and participation in furtherance of the right of free speech in connection with an issue of public interest, particularly in the broad sense the Court is required to apply. The commission is responsible for investigating misconduct complaints made about judges in the state. Commission's principal office. Historical Note: Sec. A judges appearance during an investigation shall take place at a commission office, or if the commission so directs, may be conducted virtually, and at least one member of the commission or referee designated by the commission, shall be physically or virtually present. A notice containing the title or name and business address of the records access officer and appeals body and the location where records can be seen or copied shall be posted in a conspicuous location wherever records are kept. Dec. 28, 2022. Allegany The written statements were submitted via a complaint form provided by the New York State Office [sic] of Judicial Conduct" (id. Until Plaintiff commenced this action via a publicly-viewable compliant, to which he attached a full copy of Defendant's non-public statements to the Commission, the statements and the Commission's proceedings were confidential. When a vacancy on the Court of Appeals occurs or is known to be imminent, the Commission broadly solicits applications from candidates who reflect the diversity of the citizenry of the State of New York, and then considers all interested candidates. The New York Commission on Judicial Conduct is a judicial disciplinary agency in New York. (2) Either party may, with the consent of the clerk of the commission, file and serve an original and two paper copies, one of which shall be unbound, in lieu of an electronic copy. (r) Respondent means the judge named in a formal written complaint. (2) The referee designated by the commission shall decide all other motions. It was further admitted during oral argument on this matter, and as supported by the affirmation of counsel for the Commission, that Defendant did not publish the statements to anyone else; and until Plaintiff filed this lawsuit, Defendant's statements and the Commission's proceedings with respect thereto were confidential and non-public. Requests for public access to records shall be accepted and records produced upon reasonable notice during all hours regularly open for business. The critical distinction in the cases relied upon by Plaintiff is that "sham actions" are filed publicly [*4]before the attorney or judge has an opportunity to respond, while complaints made to governing bodies overseeing attorneys and judges, and the quasi-judicial proceedings that follow, are "private and confidential" (id.). Herkimer The Chief Administrative Law JudgeDepartment of FinanceAdjudications Division66 John Street, 3rd FloorNew York, NY 10038. )_____________________________________________________, Address: ___________________________________________________________________________, City: ___________________________ State: _________________ Zip Code: ________________, Home Phone: _____________________ Business Phone: ____________________, Are you or were you represented by a lawyer? You can make a complaint about a Supreme Court judge in New York City. at 24). Added (d) filed January 15, 2016 eff. The only defamatory conduct alleged in the complaint is Defendant's submission of her statements concerning Plaintiff to the Commission. She also served as a member of the Commission on Statewide Attorney Discipline. Consultant. (a) The records access officer shall maintain a reasonably detailed current list by subject matter of all records in its possession as defined in section 7001.1 of this Part. Schuyler Jan. 6, 1983. Survey participation is voluntary. Judges who engage in misconduct may be admonished, censured, or removed from office. The clerk shall serve as the commission's liaison to referees appointed pursuant to section 43 of the Judiciary Law; shall correspond on behalf of the commission with attorneys with matters before the commission, including the administrator; shall schedule oral arguments and other matters before the commission; shall assist the commission in the preparation of determinations and orders and shall transmit the record of matters to the Court of Appeals, pursuant to section 44, subdivision 7, of the Judiciary Law. Recent state legislation created the Commission as . Commercial landlord and tenant cases and ejectment actions are handled on the civil side of the Court. The Commission is constitutionally established to investigate and prosecute complaints filed against New York judges. The rules and regulations of the commission are compiled in Title 22, Subtitle C, Chapter V of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR), whereas the rules concerning review by the Court of Appeals are compiled in Title 22, Subtitle B, Chapter I, Subchapter D of the NYCRR. The answer shall also specify those factual allegations as to the truth of which the judge lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief, and this shall have the effect of a denial. Recent Member: Jodie Corngold. The commission's principal office shall be its New York City office. Albany, New York 12223. Contact The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Saratoga (a) Applicable law. (e) In the course of the investigation, the commission may require the appearance of the judge involved before the commission, or any of its members, or a referee designated by the commission, in which event the judge shall be notified in writing of the judge's required appearance either (i) personally, at least three days prior to such appearance, or (ii) by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least five days prior to such appearance. The Official Website of the City of New York. Please remember to sign the letter and include your contact information, including your mailing address and phone number. The number of complaints filed in 2021 was 1,282, an increase of 29 complaints (up 2 percent) from the number