Justice Paul Wooten

Court Rules Against the High-Rise Safety Initiative

http://highrisesafetynyc.org/court-rules-against-the-high-rise-safety-initiative/

October 7, 2014

Dear Friends,

After two long weeks of waiting, New York Supreme Court Justice Paul Wooten finally issued a decision in our case late yesterday afternoon, affirming the court-appointed referee’s report in its entirety, and ruling that the High-Rise Safety Initiative will not appear on the November 4, 2014ballot.

We are tremendously disappointed that Justice Wooten did not reverse the referee’s recommendations, in particular, the referee’s poorly reasoned conclusion that the petition amounts to a “merely advisory” referendum.

Wooten did call the City’s attempt to have the case dismissed on a procedural technicality “irrational and misplaced, particularly, when the result would be the voter disenfranchisement of more than 30,000 registered voters, without due process.” But we also expected him to weigh in on the legal issues, which he did not, instead simply deferring to the referee.

We Have Decided Not to Appeal

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