Attorneys for CBS and a candidate for Brooklyn district attorney dueled yesterday before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Paul Wooten over the candidate’s bid to delay the airing of a TV series about the office of incumbent Charles Hynes. Abraham George sued earlier this month to delay the May 28 release of "Brooklyn DA" until after the general election, claiming the "reality entertainment" show amounted to an in-kind campaign contribution from CBS to Hynes, a violation of campaign finance laws (NYLJ, May 14).
But during oral arguments yesterday, Seth Berlin of Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, the attorney for CBS, argued the show’s release is shielded by the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court "made clear you can’t get a prospective injunction on speech," said Berlin, who pressed for dismissal of George’s case. Berlin said that while the show constituted news coverage, even if it did not fit the news exception to campaign finance laws, it still enjoys First Amendment protections.
