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JUDGE REFUSES TO GRANT SPECIAL N.J. ELECTION A federal judge yesterday refused to order a special election to replace Governor McGreevey, who announced last month that he is gay and would step down November 15.

The U.S. district judge, Garrett Brown Jr., dismissed a lawsuit that claimed Mr. McGreevey had effectively created a vacancy by announcing his resignation. Judge Brown said there is no vacancy to fill because Mr. McGreevey has not left office.

“He clearly intends to hold office until November 15, 2004. The requirement of holding a special election does not arise. The rights of registered voters are not being violated,” Judge Brown said.

The lawsuit, filed by two Princeton lawyers, argued that by staying in office until there is not time enough to schedule a special election, Mr. McGreevey is depriving voters of their constitutional rights.

– Associated Press

JUDGE ORDERS RELEASE OF DETAINEE RECORDS NEW YORK – Suggesting the government was acting as if it had something to hide, a federal judge yesterday gave Washington one month to release records related to the treatment of prisoners in Iraq.

The U.S. district judge, Alvin Hellerstein, chastised officials for moving at a “glacial pace” in responding to nearly year-old Freedom of Information Act requests from the American Civil Liberties Union and four other watchdog organizations.

“If the documents are more of an embarrassment than a secret, the public should know of our government’s treatment of individuals captured and held abroad,” Judge Hellerstein wrote. “We are a nation that strives to value the dignity of all humanity.”

The groups brought a lawsuit in June, saying they wanted to expose the treatment of detainees. Judge Hellerstein said though the government had raised “important issues” of national security as a reason for the delays, “merely raising national security concerns cannot justify unlimited delay.”

– Associated Press

HEINZ KERRY VISITS BROOKLYN NEW YORK – Teresa Heinz Kerry stopped by a market in the heart of Brooklyn’s Caribbean community yesterday to show her support for the neighborhood’s hurricane relief effort and for the Caribbean families hit hard by Hurricane Ivan.

Mrs. Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, spoke French with Haitian vendors and shook hands with volunteers busy packing food, clothes, and other relief supplies to be shipped to several islands hit by the hurricane. The campaign made a donation of water, blankets, and first aid kits.

“I think it’s important we help all the kids we can,” Mrs. Heinz Kerry said at the Flatbush-Caton Merchants Market on Flatbush Avenue.

Hurricane Ivan swept through the Caribbean last week, killing scores and leaving tens of thousands homeless. Granada was probably hit hardest, with 60% of the country left homeless and many in dire need of food and water.

Mrs. Heinz Kerry said she was concerned that relief efforts were focusing too intently on sending clothes and not enough on essentials like water and electric generators.

“Clothing is wonderful, but let them go naked for a while, at least the kids,” she said. “Water is necessary, and then generators, and then food, and then clothes.”

The midday crowd swarming the market yesterday was clearly impressed with the would-be first lady.

– Associated Press