filed in 2020. (d) The time for deciding an appeal by the commission shall commence upon receipt of a written appeal identifying: (2) the date and location of the requests for records; (3) the records to which the requester was denied access; (4) whether the denial of access was in writing or due to failure to provide records promptly, as required by subdivision (d) of section 7001.6 of this Part; and. (k) The respondent and the administrator shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to present to the referee written argument on issues of law and fact. 7000.4. If you disagree with a hearing outcome or decision, or if you think the judge misapplied the law or made a mistake, you should file an appeal, not a complaint. Originally published June 2016. The commission shall make available to the respondent a form for such request and authorization. The Chief Administrative Judges Office25 Beaver Street11th FloorNew York, NY 10004. The commission will hear appeals from the referees decision on the motion within 10 days thereof. (e) If the commission determines that the formal written complaint is not sustained, that the judges misconduct is not established and that no further action is necessary, the formal written complaint shall be dismissed. Added (2)(e) amd eff. Include: Can I get a record of what was said at my court hearing? STATE OF NEW YORK COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL r.ONDUCT 801 SECOND AVENUf NEW YORK. In the context of a defamation action, "[a] privileged communication is one which, but for the occasion on which it is uttered, would be defamatory and actionable." All proceedings will be stayed until the commission has rendered its decision. "Upon careful consideration, the Commission concluded that . Complaints to the Commission must be in writing and signed. Judges who engage in misconduct may be admonished, censured, or removed from office. (1) The commission shall decide the following motions: (i) a motion for summary determination; (ii) a motion to dismiss a formal written complaint or any portion thereof; (iii) a motion to confirm or disaffirm the findings of the referee; (iv) a motion made prior to the appointment of the referee, except that the commission may refer such motion to the referee when such referral is not inconsistent with the other provisions of this section; and. (b) Information means information which may, by law, be provided. Download and mail a completed complaint form or mail a written letter that includes: Administrative Justice CoordinatorOne Centre St., Room 1012NNew York, N.Y. 10007, Chief Administrative Law JudgeOffice of Administrative Trials and Hearings100 Church Street, 12th FloorNew York, NY 10007. . Honorable John A. Falk is a graduate of LeMoyne College and the University of Dayton School of Law. Commission on Judicial Nomination | Judicial Nomination Oneida Within a reasonable time following a hearing, the commission shall furnish to the respondent, without cost, an electronic copy of the transcript of the hearing. (c) Answer means a verified response, in writing, to a formal written complaint. Justice Falk is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the American Association for Justice, the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Monroe County Bar Association, the Genesee Valley Trial Lawyers Association, the New York State Magistrates Association, and the Monroe County Magistrates Association. Cattaraugus (f) The judge shall have the right to be represented by counsel during any and all stages of the investigation at which the judge's appearance is required, and to present evidentiary data and material relevant to the complaint by submitting such data and material, including a written statement, or by making an oral statement which shall be transcribed. The Commission consists of four lay members and three attorneys, one of whom serves as chair. 7000.7. He has also been appointed by various Supreme Court Justices to serve as a Special Referee, Referee, and Receiver. Ulster PDF PRESS RELEASE - New York State Unified Court System (b) Paper copies of records shall be provided at a cost of 25 cents per photocopy page. Fax: (808) 539-4756. (4) Motions to dismiss a formal written complaint must be made within 30 days of service of the formal written complaint upon the respondent. There are two ways to file a complaint with theNew York State Commission on JudicialConduct. ORDERED that a hearing on the amount of attorney's fees and costs to be awarded to Defendant shall be held in person on April 27, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. She is a board member of two nonprofit literary organizations and sits on several committees of the Brooklyn Public Library. You must still abide by the judges ruling even if you are submitting a complaint. You can make a complaint about the conduct of an administrative law judge for parking and camera ticket hearings. Learn more about Digital Accessibility from the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities. Mora v Koch (2023 NY Slip Op 23108) - New York State Unified Court System Oral argument on these motions was held March 27, 2023, at which time all parties were heard. He previously served as Chair of the Banking Committee and as a member of the Judiciary Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association. Amended (h)(1). She previously worked for the IBM Corporation as a Systems Engineer and I.T. Given that the subject-matter of this lawsuit squarely falls within the precedent of Wiener v. Weintraub and its progeny, and that Plaintiff has not furnished any "substantial argument" or [*5]precedent which warrant consideration of "an extension, modification or reversal of existing law" (CPLR 3211[g][1]), Defendant's statements must be deemed absolutely privileged and the complaint must be dismissed. (a) The commission shall consider the referee's report or agreed statement of facts and shall provide reasonable opportunity for the submission of briefs and oral