A precursor of today’s
Court, the Supreme Court of Judicature of New York State was
founded by an Act of the Provincial Assembly on May 6, 1691.
This Act not only established the court itself but provided
for the appointment of a chief justice, four associates and
five justices.
The
Constitution of 1821 authorized the Legislature to divide the
State into eight circuits and in 1823, the Legislature re-divided
the State, adjusting the boundaries to correspond to the eight
Senate districts in existence at that time.
The
Constitution of 1846 abolished the previously in effect appointive
system and yet again directed the re-division of the State
into eight judicial districts with the provision for the election
of four justices in each for a term of eight years, which was
later extended to 14. This document also created the Supreme
Court which was to serve as the highest court of original,
unlimited jurisdiction. Relatedly, it reduced the jurisdiction
of County Court as is evidenced by the abolishment of the Court
of Common Pleas of Erie County. This Court, which had
functioned since 1821, was replaced with Erie County Court.
The Constitution further amended the tenure of the presiding
County Court judges from four to six years and the office was
no longer appointed, but elected.
In
1869, a judicial article was added to the Constitution in which
the State was divided into four departments each with a Supreme
Court general term to hear and decide appeals. Each of the
eight judicial districts were assigned to one of these four
departments. By 1896, the Appellate Division of the Supreme
Court was created to hear appeals previously heard by these
general term parts. Trial terms of the Supreme Court
were also created at this time.
By
the 1894 State Convention, the number of justices rose to 46
with six of those positions residing in the Eighth Judicial
District. This number increased to 12 resulting from
legislation enacted in 1906.
The
most dramatic change occurred in September 1962, at which time
a newly ratified Judiciary Article to the State Constitution
became effective. For the first time in its history,
the courts were to be unified with administrative procedure
in place and court structure established.
Governed
by Judiciary Law, section 140, the Eighth Judicial District
currently has, by statute, 26 Supreme Court justices, elected
for a 14 year term, and is comprised of the eight western counties
of New York State - Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie,
Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming. Decisions
are appealed to the Fourth Department in Rochester, which embraces
the Fifth and Seventh Districts as well.
Supreme
Court is a single trial court of general, original statewide jurisdiction,
greater than any other court. Each of the State’s 62
counties has at least one such court in its domain. The Constitution
grants the Court the ability to hear virtually any type of
case, civil or criminal, with the exception of cases involving
claims against the State. Typical cases include civil
matters such as civil mental hygiene, commercial law, contracts,
foreclosures, labor law, medical malpractice, negligence and
products liability as well as matrimonial matters such as divorce,
annulments and separations. The Supreme Court also hears cases
which involve Article 78's (appeals from a board’s decisions
or an administrative law judge) and Article 81's (conservator cases
dealing with the capability of an individual to care for themselves
and their finances). In larger cities, felony indictments
are also handled by the Supreme Court which has jurisdiction
equivalent to that of County Court with regard to criminal
cases. |
