Trosk v. Cohen

149 Misc. 298, 267 N.Y.S. 97, 1933 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1649
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 18, 1933
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 149 Misc. 298 (Trosk v. Cohen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Trosk v. Cohen, 149 Misc. 298, 267 N.Y.S. 97, 1933 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1649 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1933).

Opinion

Cotillo, J.

This is an application for a peremptory mandamus directed to the board of elections to compel the elimination of candidates nominated by independent groups for the position of justice of the Supreme Court in the First Judicial District, under the name and emblem of the Recovery party. The application is made by a candidate for the Supreme Court whose name appears on the ticket under the names and emblems of- the Republican and of the City Fusion parties. His objection is made pursuant to section 330 of the Election Law, which gives the Supreme Court power to make such order as justice may require in respect to: 1. The designation of any candidate, in a proceeding instituted by any candidate aggrieved or by a person who shall have filed objections pursuant to section one hundred and forty-two.” The application for a mandamus has been made by a. candidate pursuant to this statute without the prefiminary filing of objections. The law authorizes this procedure, and, therefore, the petitioner has brought his application within the jurisdiction of the court.

A cross petition, which may be consolidated with this application for a mandamus, is made by the executive committee of the Recovery party under objections filed with the board of elections to the petitions made by the bodies which have brought about the independent nominations of Dennis O’Leary Cohalan and Moses H. Grossman. It is to be observed that the committees and groups which sponsored their nominations are different. Both, however, agree in claiming the right to the name of the Recovery party and the emblem of the emblazoned key. The four other nominees are also sponsored by distinct groups of committees and nominators, each proceeding by separate petition and each claiming the name of City Recovery party and the emblem of the key.

The executive committee of the Recovery party, by resolution adopted on Friday, October 13, 1933, has approved and indorsed the nominations of four of the six independent nominees for the judicial ticket, namely, Messrs. McCook, Rosenman, McLaughlin and Koch, and disapproved the nominations of Messrs. Cohalan and Grossman; and objections were simultaneously filed with [302]*302the board of elections to the nominations of the last two mentioned candidates, which objections raise only the question of the right of the independent nominators to select the name Recovery Party” and the emblem of the key. The ground of approval of the four is that the committee which initiated the' movement after deciding to nominate by petition candidates for mayor and for other positions on the board of estimate and for district attorney reserved the question of circulating petitions for other positions under the name and emblem of Recovery party, and gave the executive committee power and authority to decide whether or not candidates other than those for the board of estimate and for district attorney should be nominees of the Recovery party. The executive committee happens to be the committee authorized by petitioners for the nomination for head of the ticket to fill vacancies. It is further alleged that on October thirteenth the executive committee indorsed the nominations by the independent groups, representing, respectively, Justices McCook, Rosenman, McLaughlin and Koch, on the ground that they were sitting justices who had served with distinction, and disapproved the nominations of the independent groups representing respectively Messrs. Cohalan and Grossman, on the ground that they had not served as justices and that their records had not yet been approved by recognized bodies of lawyers. The approval of the four and the disapproval of the other two were filed with the board of elections. The objections to the two having been filed pursuant to section 142 of the Election Law, may with propriety be considered and consolidated with the petitioner’s application for a mandamus.

As pointed out in Matter of Franklin (212 App. Div. 664), objections of the nature mentioned must be considered by the Supreme Court in the first instance and may not be passed upon by the board of elections. The jurisdiction of the latter to pass upon the objections is limited to ministerial matters. In this respect the procedure varies from that existing prior to the passage of the amendment of 1911 as embodied in chapter 649 of the laws of that year. The board of elections has recognized the fact that the situation is such as to devolve upon this court the duty of passing upon these objections. It is neutral in the matter, and only seeks instructions on one very important point, namely, there being only five vacancies for the position of Supreme Court justice in the First Judicial District and six nominees having been presented with the emblem of the Recovery party, which ones, if any, shall be recognized by the board of elections as duly designated candidates under the name and emblem of the Recovery party. The executive committee has taken the simple stand of indorsing four [303]*303specific candidates, thus attempting to solve the problem for the board of elections. • If the action of the executive committee is decisive — no questions having been raised as to the sufficiency of the number of signatures and the compliance otherwise with the technical requirements of the law — the problem is solved as to four of the five vacant places, and the only question remaining would be whether an independent body of nominators can thrust a candidate into a vacant space deliberately left by the executive committee. If this question is answered in the affirmative, it still remains to be determined whether Mr. Grossman or Mr. Cohalan is entitled to the fifth place on the Recovery party ticket.

Since the initiation of these proceedings, Mr. Cohalan has signified his intention to withdraw from his place on the Recovery ticket. While the time to. decline the nomination is beyond the limit provided by law, nevertheless, the court may consider the candidate’s disinclinations as a controlling element in deciding between the claims of his nominators and the rival claims of another in a situation like the present one, where there are two nominations for one place. The petitioner takes the position that none of the five nominees is entitled to a place on the Recovery ticket. The executive committee of the Recovery party, as I have observed, has. indorsed four of the candidates and has specifically objected to giving the fifth place to Mr. Grossman, who, with the withdrawal of Mr. Cohalan, is the only one whose claim can be considered for that place.

The papers in their present form concededly present no issues of fact, but only questions of law: First, the right of the executive committee of the Recovery party to ratify the nominations of Justices McCook, McLaughlin, Rosenman and Koch; and, second, the right of Mr. Grossman to a place on the Recovery ticket over the objection of the executive committee. Certain decisions which seem to be decisive upon the questions have been challenged by reason of the fact that they were based up,on a former statute dealing with the status and name and emblem of an independent party. It becomes necessary at. the outset, therefore, to inquire into the nature .of an independent ^party and its method of functioning as defined by the Election Law of 1909 under which many important precedents were created, and the extent to which the provisions of the present law have made these precedents obsolete. The Election Law in effect at the time of the decision in Matter of O’Brien (152 App. Div. 856; affd., 206 N. Y.

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Bluebook (online)
149 Misc. 298, 267 N.Y.S. 97, 1933 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1649, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trosk-v-cohen-nysupct-1933.