Sam Sloan Explains The Effect The Stevens Suspension Vote Had On His Decision To Sue The LPNY

There has been some speculation that the vote of the LPNY State Committee on June 6, 2010 to suspend the membership of Dr. Tom Stevens, the duly elected State Representative of the Libertarian Party of Queens County, affected the decision of Sam Sloan, the duly elected State Representative of the Manhattan Libertarian Party, to sue the Libertarian Party of New York and others regarding fraud alleged to have taken place during the vote for the gubernatorial nomination that took place at the LPNY State Convention on April 24, 2010 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Albany, New York.

On June 23, 2010, Sam Sloan clarified this matter when he posted the following statement:

The motion and vote against Stevens did not give me the "incentive" to file the court case. I was considering filing the case all along especially after the last court hearing where the judge virtually invited me to ask that Chris Edes be put in jail and to appeal to the Appellate Division. (Have you read the transcript?) However, the negative consideration against filing the case was that I found some value in being in the relatively good graces of the party membership. The vote to suspend and ultimately expel Stevens, a long time party activist (although not nearly so long as I have been) meant that being in good graces with the party leadership was not such a valuable thing and not a good reason not to file a court case that I believe should be filed and that I think I can win.

Dr. Tom Stevens responded:

The Libertarian Party of New York has not expelled me. They suspended my membership without proper notice on June 6, 2010 at a State Committee Meeting held by teleconference. The notice of charges was posted to the LPNY_Committee Yahoo Group at 8:38 p.m., seconds before the motion was made by Blay Tarnoff to suspend my membership. I have waived my right to a Hearing on June 27, 2010 since I think it is clear to all fair-minded people that I am not guilty of any of the charges that have been lodged against me. In fact, I am quite proud of all the issues I raised and all the questions I asked. As for Sam being disappointed by the unjustified actions of the State Committee against me, I can fully understand his feelings and how that may have played a factor in his filing this new lawsuit against the LPNY. I believe there are legitimate grounds for the relief he is seeking but you never know how the Judge is going to rule. Sam had agreed to a settlement proposal made by Carl Person and myself that would have resolved this whole issue leaving the slate of statewide nominated candidates in place but the settlement was rejected by LPNY Chair Mark Axinn, who was representing the party at the time. All I can say is that if my suspension is upheld by the State Committee on June 27, 2010, I fear that the infighting will only get worse and will harm the party for years to come.