argument with respect to such report or agreed statement of facts and with respect to possible sanctions. If you have a complaint against an attorney, you may contact the Attorney Disciplinary / Grievance Committee. Taa Grays, Esq., Vice Chair of the Commission, is a graduate of Harvard University, cum laude, and Georgetown University Law Center. Such circumstances are among the few, but well-recognized, reasons for application of an absolute privilege: By contrast, each of the cases on which Plaintiff relies for his argument that the "sham action" exception precludes dismissal of this case involved written statements used in a public, civil action, where the allegedly defamatory statements appeared in a civil pleading filed by an attorney. Joseph W. Belluck, Esq., Chair of the Commission, graduated magna cum laude from the SUNY-Buffalo School of Law in 1994, where he served as Articles Editor of the Buffalo Law Review and where he is an adjunct lecturer on mass torts. Rockland Filing a complaint against a judge does not give you extra time to pay a ticket or extend deadlines to file an appeal. Suffolk The Commission's core constitutional mission is to enforce ethics standards for approximately 3,350 judges and justices of the New York State Unified Court System, and to impose discipline on those judges or justices who materially violate those standards. The administrator will delegate to a staff member in each office the functions of receiving requests for records and providing assistance to the public. A court is required to grant a preference to hearing a motion to dismiss a SLAPP action, and the motion "shall be granted unless the [plaintiff] demonstrates that the cause of action has a substantial basis in law or is supported by a substantial argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law" (CPLR 3211[g][1]). What We Do . Most browsers include functionality to let you increase or decrease the text on a web page. (e) The commission shall inform the requester of its decision in writing promptly following its first meeting after receipt of the appeal. Jefferson In 2007, he was elected to the Supreme Court, Second Judicial District, and in 2010 he was appointed to the Appellate Division, Second Department. PDF Complaints Against Court Personnel - New York City Bar Association As a result, the stricter pleading standards of CPLR 3211(g) apply, and to avoid dismissal Plaintiff is required to show that the single cause of action for defamation per se in the complaint "has a substantial basis in law or is supported by a substantial argument for an extension, modification or a reversal of existing law." Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. She is Vice President & Associate General Counsel for Information Governance at MetLife, Inc., having served in other senior positions at MetLife since 2003. He is a partner in the Manhattan law firm of Belluck & Fox, LLP, which focuses on asbestos and serious injury litigation. Rensselaer NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct May 8, 2019.b), (c), (d), (f)(1)(ii), (f)(1)(iii), (f)(1)(iv), (f)(1)(v), (f)(4), (f)(5), (f)(6), (g), (h), (h)(1), (h)(2), (i)(2), (i)(3), (j), (k), (l) amd eff. filed Jan. 10, 1983 eff. New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct - Wikipedia The number of complainants totaled 1,304, as some of the complaints involved more than one complainant. The Commission appoints a Clerk to provide it with independent advice, and an Administrator & Counsel who hires and supervises a Staff of attorneys, investigators and administrative personnel.. Delaware Subject to the approval of the commission, the administrator and the respondent may agree on a statement of facts, conclusions of law and a recommended sanction, and may stipulate in writing that the hearing shall be waived. You can File a Complaintonline or mail your complaint to one of our offices in New York City, Albany or Rochester. February 3, 2016. Honorable Robert J. Miller is a graduate of Brooklyn College and the Georgetown University Law Center. PDF Complaint Form Complaint of Judicial Misconduct or Disability In fact, as the Commission's counsel asserted, there is a very real fear that others may be deterred from bringing legitimate and serious complaints before the Commission if retribution in the form of a lawsuit is a viable possibility. The City intends to use the data collected from this survey to generally add and improve City services. Filing a Complaint - NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct Litigants accounted for 60 percent of complainants, and prison inmates accounted for 35 percent. Some of the types of cases that Family Court has the authority to make legal decisions over include: You can make a complaint about New York City Housing Court judge. Comments Regarding Pending Rules Changes: rulemaking@cjc.ny.gov. State of New York Commission on Judicial Conduct www.cjc.ny.gov cjc@cjc.ny.gov The Commission's Authority and Jurisdiction The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct receives and reviews written complaints of misconduct against judges of the state unified court system, which includes State, County, Municipal, Town and Village Courts. The referee must decide the motion within 10 days of final submission. Telephone: 646-386-4800. . PDF Complaint Form - Squarespace As recently discussed by the Second Department: New York's "anti-SLAPP" statutes are codified at Civil Rights Law 70-a and 76-a. Executive Leadership Rossana Rosado, Commissioner She/Her/Hers (2) Where the underlying conduct described in the letter of dismissal and caution is charged in a subsequent formal written complaint, a judge may be questioned with respect to receipt of the prior letter of dismissal and caution, and upon a finding by the commission of a judge's misconduct with respect to the facts underlying the letter of dismissal and caution, such letter of dismissal and caution may be considered by the commission in determining the sanction to be imposed. claiming that a person committed a crime of moral turpitude or suffers from a loathsome disease; To recover damages for defamation, a plaintiff must prove the defendant's publication to a third party of a false statement about the plaintiff, without privilege or authorization (Knutt v. Metro Intern S.A., 91 AD3d 915 [2nd Dept. Any prior letter used in such a manner would become part of the record of the present proceeding. The confidentiality of the commission's records shall be governed by section 45 of the Judiciary Law. Commission members are judges, lawyers and non-lawyers appointed by the Governor, the Chief Judge, and leaders of the New York State Legislature.