The lawsuit filed by Abe George, a former assistant district attorney in Manhattan who is one of Mr. Hynes’s challengers in the primary, asks for a temporary injunction barring the show from being shown as scheduled on May 28.
“The broadcast is nothing more than an in-kind campaign contribution by CBS to Hynes in excess of the legal limit imposed on corporate contributions by New York State election law,” Mr. George said in his lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
The suit describes the series, which would be called “Brooklyn D.A.,” as a reality show.
But in its initial announcement last March, CBS News called it a “six-part news series” that would look “at the men and women in one of the largest district attorney’s offices in the country.”
That characterization is important because news coverage of a candidate is generally viewed as protected. Sonya McNair, a spokeswoman for CBS News, issued a statement calling the lawsuit “a publicity push by a politician.”
“We are surprised that this candidate would not know about the First Amendment,” the statement said.
George Arzt, a spokesman for the Hynes campaign, used similar language in criticizing the lawsuit.
“This series documents the hard work and dedication of the people in the district attorney’s office,” he wrote in an e-mail.
“Mr. George’s remedy for not having a record or a vision for the office is to resort to diversionary tactics to attain any publicity to jump-start his flagging campaign. Pure and simple, this is a publicity stunt.
“We would hope Mr. George’s law school education taught him the essence and import of the First Amendment. He sure doesn’t display it here.”
Mr. Hynes has been district attorney since 1989 but has appeared more vulnerable than in the past because of mounting criticism of his political ties and his prosecution record, including a series of cases in which convictions were overturned. Another candidate, Kenneth P. Thompson, a prominent lawyer and former federal prosecutor, is also running in the primary.
Mr. George said in the lawsuit that the television show would sway the election in Mr. Hynes’s favor but parts of it sounded as much campaign rhetoric as legal argument.
“Mr. Hynes,” the lawsuit said, “has operated under a mounting public perception that he will do anything — including misusing his broad prosecutorial powers — to achieve political gain for himself.”
Mosi Secret contributed reporting.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/nyregion/rival-sues-to-block-tv-show-about-hynes-brooklyn-prosecutor.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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