Nostalgically, One Last Rigged Supreme Court Judge Election...(CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS)

PART I

Ah, the good old days: controlling judicial elections by manipulating the names on the ballots, and by providing voters with limited information. Some say the scheme was perfected in Westchester County. One New York federal judge said the state wide judicial election stunts are unconstitutional-- and the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. And soon the United States Supreme Court will have a say in exactly how corrupt the New York state judicial elections have been....MORE....

A good New York Law Journal article by Daniel Wise follows below. More on this soon...

NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL
Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007
p. 1, col. 4

Late Entry Into Race Kept Them Off List Of Screening Panel ‘Qualified,' Hopefuls Say.

BY DANIEL WISE

TWO JUDGES who are likely candidates for Supreme Court in the Ninth Judicial District, were not on a list of candidates found qualified by a court system-established panel because they decided to become candidates after the screening panel's deadline. The two candidates - Ninth Judicial District Administrative Judge Francis A. Nicolai and Westchester County Court Judge Rory J. Bellantoni- were not on the list of candidates released by the screening panel for candidates in the Ninth Judicial District on Friday.

Under court rules establishing the new screening system, only the names of candidates who are found qualified are released. The rules specifically bar the panels from providing information as to whether candidates who are not named were found unqualified or declined to participate in the process. Candidate participation is voluntary.

Judge Nicolai said in an interview that he had entered the race after the screening panel's deadline and had not submitted an application because he believed that the panel would not accept it. JudgeBellantoni, who also entered the race late, said that he had contacted the panel but had been told it was too late to apply. Asked about the panel's policy on late applications, Matthew G.Kiernan, the panel's interim director, said he was precluded from commenting by "the confidentiality of the review process."

Republican and Democratic Party leaders in the five Ninth Judicial District counties identified Judge Nicolai, a Democrat and JudgeBellantoni, a Republican, as among the six candidates for three court vacancies their two parties are likely to select at their nominating conventions next week. The other four likely candidates were all found qualified by the court system panel, which is formally called the Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission for the Ninth Judicial District.

They are incumbent Supreme Court Justice William E. Sherwood and Christine P. Krahulik, a Family Court support magistrate, the likely Republican nominees, and Rockland County Surrogate Robert M. Berliner and Orange County Surrogate Elaine Z. Slobod, the likely Democratic candidates. The Ninth Judicial District covers Rockland, Orange, Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties.

The deadline for applying for review for all five judicial districts within the Second Department, including the Ninth District, was set for July 2 (NYLJ, June 13). In interviews, both Judge Nicolai, who was elected as a County Court judge in 2004, and Judge Bellantoni said that they are seeking to fill the vacancy that was created by the resignation of Justice Lawrence I. Horowitz while he was under investigation by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct (NYLJ, July 18, 2007). Although Justice Horowitz resigned on June 20, the vacancy that arose from his resignation was not officially created until July 14, both Judge Nicolai and Judge Bellantoni said. It was not until the end of July, Judge Nicolai added, that he decided to run for the vacancy, and he formally notified the Office of Court Administration of his intent to do so after lining up political backing. Judge Bellantoni said that it was not until mid-August that he had decided to pursue the vacancy.

Judge Nicolai said that he had not sought to be interviewed because by the time he decided to make the race the screening panel's July 2 deadline had passed. If there had been an opportunity to be interviewed, he said "I would have been the first to attend-it is the policy of the court administration that candidates should be", interviewed and I am a strong supporter of that policy."

Judge Bellantoni said that he had contacted personnel from the review committee trying to arrange an interview but had been told that it was too late and that there would be no negative ramifications from his not being on the list because the process is voluntary. "I want to be interviewed and have been interviewed by dozens" of panels reviewing judicial qualifications in the past, he said.

Reginald Lafayette, the chairman of the Westchester Democratic Party, called both Judge Nicolai and Judge Bellantoni well regarded jurists and said that he did not expect the absence of their names from the list of qualified candidates would cause either of them any political problems. In fashioning a system for the screening of judicial candidates seeking to be elected, the court system adopted a recommendation of a panel appointed by Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye to suggest reforms to shore up public confidence in the state's elected judiciary (NYLJ, Feb. 7, 2006).

The 180 members of the 12 panels, one in each of the state's judicial districts, were appointed in February (NYLJ, Feb. 9, 2007). Each panel has 15 members, 10 appointed by the chief judge and a presiding justice of the Appellate Division, and five by bar association leaders.