Feldman Blocks Judge Lopez Torres Supreme Court Campaign

"Judge Lopez Torres, who earlier this month won a bruising primary battle against the county party to run on the Democratic line in November for a second term on the Civil Court, said she received no response from Mr. Norman.

One source close to the committee reported that two of its 16 members, upon learning of Mr. Norman's referral role, are considering resigning.

Neither Mr. Karp nor Mr. Norman returned phone calls seeking comment.
The Brooklyn Democratic party's executive director, Jeffrey Feldman, however, acknowledged that the screening panel performs a "gatekeeping" role, but said that "anyone" who writes to Mr. Norman or the county headquarters expressing an interest in a Supreme Court nomination is "referred as a matter of course to the screening panel."

When Mr. Norman was asked about his role by the Village Voice in August, he was quoted as responding, "it's my screening committee ... if I know there is someone we are not going to endorse, then what is the point."

Mr. Feldman explained the apparent discrepancy between the two responses by saying he offered a "technical" answer and Mr. Norman a "philosophical" one. A candidate who was "repugnant" to the party, Mr. Feldman said, might not be referred to the screening committee for review."

Feldman: Surrogate FEINBERG STAYING PUT!

"Jeff Feldman, executive director of the Brooklyn Democratic organization, which strongly backed Feinberg's 1996 election, said he'd just had dinner with Feinberg and reported, "He is quite comfortable being surrogate, as should all citizens of the borough be comfortable with him being surrogate. There is no basis…to suggest that Judge Feinberg will not continue for the infinite foreseeable future as the surrogate for this county."

But what about the investigation under way? "I don't know anybody in Kings County of any prominence who's not under investigation by one agency or another," Feldman said. Feldman meant that as a defense of Brooklyn politics, but it could certainly be construed more as an indictment of it." --- By Erik Engquist, As printed in the Courier Life Newspapers, September 16, 2002

It Is Not About Ethnic Voting Dummy: It is About Integrity

"Jeffrey Feldman, the executive director of the Brooklyn Democratic party, attributed his group's defeat in the countywide races to a fundamental shift in ethnic voting patterns in the borough.

In the past, Mr. Feldman said, Jewish women in countywide races enjoyed a distinct advantage, but that was not the case this year, where the strongest turnout came in Hispanic and black communities. The two losers in the countywide race, Judge Yellen and Judge Sikowitz, are both Jewish. Justice Lopez Torres was born in Puerto Rico, and Judge Thomas is black."
Law journal September 12, 2002

NY Times Editorial Endorsement of Margarita Lopez Torres for Civil Court Judge
"To punish her refusal to hire law clerks referred by clubhouse leaders and other so-called acts of "disloyalty," Margarita Lopez Torres, an able sitting Civil Court Judge was denied the backing of the Democratic Party organization for a second 10-year term. Herdemonstrated independence only bolsters the case for her re-election and the enthusiasm of our endorsement. For voters looking for a way to register their disgust with the crude partonage politics that prevail in judicial endorsements, this is it."

Democracy Brooklyn Style: Knock Them Off the Ballot

"Jeff Feldman, executive director of the county Democratic organization, said it will take more than a handful of spirited races to unseat Norman.

A few months ago, they had about 100 people running - state committee candidates, judicial delegates, people running for every office," Feldman said. "At the end of the day there are four of them left. If that's supposed to indicate a changing of the guard in the party, then I don't see it."
Daily News, September 9, 2002