SCOTUS Decision in NYS Board of Elections v. Lopez Torres

The Supreme Court handed down its decision today in NYS Board of Elections v. Lopez Torres. Here is the statement released by the Brennan Center:

This morning plaintiffs’ counsel issued the following statement in response to the decision issued today by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding New York’s system of selecting State Supreme Court Justices (trial judges in New York). The case is New York State Board of Elections v. López Torres. The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, together with co-counsel Arnold & Porter LLP and Jenner & Block LLP, represents the plaintiffs in the litigation.

"New York has compiled an 87-year record of anti-democratic exclusion, unaccountability and corruption in judicial selection. These problems will not go away because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision," said Kent Yalowitz, Partner at Arnold & Porter, LLP.

"The plaintiffs are considering further litigation options. In the meantime, we urge the political, civic, and bar leaders who stood up for reform to continue to stand with us, demanding legislation that will end the closed process, which has, for too long, undermined public confidence in New York's courts," said Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr., Senior Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law.

“As the concurrences by Justices Stevens and Kennedy make clear, the Supreme Court’s decision should not, by any means, be read as endorsing New York’s flawed system,” said Surrogate Judge Margarita Lopez Torres, the lead plaintiff in the case.

Read our archives to learn more about the case.