Unlike the two political branches of government, the executive and the legislative, which are always in the public eye, from president to governor to mayor (and somewhat less from the Congress to the Legislature to the City Council) the third branch, the judiciary, usually is in the background.
And while sometimes a big case or decision will rise to general attention, how lawyers become judges grinds on with minimal interest (with the notable exception of appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court).
So here we are again, it’s judge making time in New York, as the political parties prepare to hold their ridiculous conventions to nominate their candidates for the state’s most important trial court and Albany pulls a fast one to bypass voters for Civil Court and Family Court spots.
Years ago, a Manhattan federal judge ruled that these party conventions were unconstitutional, a decision affirmed 3-0 by an appeals panel (with an federal appeals judge named Sonia Sotomayor on the panel). But the Big Nine in Washington unanimously upheld the totally nutty system, with Justice John Paul Stevens writing that, “I recall my esteemed former colleague, Thurgood Marshall, remarking on numerous occasions: ‘The Constitution does not prohibit legislatures from enacting stupid laws.’ ”
Tonight the Democrats in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens have their conventions. Manhattan has only one opening on state Supreme Court, while Brooklyn has six and Queens seven.
Last year, the Manhattan Dems messed around with their independent screening panel, but this time we’ve heard of no issues. Last year, they also broke state law by having County Committee Chair Nico Minerva, whose wife was then in the running, call the convention to order and then illegally run the proceedings, as we exposed.
This time, Kyle Ishmael will convene and then hand off to Minerva. It’s also good that none of the conventions around the state (the Bronx is Monday along with Long Island and Rochester; Westchester is Tuesday and Buffalo goes Wednesday) are using courthouses. Last year, we also exposed that.
Of course, Republicans do all the same things, but they just aren’t a factor in the boroughs.
Still, this year we are much more upset about a dozen new judges for Civil Court in New York City and 12 new Family Court judges outside the city.
The state Constitution (Article VI Section 15) says that NYC Civil Court judges shall be elected for 10-year terms and state law directs open primaries (unlike the closed conventions). Article VI Section 13 says exactly the same for Family Court judges outside the city. Family Court judges in the city are appointed by the mayor for 10-year terms and there are four new spots on that bench.
But the Legislature and Gov. Hochul created the new judges too late for the June 25 primary. The bill wasn’t even introduced until June 3, which was the final week of the session that began in January. The measure passed the Senate on June 6 and the Assembly on June 7. Hochul signed it on July 17. Oops! Sorry about that, voters. No primary, so the party bosses just pick the candidates (three each for Civil Court in every borough but Staten Island).
The new judges are needed to ease backlogs, but the Legislature and Hochul did an end run around the state Constitution. We don’t like electing judges, but if that’s the case, they should be elected by voters and not hand-picked by party bosses.
