Judge says politics is too often a ‘dirty business’
by Melissa Hale-Spencer
<http://altamontenterprise.com/author/melissa-hale-spencer>
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— Enterprise file photo
*Warren **Redlich,* left, gives a surreptitious thumbs-up on Election Night
when he and his Republican running mate, Mark Grimm, won seats on the
Guilderland Town Board.
Warren Redlich will get to have his day in court.
On April 21, Justice Richard Braun on the New York Supreme Court handed
down a decision that begins, “Politics is too often a ‘dirty business.’”
Braun is allowing Redlich’s defamation claim against Carl Paladino, Roger
Stone, and Michael Caputo to go to trial.
The seeds for the suit were sewn in 2010 when Redlich, then a Guilderland
resident who had served on the town board, was the Libertarian candidate
for governor, running against Republican Paladino and the victor, Democrat
Andrew Cuomo.
Caputo was Paladino’s campaign manager, and the judge’s decision describes
Stone as “a well-known political operative.”
A flyer was circulated a week before the 2010 gubernatorial election
mimicking a police warning, labeling Redlich as a sexual predator. It
called him a “sick twisted pervert,” and referenced a blog post he had made
in 2008 after risqué pictures of former Disney star Miley Cyrus caused
controversy; Redlich wrote that he could see why some people would be upset
with the photos, but he couldn’t understand why it was such a big story and
referenced the fact that Shakespeare’s Juliette was a young teen.
Redlich has never been arrested or charged with any sex crime. His campaign
message was to reduce the layers of government, and to stop wasting money.
The mailer had a picture of Redlich with his name and address and said,
“Sexual Predator Alert Albany Area.” It cautioned people to call the police
if they saw Redlich near a public school or near their families.
Redlich, a lawyer who now lives and practices in Florida, had previously
run not only for Guilderland Town Board but also twice for Congress. When
the flyer came out, distributed to 150,000 households including his
mother’s, Redlich declared he’d never run again. “The mailer was very
painful for my family,” he said in November 2010.
This week, Redlich, who is representing himself in the case, said he was
“very happy” with the judge’s decision. “The judge ruled pretty much what I
said in the papers,” Redlich told The Enterprise.
He also echoed his words of six years ago. “I have not run for public
office since because of the way this affected my family.”
Of his reason for pursing the suit, he said, “I hope to hold them
accountable for what they do.”
*False sexual predator alert: Warren Redlich is suing for defamation over
this flyer mailed to about 150,000 households in November 2010 when he was
running for governor of New York on the Libertarian line.*