Key v. Cuomo
- Analisa Torres
- 1:20-cv-03533
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Key v. Cuomo, Judge Torres denied emergency relief and stayed the case while an appeal in a related election case was resolved.
The plaintiffs’ request for emergency restoration of the New York Democratic presidential primary was denied, and their case was paused pending resolution of the appeal in the related election proceeding. The order did not resolve the underlying constitutional claims.
What happened
In Key v. Cuomo, registered Democratic voters alleged that canceling New York’s Democratic presidential primary violated their constitutional rights. They asked the court to order the primary reinstated.
The court noted that an earlier order in a related case had reinstated the primary and that the defendants had appealed that order. The plaintiffs’ request for emergency relief was considered while that appeal was pending.
Judge Analisa Torres denied the emergency-relief application and stayed the case until the appeal was resolved. The order did not decide whether canceling the primary violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.
The detailed version
- Key v. Cuomo · No. 1:20-cv-03533
- Analisa Torres
- May 11, 2020
Background
Heather Key, Jacob Behr, Vivian Johnson, Vanessa Agudelo, Linda Sarsour, Philip Mandelbaum, Beth Lauren Baum, and Jacqueline Bourgeois, identified in the complaint as registered Democratic Party voters, sued Governor Andrew Cuomo, officials of the New York State Board of Elections, and the Board itself. They alleged, among other claims, that canceling the New York Democratic presidential primary on April 27, 2020, violated rights protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
The plaintiffs sought emergency relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(b), asking the court to order the defendants to reinstate the presidential primary. The court explained that the complaint contained inconsistent language about whether the plaintiffs also sought restoration to the ballot, and for purposes of this order read the request as seeking only reinstatement of the primary.
Related proceeding and stay
On May 5, 2020, the court had issued an order in a related election case reinstating the June 23 Democratic presidential primary. The defendants in that case appealed the order on May 6, 2020, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The court determined that staying this action while the appeal was pending would promote judicial efficiency and was appropriate because the appellate decision could bear on this case. A stay pauses the case rather than resolving the parties’ underlying legal claims.
Ruling
Judge Analisa Torres ordered that the action be stayed pending resolution of the appeal. The court also stated that the application for emergency relief was DENIED. The order did not reach the merits of the plaintiffs’ constitutional claims or decide whether the primary’s cancellation was lawful.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.