Section 5-302.1 by Appealing to an Interest in Preventing Voter Confusion ................................................... 23 b. The State Board Cannot Justify Section 5-302.1 by Ignoring Its Burden of Production........................................................................................ 25 II. THE TESTIMONY OF THE GREEN PARTY’S EXPERT WITNESS WAS RELEVANT, RELIABLE, AND PROPERLY ADMITTED IN EVIDENCE............ 30 i III. THE DISTRICT COURT PROPERLY EXCERISED ITS REMEDIAL POWER IN ADDRESSING THE CONSTITUTIONAL INFIRMITY OF SECTION 5.302.1............................................................................. 32 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................. 35 ii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780 (1983)........................................................................................ 20, 21, 25, 26 Atherton v. Ward, 22 F. Supp. 2d 1265 (W.D. Okla. 1998)....................................................... 28, 29, 34 n.12 Baer v. Meyer, 728 F.2d 471 (10th Cir. 1984) ...................................................................... 27, 28, 34 n.12 Beal v. Stern, 184 F.3d 117 (2d Cir. 1999).............................................................................................. 16 Beaver v. Clingman, CV-00-1071-F, 2003 WL 745562 (W.D. Okla. Jan. 24, 2003) ................................ 31 n.10 Bery v. City of New York, 97 F.3d 689 (2d Cir. 1996).......................................................................................... 15, 16 Booking v. Gen. Star Mgmt. Co., 254 F.3d 414 (2d Cir. 2001).............................................................................................. 30 Boucher v. United States Suzuki Motor Corp., 73 F.3d 18 (2d Cir. 1996) ............................................................................................30-31 Burdick v. Takushi, 504 U.S. 428 (1992).................................................................................................... 20, 21 Caiola v. Citibank, N.A., 295 F.3d 312 (2d Cir. 2002).............................................................................................. 25 Citizens to Establish a Reform Party in Arkansas v. Priest, 970 F. Supp. 690 (E.D. Ark. 1996)........................................................................... 31 n.10 Council of Alternative Political Parties (“CAPP”) v. State, 781 A.2d 1041 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2001).................................................. 21, 27, 28 Dr. John Hagelin for President Committee of Kansas v. Graves, No. 92-4201-RDR, 1993 WL 719762 (D. Kan. Aug. 31, 1993) .............................. 31 n.10 Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, 503 U.S. 60 (2002)............................................................................................................ 34 Green Party of N.Y. v. Weiner, 216 F. Supp. 2d 176, 188 (S.D.N.Y. 2002)....................................................................... 21 iii Illinois State Bd. of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party, 440 U.S. 173, 184 (1979).................................................................................................. 21 Iowa Socialist Party v. Nelson, 909 F.2d 1175 (8th Cir. 1990) .................................................................................... 29 n.8 Johnson v. Cuomo, 595 F. Supp. 1126 (N.D.N.Y. 1984)......................................................................... 33 n.11 Jolly v. Coughlin, 76 F.3d 468 (2d Cir. 1996)................................................................................................ 16 Lerman v. Bd. of Elections, 232 F.3d 135 (2d Cir. 2000).................................................................................. 20, 21, 26 Luciano v. Olsten Corp., 110 F.3d 210 (2d Cir. 1997).............................................................................................. 30 McCullock v. H.B. Fuller Co., 61 F.3d 1038 (2d Cir. 1995).............................................................................................. 31 McLaughlin v. N.C. Bd. of Elections, 65 F.3d 1215 (4th Cir. 1995) ...................................................................................... 29 n.8 Meloff v. New York Life Ins. Co., 240 F.3d 138 (2d Cir. 2001).............................................................................................. 30 Molinari v. Powers, 82 F. Supp. 2d 57 (E.D.N.Y. 2000) .......................................................................... 31 n.10 Plaza Health Laboratories, Inc. v. Perales, 878 F.2d 577 (2d Cir. 1989).............................................................................................. 15 Rainbow Coalition of Okla. v. Okla. State Election Bd., 844 F.2d 740 (10th Cir. 1988) .................................................................................... 29 n.8 Republican Party of Conn. v. Tashjian, 770 F.2d 265, 278 (2d Cir. 1985), aff’d, 479 U.S. 208 (1986) ................................... 20 n.6 Rockefeller v. Powers, 78 F.3d 44 (2d Cir. 1996) ................................................................................................. 18 Schulz v. Williams, 44 F.3d 48 (2d Cir. 1994) ............................................................