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Clarence Norman, Vito Lopez and Brooklyn Corruption
Clarence Norman, the former head of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, is currently in jail for grand larceny and coercion of judicial candidates.
That tells you most of what you need to know about the Brooklyn Democratic Party, one of the more corrupt political organizations outside the Republican Party.
Things change and things stay the same. Things change in that yes, Clarence Norman got caught and thrown in prison. But things stay the same. Norman's replacement, Vito Lopez, has carried on in similar fashion, though perhaps slightly more subtle about it.
Things change in that the Party Boss, now Vito Lopez, is slowly losing his grip on judicial elections, having lost both Surrogate Court seats and losing the first Civil Court seat. There are clear signs that Vito Lopez is past the peak of his influence, as covered on Room 8, the Brooklyn Optimist and here on Daily Gotham. I notice that on Room 8, where discussion tends to be somewhat rude and personal, the Party Boss apologists can't seriously disagree with the conclusions by the diarist that Vito Lopez's grip is slipping and so resort to assuming the diarist is Gary Tilzer and attacking him. For those who don't know him, Gary Tilzer is the well known if not terribly well liked political organizer who helped engineer Vito Lopez's resounding defeats in the Surrogate Court races, and who helped Yvette Clarke get elected to Congress. Seems to me like the Vito Lopez apologists get so nasty when discussing Gary Tilzer because they know he has managed to hand them some serious defeats. But they seem unable to debate his facts, so they merely attack him personally. Reminds you of the Republican Party, doesn't it? Yes...in many ways the Vito Lopez machine reminds me more of the Republican Party than the Democratic Party: nasty, corrupt, supporting homophobes like Noach Dear and Roger Adler, and running campaigns that rely on NOTHING but smear tactics (most recently done by Vito's new buddy, Michael Tobman).
But change in the judicial elections doesn't offset how much things stay the same in the judicial convention, that institution that was declared unconstitutional by several courts, then was reinstated by the Supreme Court who called it a stupid system, but couldn't rule it unconstitutional.
Things stay the same in that not only does the judicial election look like the same old Soviet-Style system that merely rubber stamps the Party Boss's choices, but it runs together the "leaderships" of Clarence Norman (remember...now in jail) and Vito Lopez.
I heard about this yesterday from some witnesses to the event. But the Daily News has picked it up.
From Alan Flacks:
I attended the Kings County Democratic judicial nominating convention Tuesday. It was orchestrated "Soviet-style." ...the script called for the eight candidates to be designated or redesignated without opposition, even for supposed "open" seats. Before adjournment, each judge candidate got up and gave a short thank-you speech...One "re-up," John Leventhal of the Appellate Division, Second Department (after inquiring if the press was present) thanked now-imprisoned county leader Clarence Norman as well, and another called Lopez "the greatest county leader ever." After adjournment, I spoke with a number of delegates who voted "automatically" and didn't seem to know for whom they were voting. They didn't know, and were just told for whom to vote.
Alan Flacks
Wow...THIS is how the Democratic Party is run in Brooklyn. And THIS is how our judges are picked: political plums handed out by Vito Lopez and rubber stamped by "delegates" who admit they have no clue who they are voting for. Let me emphasize this. Voters are electing judicial delegates who are not even bothering to familiarize themselves with the candidates but rather merely approve whoever the Party Boss tells them to approve. Keep in mind that our Party Bosses, Clarence Norman and Vito Lopez, often give us unqualified, and even criminal, judges. Most recently we had Noach Dear who Vito Lopez backed for judge even though Dear had never praciticed law in his life. It was nothing but a fulfillment of political favors. THAT is how our judicial system works.
The Daily News follows up in an editorial:
Such a fine felon
NY DAILY NEWS - Editorial - 9/19/08
The party calls it a convention. It's not. It's a charade, currently directed by boss Vito Lopez.
Among those who came up through this system is Supreme Court Justice John Leventhal...
After asking whether the press was there and discovering that it was not, Leventhal expressed gratitude to a man who made him: former boss Clarence Norman, who was otherwise engaged in that he's doing three to nine in the Oneida penitentiary for grand larceny and coercion of judicial candidates.
Interviewed Thursday about his remarks, Leventhal said he merely thanked all the party leaders who had supported him through the years, including Norman. Ugh.