[4][5][6]. From these candidates, the Commission selects, based on merit, a slate of well qualified nominees which it forwards to the Governor. Apr. MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Attorney Registration No. Special rules for commission members. New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, "How to Complain About Lawyers and Judges in New York City", Review of Determinations of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_York_State_Commission_on_Judicial_Conduct&oldid=1122238982, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, Senate President Pro Tem Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Former Senate Minority Leader John J. Flanagan, Assembly Minority Leader William A. Barclay, This page was last edited on 16 November 2022, at 15:34. (a) There shall be no fee charged for: (1) inspection of records; (2) search for records; (3) any certification pursuant to this Part; or (4) copies of records in electronic format. The opposing party must respond to the motion within 10 days of service of the motion. If a summary determination is granted, the commission shall provide reasonable opportunity for the submission of briefs and oral argument with respect to possible sanctions. (c) The commission shall hear appeals for denial of access to records under the Freedom of Information Law. As counsel for the Commission stated, the absolute privilege and confidentiality of the proceedings before it are critical to the Commission's investigation and to maintaining public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary. He has maintained a private practice in the Bronx since 1977 and has an office in Yorktown Heights. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant's statements were false, libelous, professionally damaging [*2]to him as a jurist and calculated to subject him to personal ridicule and shame (id. Online Complaint Form The Judicial Conduct Commission ("JCC") shall investigate and conduct confidential hearings regarding complaints against state, county and municipal judges throughout the state. Appointing Authority: Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Ms. Corngold is a marathon runner and is engaged in a variety of activities associated with her alma mater. Please do not submit original records. An electronic copy of the transcript of the judge's testimony shall be made available to the judge without cost. The Court held that a judge's "extensive use of his judicial assistant's time, and of state property and equipment, for personal and campaign purposes" violated then-Canon 2 of the code of judicial conduct. Amended eff. Four members are appointed by the Governor, three by the Chief Judge, and one each by the Speaker of the . You can send your complaint by mail by printing out this page and filling out the complaint form, or by sending your own letter to the address below. Empire State Plaza. from the State University of New York at New Paltz and holds a Master of Science degree in Urban Planning and Environmental Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. All court hearings are recorded. The commission may, in its discretion, issue technical specifications and procedures for submission of electronic documents. The referee shall endeavor to submit such report: (i) no later than 30 days after receipt of the briefs referred to in subdivision (k) of this section, or (ii) no later than 30 days after failure of the respondent or the administrator to file such brief within the time prescribed in subdivision (k) of this section. A4908 (ACTIVE) - Summary. (b) The subject matter list shall be sufficiently detailed to permit identification of the category of the record sought. Prior to MetLife, she previously served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx from 1997 - 2003. Putnam In such a case, the commission shall make its determination upon the pleadings and the facts, conclusions and recommendation set forth in the agreed statement. Among his professional awards are the New York County Lawyers Pro Bono Award for free legal services rendered to the Courts and the Public, The New York Law Journal award for Attorney's Who Lead by Example, and the President's Award for Extraordinary Service by the Bronx County Bar Association. Appointing Authority: Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. The failure of the commission to furnish timely any documents, statements and/or exculpatory evidentiary data and material provided for herein shall not affect the validity of any proceedings before the commission, provided that such failure is not substantially prejudicial to the respondent. (e) Subpoenas. Judges who engage in misconduct may be admonished, censured, or removed from office. New York Judiciary Law Does Allow Commission To Investigate Judge Who Clinton 16) at 1419, 2429; Judiciary Law 44, 45). Imputing a serious crime to the plaintiff constitutes defamation per se (see Geraci v. Probst, 15 NY3d 336, 344; Liberman v. Gelstein, 80 NY2d 429, 435). Governor. (b) Campaigns for non-judicial office. Also, please be aware that it is sometimes necessary for Commission staff members to call the complainant or other participants to clarify the allegations in your complaint. The following day, December 29, 2021, Defendant wrote certain "statements concerning [Plaintiff] .