Friday is a very big day for the presumptive Republican nominee for Brooklyn District Attorney, Charles Hynes — Whether or not a six-part TV series about him and his office to be broadcast on CBS can go forward before the 2013 Primaries and Elections

First round: a tie  -----  Temporary Restraining Order  "DENIED"  -----  Parties to return on Friday to argue about  INJUNCTION and other relief

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice, himself briefly a former Brooklyn DA candidate, Hon. Paul Wooten, JSC,  has ordered an expedited schedule and told Hynes’ attorney, former State Senator Martin Connor, and the attorney for the plaintiff, Aaron Rubin, to submit briefs by Friday

Abe George is a liberal-libertarian Democrat who has sued Brooklyn DA Hynes and CBS, to keep what some keep calling the “Tiffany Network,” from going forward with a six-part summer reality show concerning the inner workings of the Brooklyn DA’s office in advance of the Democratic Primary next September. According to Mr. George’s complaint, he is seeking an injunction to keep CBS from giving an UNLAWFUL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION  to the incumbent DA candidate  Charles J. Hynes. According to the complaint, CBS would be doing exactly that by starring the sitting Brooklyn DA  in a six-week reality show called  “Brooklyn D.A.” as Hynes runs for  for re-election for a seventh term.

A key portion of the complaint against Hynes and CBS reads as follows: “ [ ] The broadcast of  [“Brooklyn D.A.”]  is nothing more than an in-kind campaign contribution by CBS to Hynes in excess of the $5,000 legal limit imposed on corporatecontributions by New York State Election Law. *** [ ] The defendants’ actions and intended conduct will illegally and unfairly contribute to Charles Hynes’ chances of re-election by maximizing his fund raising efforts and swaying the election in his favor, while causing irreparable harm to the grassroots campaign of Abe George, who is challenging Hynes for his seat in a closely contested race.”

Yesterday, according to reports in the Daily News, “Manhattan Supreme [ Court Justice] Paul Wooten ... denied  [Brooklyn DA Candidate Abe] George’s request for a temporary restraining order that would halt ads for the six-part series -- but also refused the defendants’ request to take legal steps that would hasten the death of the case. Instead, more briefs must be served up by Friday.” (See “Document Drop: George V. Hynes And CBS” by Celeste Katz, 5/14/13 [ article contains link to download the “Complaint” of plaintiff DA Candidate Abe George]  [http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2013/05/document-drop-george-v-hynes-and-cbs]).  A spokesman for the DA’s office called the plaintiff, Abe George’s case "nuts" and a wholesale “publicity stunt” that steps on the First Amendment.  For his part Mr. George called the suit's continued life "a huge victory" and the broader issue an important test of “whether or not corporations are allowed to interfere in local politics.”

What seems odd to me is that as soon as something isn’t going his way, this “liberal-libertarian” office seeker goes straight to government and the courts to interfere. What makes things even worse, he seems willing to step on the  1st Amendment rights of a longstanding public officeholder and a pillar of the mainstream media, not to mention the viewing public and advertisers, to do it. If one disgruntled office seeker can get away with all that, what will happen next.