I heard differently. I heard from a couple of witnesses that Levanthal GUSHED enthusiasm for BOTH Norman and Lopez. Either Levanthal loves corruption or he has taken ass kissing to a level where even imprisonment of that ass doesn't prevent him from puckering up. More:
Similarly unseemly was the role played at the convention by Jeff Feldman, a one-time party honcho who was indicted with Norman but won dismissal of charges. No longer exiled from the convention, Feldman helped run Tuesday's show.
And wouldn't you know? The bosses gave a thumbs-up to a new term in Brooklyn Supreme Court to Justice Marsha Steinhardt. Feldman's wife.
Surprise, surprise.
Vito's Charade. Vito's Farce. The more things "change" the more they stay the same. Meanwhile, I really wonder how the national and state level Democratic Party leaders view Brooklyn's farcical Democratic Machine. If they find it as embarassing as we do, they might like to help us out here in Brooklyn as we try and fix the system.
This is the story I posted on room 8 and email you mole333
Judicial Sausage Factory Continues, Almost Nobody Noticed
posted by Oneshirt http://www.r8ny.com/
Fri, 09/19/2008 - 11:10am
After the former county leader goes to jail for corruption connected with judicial elections, a U.S. Federal Judge Gleeson calling them unconstitutional - fixed - and extensive condemnation by the city's newspaper editorial pages, the charade called the Brooklyn Judicial Convention continued like nothing ever happened. In fact like a wounded animal or king the situation has grown grave and depraved.
Nothing has been learned by the experiences of the past 5 years a delegate whispered into my ear when boss Vito was not looking. Something very bad is happening to our way of life and culture. Our system of democracy, separation of powers, built in political party conflict has failed and nobody cares. The business as usually continuation of the convention is proof that our culture has changed so much that exposure and shame which used to be enough to cause reform has been replaced by a get over society, where morality or doing what is right does not matter. What is even more frightening, if it was up to the press there would be no record. Only the Manhattan gadfly a modern day Thomas Paine made sure there was a public record.
Today's Daily News Editorial
"For a glimpse into the odious nature of how the political bosses make judges in New York, we direct your attention to a letter in Friday's Voice of the People by veteran court watcher Alan Flacks. On Tuesday, Flacks dropped in on the Brooklyn Democratic Party's ceremony for elevating faithful lawyers to the bench. The party calls it a convention. It's not. It's a charade, currently directed by boss Vito Lopez." – September 19, 2008.
U.S. Judge John Gleeson Rules Judicial Conventions Unconstitutional
"The highly unusual processes (judicial convention - the lone state in the nation to elect judges this way) by which that extremely important office (Supreme Court Judge) is filled perpetuate local political party leaders control and deprive the voters of any meaningful role," the judge wrote in the decision. "The result is an opaque, and undemocratic selection procedure that violates the rights of the voters and the rights of candidates who lack the backing of local party leaders."
The Flacks letter to the Daily News Which Resulted in Today's Editorial:
Sausage Factory Floor
Manhattan: I attended the Kings County Democratic judicial nominating convention Tuesday. It was orchestrated "Soviet-style." Short, sweet, lady- and gentleman-like, the script called for the eight candidates to be designated or redesignated without opposition, even for supposed "open" seats. Before adjournment, each judge candidate got up and gave a short thank-you speech. Every one of them expressed gratitude to the party district leaders for their support, and they also expressed effusive thanks to and praise of County Leader Vito Lopez (photo). One "re-up," John Leventhal of the Appellate Division, Second Department (after inquiring if the press was present) thanked now-imprisoned county leader Clarence Norman as well, and another called Lopez "the greatest county leader ever." After adjournment, I spoke with a number of delegates who voted "automatically" and didn't seem to know for whom they were voting. They didn't know, and were just told for whom to vote.
Alan Flacks
Brooklyn District Attorney says the Supreme Court election system corrupts
Charles Hynes: Amicus Curiae Brief in Judge Lopez Torres vs. NYS Board of Elections:
"New York's uniquely constructed and statutorily- mandated nominating process for the state Supreme Court, which in effect places ultimate control over who becomes a state Supreme Court justice in the hands of powerful county political party leaders, creates and sustains a breeding ground for corruption and malfeasance and undermines the public's confidence in the judiciary."
