Judge who ruled against RFK Jr. was fired for "ethical missteps"

The Democrats are a party of right-wing crooks and tyrants, and their corrupt machine in New York state only proves it more.

Early this week, New York Supreme Court Justice Christina Ryba struck Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from the presidential ballot in that state after a lawsuit filed by a Democratic superPAC. The thing about superPAC's is that they weren't even permitted until the far-right Citizens United ruling. The realignment of the 2020s has led the Democrats to abandon a proposed constitutional amendment to remedy this ruling, as the party has become fueled primarily by superPAC's.

This superPAC could be using the money it raised to promote Democratic candidates on their own merits. The problem with that is that the Democrats no longer have any merits. So instead they use this money to file frivolous lawsuits to knock opponents of the ballot. This dough was raised not from the Democrats' old working-class base but from millionaire professionals who have taken over the party because the Republicans in 2020 weren't authoritarian enough for them. Think the laptop underpantsers and a few academics.

Kennedy is appealing Ryba's decision, but it's important to look at what Ryba wrote in her ruling. For one thing, the Democrats' argument was that Kennedy is not actually a New York resident, so he should not appear on the New York ballot. What??? You don't need to be a resident of a particular state to run for President. Besides, Kennedy is clearly a New Yorker, as he votes and pays taxes in New York and has New York hunting and driver's licenses. If he lived in California, he wouldn't be able to have Nicole Shanahan as his running mate. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney sharing the same state didn't matter, because they were never required to follow rules like everyone else.

Ryba complained that Kennedy's home isn't a "bona fide and legitimate residence, but merely a 'sham' address" and that his claim to live in his own home is "highly improbable, if not preposterous."

A judge said that??? Can you imagine Harry Blackmun or Earl Warren writing a ruling that made such obviously partisan claims and said an argument like Kennedy's was a "sham" and "preposterous"? Is this a court or a sitcom?

But if you're a senator, you do have to live in the state you represent. If Kennedy is not a New York resident, how was Hillary Clinton able to claim New York residency? Clinton was actually still First Lady when she was sworn in as senator, so it's hard to see how she was a New Yorker.

This isn't the only ruling by Ryba that has no legal ground. In 2022, she threw out an Albany ordinance that protected tenants from illegal evictions. Landlords may evict tenants for cause - e.g., if tenants create a nuisance or refuse to pay rent. Albany's ordinance only barred evictions that lacked cause. Prohibiting these evictions strengthened contractual obligations and protected housing. Ryba's decision against Albany's law threatened the protections that existed not only in Albany but also elsewhere in New York state.

(This isn't the only bad court ruling regarding housing in New York state in recent years. Last year, a court ruled a co-op can evict without cause the unmarried partner of a deceased shareholder - even if they were in a long-term relationship. This runs roughshod over common law and other legal concepts.)

It turns out that several years ago, Ryba was fired as an appellate division lawyer because of "ethical missteps."

Our entire political process has become an "ethical misstep" - especially since superPAC's have been allowed to steal elections.