United States Tenth Circuit

In an action brought by the Libertarian Party of New Mexico and four of its candidates for public office alleging New Mexico's two-petition ballot-access scheme unconstitutionally burdens their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, summary judgment for defendants and denial of plaintiffs' request for discovery are affirmed where: 1) based on a Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(f) affidavit's lack of specificity, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the request for discovery; and 2) plaintiffs failed to provide evidence showing that the burden of New Mexico law is severe as to minor party candidates, and thus there was no genuine issue of material fact for trial as to an essential element of their claim.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/07/2007
• Published 11/08/2007

Judges

• MURPHY, Circuit Judge., Before MURPHY, BRORBY, and McCONNELL, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Tenth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Bryan Sells (Laughlin McDonald with him on the briefs), American Civil Liberties Union, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• David K. Thomson, Assistant Attorney General (Gary K. King, Attorney General of New Mexico, with him on the brief), Santa Fe, NM, for Defendants-Appellees.