Sunday, January 24, 2016
New attorneys hired for Sullivan County election commissioner
A Middletown law firm with decades of civil rights experience will represent a Sullivan County election commissioner accused of discrimination against Hasidic voters.
Bob Isseks and Alex Smith, of Isseks and Smith, will defend Election Commissioner Ann Prusinski in a federal suit filed by Hasidic Jewish voters in the Village of Bloomingburg. Ten Bloomingburg residents allege that Prusinski and Commissioner Rodney Gaebel, now deceased, tried to revoke more than 150 Hasidic voter registrations in early 2015 in an effort to prevent Hasidim from voting in the village election. The Sullivan County Legislature voted to retain Isseks and Smith for Prusinski’s defense during an emergency meeting Thursday morning, after the county attorney’s office decided it would no longer defend the commissioner.
Separating the government and an individual’s defense and hiring outside counsel is a typical practice when a government perceives that the individual has not acted in its best interest, explained Smith, who also serves as an attorney for the City of Middletown. That is not to say he agrees with the county’s perception, Smith said, and giving Prusinski separate counsel protects her rights.
“We’re in this for the interests of our client, not the interests of the county,” Smith said. “They may diverge, they may converge.”
If Prusinski is found to have discriminated against Hasidic voters, she will have to pay her legal fees, said Luis Alvarez, legislature chairman. If it is determined that she has not discriminated, the county will pay the fees. Isseks and Smith were retained at a rate of $300 per hour.
County Attorney Sam Yasgur has declined to comment on the case, but court documents filed by the voter plaintiffs include several of Prusinski’s e-mails. In one, Prusinski emailed Gaebel a link to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency article that discussed developer Shalom Lamm’s process of building a Hasidic community in Bloomingburg. Prusinski referred to the article as “crapola” and said it described “quid pro quos to commit voter fraud.” Prusinski did not make negative comments about the Hasidim in her e-mails, but in one exchange Prusinski’s friend sympathized with “how frustrating it must be to deal with liars and cheats all the time, especially those who parade as religious types.”
The county is discussing a settlement with the plaintiffs, according to a letter filed with U.S. District Court by attorney Cliff Gordon, who is representing the county board of elections alongside Yasgur.
http://www.recordonline.com/article/20160121/NEWS/160129825
Bob Isseks and Alex Smith, of Isseks and Smith, will defend Election Commissioner Ann Prusinski in a federal suit filed by Hasidic Jewish voters in the Village of Bloomingburg. Ten Bloomingburg residents allege that Prusinski and Commissioner Rodney Gaebel, now deceased, tried to revoke more than 150 Hasidic voter registrations in early 2015 in an effort to prevent Hasidim from voting in the village election. The Sullivan County Legislature voted to retain Isseks and Smith for Prusinski’s defense during an emergency meeting Thursday morning, after the county attorney’s office decided it would no longer defend the commissioner.
Separating the government and an individual’s defense and hiring outside counsel is a typical practice when a government perceives that the individual has not acted in its best interest, explained Smith, who also serves as an attorney for the City of Middletown. That is not to say he agrees with the county’s perception, Smith said, and giving Prusinski separate counsel protects her rights.
“We’re in this for the interests of our client, not the interests of the county,” Smith said. “They may diverge, they may converge.”
If Prusinski is found to have discriminated against Hasidic voters, she will have to pay her legal fees, said Luis Alvarez, legislature chairman. If it is determined that she has not discriminated, the county will pay the fees. Isseks and Smith were retained at a rate of $300 per hour.
County Attorney Sam Yasgur has declined to comment on the case, but court documents filed by the voter plaintiffs include several of Prusinski’s e-mails. In one, Prusinski emailed Gaebel a link to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency article that discussed developer Shalom Lamm’s process of building a Hasidic community in Bloomingburg. Prusinski referred to the article as “crapola” and said it described “quid pro quos to commit voter fraud.” Prusinski did not make negative comments about the Hasidim in her e-mails, but in one exchange Prusinski’s friend sympathized with “how frustrating it must be to deal with liars and cheats all the time, especially those who parade as religious types.”
The county is discussing a settlement with the plaintiffs, according to a letter filed with U.S. District Court by attorney Cliff Gordon, who is representing the county board of elections alongside Yasgur.
http://www.recordonline.com/article/20160121/NEWS/160129825
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