Feldman and his Friends Play the System
"Similarly unseemly was the role played at the convention by Jeff Feldman, a one-time party honcho who was indicted with Norman but won dismissal of charges. No longer exiled from the convention, Feldman helped run Tuesday's show." -– NY Daily News Editorial, September 19, 2008.
Judge Gleeson, U.S. District Court Cited Jeff Feldman's action in the decision
"Beginning in March of 2003, then candidate for Supreme Court Lopez Torres wrote repeatedly to the Kings County Democratic Committee to learn three basic things; (1) the date, time and place of the convention; (2) the names of the delegates, so she could lobby them; and (3) whether she could address the delegates at the convention. She did not hear from its Executive Director, Jeffrey C. Feldman until September 4, 2003, after she once again requested the information. Feldman response is difficult to reconcile with the defendants' gauzy characterizations of a democratic process open to all party members who seek the office of Supreme Court Justice. He began by mocking the request for a list delegates to lobby: "AI erroneously believed that a learned jurist, such as yourself, would be well aware that Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the Democratic Judicial Convention stand for independent elections in the Primary Election, yet to be held. Thus no such list existed "anywhere in the world," Feldman helpfully added. As for Lopez Torres's inquiry about addressing the convention, Feldman wrote as follows: "I suffer from the innocent belief that the floor of the Convention is open, only, to elected Delegates and their successors." - Judge Gleeson, U.S. District Court
Besides the press also missing, from this year Judicial Convention, were most of the reformers who in the past protested actions at the convention. Only Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats president Chris Owens and past president Josh Skaller stood alone in opposing this year's convention, handing out a newspaper to every delegate outlining needed changes to the way New York "elects" Supreme Court Judges.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said Judicial Conventions are bad, declaring that :
"The Constitution Does Not Prohibit Legislatures From Enacting Stupid Laws."
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the courts did not have the constitutional right to change the way New York chooses it Supreme Court Judges not one elected official has spoken out about changing the STUPID LAW. In fact the good groups which conspired with the elected officials before the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to allow Judicial Conventions to continue at the same time allowing candidates to petition there way onto the ballot are like the press missing action on this issue. In fact like the elected officials the good government groups have not commented on the STUPID LAWS.
For more information on the proposed changes proposed by Owens:
www.voteowens.com
For more information about the Judicial Convention, efforts to change it and a record of judicial corruption over the past 5 years:
http://jefffeldmanisback2008.blogspot.com/
Judicial Sausage Factory Continues, Almost Nobody Noticed
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posted by Oneshirt
Fri, 09/19/2008 - 11:10am
After the former county leader goes to jail for corruption connected with judicial elections, a U.S. Federal Judge Gleeson calling them unconstitutional - fixed - and extensive condemnation by the city's newspaper editorial pages, the charade called the Brooklyn Judicial Convention continued like nothing ever happened. In fact like a wounded animal or king the situation has grown grave and depraved.
Nothing has been learned by the experiences of the past 5 years a delegate whispered into my ear when boss Vito was not looking. Something very bad is happening to our way of life and culture. Our system of democracy, separation of powers, built in political party conflict has failed and nobody cares. The business as usually continuation of the convention is proof that our culture has changed so much that exposure and shame which used to be enough to cause reform has been replaced by a get over society, where morality or doing what is right does not matter. What is even more frightening, if it was up to the press there would be no record. Only the Manhattan gadfly a modern day Thomas Paine made sure there was a public record.
Today's Daily News Editorial
"For a glimpse into the odious nature of how the political bosses make judges in New York, we direct your attention to a letter in Friday's Voice of the People by veteran court watcher Alan Flacks. On Tuesday, Flacks dropped in on the Brooklyn Democratic Party's ceremony for elevating faithful lawyers to the bench. The party calls it a convention. It's not. It's a charade, currently directed by boss Vito Lopez." – September 19, 2008.
U.S. Judge John Gleeson Rules Judicial Conventions Unconstitutional
"The highly unusual processes (judicial convention - the lone state in the nation to elect judges this way) by which that extremely important office (Supreme Court Judge) is filled perpetuate local political party leaders control and deprive the voters of any meaningful role," the judge wrote in the decision. "The result is an opaque, and undemocratic selection procedure that violates the rights of the voters and the rights of candidates who lack the backing of local party leaders."
