Six Civil Court Judges Vying for 1 Supreme Court Judgeship

When judges convene–It was only a little over two months ago that the then-newly appointed NYS Chief Judge Rowan Wilson performed the ceremonial swearing in ceremony of Judge Leslie Stroth as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York County. She was nominated at last year’s Manhattan Democratic Party Convention and elected in November 2023. This year’s convention will be in August (no date announced). Among the candidates vying for the open seat are civil court judges Judy Kim, Gerald Leibovits, Suzanne Adams, Jim Clynes, Shahabudden Ally, Ilana Marcus. The nominated candidate will appear on the November 2024 ballot.

Never enough judges–The 73rd AD’s AM Alex Bores, who is a legislator with a computer science degree, not a lawyer, recognized the need for more judges in New York’s overburdened court system, and he set out to do something about it. And got it done. His No Cap Act bill passed the State Assembly and Senate. And it doesn’t end there. Bores’s No Cap Act addresses the age-old problem of a population-based limitation in New York’s Constitution on the number of Supreme Court judges per judicial district, and authorizes the legislature to appropriately respond to pressing demands for judicial resources.

In order for the change to go in effect–and get more judges in the city–New York requires that all constitutional amendments must be passed twice and then put to voters as a ballot initiative. The first passage of the No Cap Act by the Assembly and the Senate sets up the amendment to potentially go to voters in 2025 or 2026. Once passed, the clause in the New York Constitution that caps the number of justices on the New York State Supreme Court is a step closer to being lifted and a step closer to getting more judges into NY’s case-loaded court system. Most civil and criminal actions are brought in the NYS Supreme Court. Well done, AM Alex Bores.

ERA’s back on the ballot–Assembly member Rebecca Seawright, a longtime supporter of the ERA, lauded the Appellate Division First Dept’s decision to put the Equal Rights Amendment back on the ballot. “Now voters across the state will have the opportunity to vote on the matter of equality on election day, November 4, 2024,” she says. The amendment prohibits discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, disability, age, and sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.