NY Daily News Editorial: Unfit to Judge

Unfit to judge: Scofflaw Pam Fisher belongs in court, but not on the bench
The New York Daily News - EDITORIAL - October 26, 2009

Surprise, surprise. Pamela Fisher, previously identified here as this year's poster person for sleazy judge-making, is a serial ethics violator to boot. Fisher's sole, uh, qualification for the Civil Court is that she is an old friend and political ally of Brooklyn Democratic boss Vito Lopez. Although licensed as a lawyer, she has had virtually no legal experience. And she cannot claim to respect the laws and regulations that govern the conduct of judicial candidates.

Many are her transgressions:

• Fisher has never filed a personal financial disclosure statement. Court rules say declared candidates for judgeships must reveal personal holdings, assets and liabilities to the public in reports submitted to the court's Ethics Commission. Fisher's statement was due Dec. 30.
• Fisher never filed a campaign finance report with the city Board of Elections. Her campaign committee was required to submit written reports in January and July detailing its fund-raising and spending.
• Fisher has not filed a campaign finance report with the state Board of Elections since July, missing mandated submissions Oct. 2 and another on Friday. Penalties for late filing and noncompliance include fines, court judgments and possible jail time.
• Although she faces no opposition, thanks to maneuvering by Lopez, Fisher's campaign included flyers touting her candidacy jointly with that of Lopez-backed City Council contender Maritza Davila. Would-be judges are strictly prohibited from publicly endorsing or opposing candidates in other races.

Fisher graduated from NYU in 1983 and was soon working for the cornerstone of Lopez's political empire, the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a government-funded organization that cares for the homebound, serves meals to the elderly and operates housing. While working for the Lopez organization, she attended Brooklyn Law School at night, graduating in 1990. Fisher ran failed Lopez-backed efforts to win a Queens City Council seat in 1991 and a Queens Assembly seat in 1994. The Assembly campaign included a fraudulent, racially targeted flyer. She also held a patronage post arranged by Lopez at the Housing Authority, working with tenant groups. In more recent years, Fisher listed herself as either a homemaker or unemployed in connection with campaign donations. All of which adds up to negligible work as an attorney. No matter. In January, at Lopez's apparent request, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Mark Partnow made Fisher his $85,187-a-year law secretary. The judge failed to respond to queries as to what credentials he considered in hiring Fisher. Deprived of an alternative, Brooklyn voters, led by Lopez's machine troops, will elect Fisher on Nov. 3 for a 10-year term. But maybe she won't last all that long. Her arrogant disdain for the law and the rules must draw the scrutiny of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, the moment after she is sworn in.