The Flacks letter to the Daily News Which Resulted in Today's Editorial:
Sausage Factory Floor
Manhattan: I attended the Kings County Democratic judicial nominating convention Tuesday. It was orchestrated "Soviet-style." Short, sweet, lady- and gentleman-like, the script called for the eight candidates to be designated or redesignated without opposition, even for supposed "open" seats. Before adjournment, each judge candidate got up and gave a short thank-you speech. Every one of them expressed gratitude to the party district leaders for their support, and they also expressed effusive thanks to and praise of County Leader Vito Lopez (photo). One "re-up," John Leventhal of the Appellate Division, Second Department (after inquiring if the press was present) thanked now-imprisoned county leader Clarence Norman as well, and another called Lopez "the greatest county leader ever." After adjournment, I spoke with a number of delegates who voted "automatically" and didn't seem to know for whom they were voting. They didn't know, and were just told for whom to vote.
Alan Flacks
Brooklyn District Attorney says the Supreme Court election system corrupts
Charles Hynes: Amicus Curiae Brief in Judge Lopez Torres vs. NYS Board of Elections:
"New York's uniquely constructed and statutorily- mandated nominating process for the state Supreme Court, which in effect places ultimate control over who becomes a state Supreme Court justice in the hands of powerful county political party leaders, creates and sustains a breeding ground for corruption and malfeasance and undermines the public's confidence in the judiciary."
Feldman and his Friends Play the System
"Similarly unseemly was the role played at the convention by Jeff Feldman, a one-time party honcho who was indicted with Norman but won dismissal of charges. No longer exiled from the convention, Feldman helped run Tuesday's show." -– NY Daily News Editorial, September 19, 2008.
Judge Gleeson, U.S. District Court Cited Jeff Feldman's action in the decision
"Beginning in March of 2003, then candidate for Supreme Court Lopez Torres wrote repeatedly to the Kings County Democratic Committee to learn three basic things; (1) the date, time and place of the convention; (2) the names of the delegates, so she could lobby them; and (3) whether she could address the delegates at the convention. She did not hear from its Executive Director, Jeffrey C. Feldman until September 4, 2003, after she once again requested the information. Feldman response is difficult to reconcile with the defendants' gauzy characterizations of a democratic process open to all party members who seek the office of Supreme Court Justice. He began by mocking the request for a list delegates to lobby: "AI erroneously believed that a learned jurist, such as yourself, would be well aware that Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the Democratic Judicial Convention stand for independent elections in the Primary Election, yet to be held. Thus no such list existed "anywhere in the world," Feldman helpfully added. As for Lopez Torres's inquiry about addressing the convention, Feldman wrote as follows: "I suffer from the innocent belief that the floor of the Convention is open, only, to elected Delegates and their successors." - Judge Gleeson, U.S. District Court
Besides the press also missing, from this year Judicial Convention, were most of the reformers who in the past protested actions at the convention. Only Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats president Chris Owens and past president Josh Skaller stood alone in opposing this year's convention, handing out a newspaper to every delegate outlining needed changes to the way New York "elects" Supreme Court Judges.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said Judicial Conventions are bad, declaring that :
"The Constitution Does Not Prohibit Legislatures From Enacting Stupid Laws."
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the courts did not have the constitutional right to change the way New York chooses it Supreme Court Judges not one elected official has spoken out about changing the STUPID LAW. In fact the good groups which conspired with the elected officials before the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to allow Judicial Conventions to continue at the same time allowing candidates to petition there way onto the ballot are like the press missing action on this issue. In fact like the elected officials the good government groups have not commented on the STUPID LAWS.
For more information on the proposed changes proposed by Owens:
www.voteowens.com
For more information about the Judicial Convention, efforts to change it and a record of judicial corruption over the past 5 years:
http://jefffeldmanisback2008.blogspot.com/
opposition party
This is why we desperately need a real 2nd party in Brooklyn that is a legitamate opposition party. The WFP seems to mean well, but at this point they are still too collaborative with the corrupt dem party, rarely challenging dem candidates in general elections. The Green Party is small and disorganized, but we've seen in the Mattera campaign how a focused campaign around an important local issue (Atlantic Yards), the Greens can be competitive in some neighborhoods.
It's time to wake up and realize that trying to fight corruption from within is not working. A strong vote for Cynthia McKinney in Brooklyn could be a good place to start.
Cynthia McKinney, a real progressive, with experience, for president in a safe state.