Count Down to Lopez Torres Argument

From the Times: "In defending the system, New York State argues that the role of political parties in elections must be respected. In this case, however, it is New York State’s law that is trampling on the parties — unless you consider party membership confined to the back room. The law forces the parties to choose their judicial nominees through a Byzantine system that ensures that their actual members, the voters, do no more than rubber-stamp the decisions that are actually left up to the party bosses."

From the Buffalo News, quoting Brennan Center Counsel James Sample: "It’s a system that crushes internal dissent within the parties and entrenches one faction — the local party leaders — against the membership of the party. This is a case about Soviet- style democracy."

Also check out today's feature in the New York Law Journal (registration required).