Town Sues County Elections Board Over Justice Term

The town of Bedford contends that there is no legal requirement that a vacated town justice position must be filled for a full, four-year term and is suing the county board of elections for the right to fill the seat vacated by the late Judge Kevin Quaranta for an unexpired, three year term ending in Dec. 2015.

In court papers filed Thursday, town officials said they researched the issue after the Quaranta's untimely death. After the town's attorneys reviewed relevant case law and opinions and contacted the state judiciary commission, they which they say benefits candidates by aligning justice elections with other local officials and giving them the support of a local slate.

That plan was supported by Republican Elections Commissioner Doug Colety but not by Democratic Commissioner Reginald Lafayette, who said the state constitution states clearly that a justice term must be for four years. Because the commissioners are deadlocked, the case will be decided in court.

In an interview with Patch, Lafayette also cited a 1999 case, Munnelly v. Newkirk, (posted with this story) where a justice election that was on the ballot "to fill a vacancy" and said in pre-election petitions to be for a two-year term, was later ruled to be for a four-year term. In its decision, the Appellate Division, Third Department said the constitution "clearly and unambiguously requires that town justices be elected to four-year terms, regardless of whether the election is the result of the expiration of a four-year term or, as here, the result of a vacancy which occurs during a four-year term.”

"That case clearly says when it was put on the ballot as an unexpired term it was misleading," said Lafayette. "This will cause confusion. I’m annoyed with the Democrats and the Republicans. The judge wrote in that decision it was due to a mistake—I’m not about to make the same mistake."

Lafayette also cited other local elections that followed the four-year-precedent, such as a 2007 race to fill the vacancy for Yorktown town justice when Jeff Cohen left to become a Westchester County court judge. His replacement was voted in for a full four year term, according to Lafayette.

"They should stop playing politics with this. They don’t want the justice election to be on the presidential years but that’s the luck of the draw. The constitution is not ambiguous," he said. "I'm not doing anything differently than what we usually do."

To support their argument, the town cited a case decided three months after the Munnelly v. Newkirk case, where the Third Department did not require the justice election be for a four-year-term when the ballot clearly said it was for the unexpired term. The town also said several Attorney General opinions have interpreted the constitutional provision as "not containing a requirement when the office of Town Justice becomes vacant during an unexpired term," according to the court documents (posted with this story).

"I don't think the constitutional language is as clear as the Third Department said it was in the Munnelly case," said Eric Gordon, an attorney with Keane & Beane, which represents the town of Bedford.

"You can see the progression in the Third Department—initially, they said it had to be a four year term, but later said as long as the voters weren't deceived, it was enforceable as an unexpired term," said Gordon. "We think they were fundamentally wrong the first time around and they recognized that in the later case."

Now the courts will decide the length of term for the town justice elected this November. Gordon said the town has requested an expedited decision because the ballots need to be certified by Oct. 1 for the Nov. 6 election.

Supervisor Lee Roberts said she hoped the decision would be in favor of the town.

"We plan to inform voters upfront it is for an unexpired term so it will not be confusing. Why should one candidate have to stand on his or her own without the support of a whole slate? It doesn’t make sense. This is also a home rule issue and we believe this is in the best interests of the town," she said.

On whether the town should stop playing politics, as Lafayette alleges, Democratic Councilman David Gabrielson said partisan politics never even entered his mind when he voted to support the legal action.

“The cycle is what works for the town of Bedford. If the term changes to every four years, it means parties on both sides have to get fired up three out of four years to hold an election. It means that people who may want to give to a presidential election may now have to choose between that and a local justice election," he said.

And perhaps, he added, the creators of the state constitution did not intend to burden towns or individuals who want to serve in their communities.

“This is not an attack on anyone’s politics. It’s worth testing out and if the courts do not decide in our favor, we will live with the consequences," he said.