As the Democratic Primary draws near (Sept. 9th!) some more people are speaking out on the First Civil Court race in Brooklyn. I want to offer up the opinion of the Brooklyn Papers and Lambda Independent Democrats on Roger Adler and Devin Cohen (the two candidates running). Let me remind our readers of my standard disclaimer: one of the candidates, Devin Cohen, is a friend of mine, so I am biased.

That said, most people seem deeply disturbed by Roger Adler's anti-gay stands, ties to the Conservative Party, ties to jailed former machine head, Clarence Norman, and his public admission that he openly participates in a pay to play political system. By contrast people seem to like Devin Cohen for his even temperment and honesty. From what I can tell, Devin Cohen has practically all the endorsements while Roger Adler has more money.

The Brooklyn Paper has a pretty good rundown on both candidates. To quote:

Just confirmed two rumors I had heard: my friend Devin Cohen, running for the 1st Civil Court seat in Brooklyn, has been endorsed by Stonewall Democrats and by City Councilman Bill deBlasio.

I still have not been able to find any confirmation of any endorsements for Roger Adler.

The endorsements for Devin Cohen are beginning to become pretty impressive. Both Independent Neighborhood Democrats and Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats endorsed him...and they don't always agree (see, for example, their split on Towns vs. Powell this year in the NY-10 Congressional race). Add to that William Saunders' 57th A.D. Regular Democratic Organization, which I have no direct connection to. Then there are the two main Gay and Lesbian organizations, Lambda Independent Democrats and Stonewall Democrats. I'd call that a formidable combination of organizations each of which will be reaching out to its membership to get out the vote. How many organizations have endorsed Adler? I haven't found any yet.

This comes from another friend of Devin Cohen's:

Friends and Neighbors:

Please join me on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 to meet and support Devin P. Cohen, candidate for Civil Court Judge in Brooklyn. Devin was a law school classmate of mine and is a good friend. He is smart and hard-working and has been actively involved in a number of progressive political causes in Brooklyn. He will make an excellent judge.

Civil Court judges play a critical role in the life of New York City. Many of the litigants who appear in Civil Court can't afford lawyers and must represent themselves. Many are recent immigrants. It is imperative that the judges who hear their cases be patient, intelligent and dedicated. Devin is the right person for the job.

Judicial campaigns are expensive undertakings. Those of us who want well-qualified, independent judges must do our part by supporting good candidates.

Devin Cohen, candidate for Broklyn's 1st Civil Court in the September 9th primary, has announced two new endorsements: Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and City Councilman David Yassky. All he needs is a Chris Owens endorsement and Devin will have three-of-a-kind from the 2006 CD-11 Congressional race that divided the district so much. Since Devin already got the endorsement of CBID, the club that Chris is now the president of, in some ways Devin already has unified the CD-11 candidates behind him. This brings Devin's endorsement list to the following:

# Congresswoman Yvette Clarke
# Assemblymember Joan Millman
# Assemblymember Jim Brennan
# State Senator Velmanette Montgomery
# State Senator Martin Connor
# Councilmember Letitia James
# Councilmember David Yassky
# District Leader Alan Fleishman
# District Leader JoAnne Simon
# District Leader William Saunders
# Independent Neighborhood Democrats
# Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats
# Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn
# 57th A.D. Regular Democratic
Organization

Tonight was a fundraiser for my friend, Devin Cohen, candidate for Brooklyn's 1st Civil Court seat, co-sponsored by Lambda Independent Democrats, Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, and Independent Neighborhood Democrats, the three main community-based Democratic clubs in the district. The fundraiser was at the home of Harley Diamond and Jonathan Lovett. Assemblywoman Joan Millman, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery and district leaders Bill Saunders, Alan Fleishman and Jo Anne Simon all attended as did future City Council candidate Gary Riley. Forgive me if I left anyone out.

Also was my first chance to meet Isaac Gabriel Cohen, Devin's very mellow seeming 2-week old baby. Very cute! Already seems to have that magical "judicial temperment" that people are always talking about.

Many think it's kind of a shame that we elect our judges in a way that means they have to raise money and campaign like every other office, but that's the system we have, so, as with every other office, it is up to us to help out the good candidates. (Adapted from a snail mail invitation):

A coalition of three local, community-oriented Democratic clubs, Lambda Independent Democrats (LID), Independent Neighborhood Democrats (IND, where I'm on the board), and Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID, where my wife is an officer), join together to invite you to a summer garden party fundraiser of Devin Cohen, our endorsed candidate for Civil Court, 1st district:

Wed. July 9, 2008
6:30-8:30 PM
at the home of Harley Diamond and Jonathan Lovett
363 Washington Ave., Clinton Hill, Brooiklyn

Compare and contrast the two candidates:

DEVIN COHEN:
*Strong supporter and friend of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and equality
*Lifelong reform Democrat who has only supported and worked for Democratic candidates and causes
*Appeared before and endorsed by Lambda Independent Democrats

Last night was the monthly meeting of the Independent Neighborhood Democrats and was the evening when my wife and I got in all the petitions we were working on. Of course we could do more petitioning, but I think we will be taking a break from that to catch up on our regular lives. But something has struck me as I have petitioned in three separate Election Districts and talked to people petitioning in a good half dozen other districts. One candidate who I have been watching out for because he is running against a friend of mine seems missing.

The most neglected part of electoral politics is the election of judges. And yet in many ways more people are affected by who gets elected judge than any other elected position. The ignorance most people have about judicial candidates means that more often than not political bosses can shove any political crony they want into our court system regardless of qualifications. Did you know that although there is a screening panel there is no requirement for someone to even have practiced law in order to be a judge. This was dramatically demonstrated in 2007 when the Brooklyn political machine, including Vito Lopez, Marty Markowitz and Dominic Recchia, supported Noach Dear, a known homophobe, for judge despite the fact that the NY Bar Assn had declared him unqualified and he had never practiced law in his life. So now Brooklyn has a useless, homophobic judge on the bench just because local politicians wanted to give him a political plum. Our courts deserve better.

UPDATE AT BOTTOM

Thursday May 31st is the endorsement meeting for this year's Judicial elections at the Independent Neighborhood Democrats (IND). Last week was the endorsement meeting of Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID) and in preparation for it I discussed my own feelings on the various races and afterwards I discussed what happened at the meeting.

This week, in preparation for the IND meeting, I want to mention a few endorsements, including presenting a letter my wife helped write, but signed by several people, endorsing Devin Cohen for Civil Court Judge, 6th Judicial District. I will start with my wife's letter, quoted in full:

As you know, CBID will be voting tonight to endorse a candidate in the election for Civil Court Judge, 6th Judicial District. We would like to ask you to support Devin Cohen for that position.

So my goal of sitting out the 2007 elections in NYC is now out the window. I have had many conversations about the Brooklyn judicial elections and, in preparation for the CBID and IND endorsement meetings coming up this week and next week, I want to take two stands. I am tentatively supporting Diana Johnson for the second surrogate seat in Brooklyn and I am supporting Devin Cohen for 6th Civil Court.