Rachell Sirota, Esq., Director
First and Twelfth Judicial Districts
In February 2007, Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, and then Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman announced the members of the Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commissions (IJEQC) for the twelve judicial districts in New York State. The voluntary statewide screening process for evaluating judicial candidates was approved by the New York State Court of Appeals following a recommendation of the Commission to Promote Public Confidence in Judicial Elections, chaired by John Feerick, the former Dean of Fordham University School of Law and then Chair of the Commission on Government Integrity. The Commissions in New York City review the qualifications of judicial candidates seeking election to Supreme, Surrogate’s and New York City Civil Courts.
The criteria for evaluation under Part 150 of the Rules of the Chief Administrative Judge include “professional ability; character, independence and integrity; reputation for fairness and lack of bias; and temperament, including courtesy and patience.” The guidelines and procedures for the Commissions, including the information to be provided by each candidate, are set forth in Appendix A to Part 150.
Each Commission consists of fifteen members, including attorneys and lay people, selected by the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, the Presiding Justices of each Appellate Division, the State Bar Association and local bar associations, and represents a cross-section of the community in each district. Two Commissions have been established to review the qualifications of candidates for judicial office in the First Department, one each for the First Judicial District (New York County) and the Twelfth Judicial District (Bronx County)(See List of Commission Members).
Candidates who wish to have their qualifications reviewed by one of the Commissions in the First Department must submit an original and 15 copes of the completed Questionnaire (PDF) to Rachell Sirota, Director, IJEQC, 41 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010. In addition, please submit an original release for the Commission on Judicial Conduct and/or the Grievance Committees, as appropriate. (Please see the Instructions.) No deadline has been set for receipt of questionnaires for the November 2008 election. However, candidates who wish to have a Commission issue a rating prior to the September 9, 2008 primary election, are encouraged to submit the Questionnaire by June 8, 2008 to enable the Commission to have sufficient time to review their qualifications. However, if, because of hardship or other sufficient reason, a candidate submits a Questionnaire within a sufficient period of time before the election, the Commission will make every effort to accommodate the candidate.
The Commissions for the First and Twelfth Judicial Districts have completed their review of candidates for judicial vacancies in each District and published the list of candidates who were found “Qualified”, subject to requests for a rehearing (See List of “Qualified” Candidates for the 2007 elections).
As of March 1, 2008, there are 4 Supreme Court, 1 Civil Court and 1 Surrogate’s Court vacancy in the 1st J.D., and 1 Supreme Court and 1 Civil Court vacancy in the 12th J.D. However, this is subject to change.
All individuals seeking state-paid elective office are required to complete mandatory Judicial Campaign Ethics Training (referred to in Question 16 of the Questionnaire).
If you have not yet completed the Ethics Training for this election year, please contact the Judicial Campaign Ethics Center at 1-888-600-5232 to register. The program will be offered four times in an interactive live/simulcast format. If you cannot attend one of these live or simulcast sessions, you may request a copy of the training program on CD-ROM.
For further information, please contact the Center by telephone (1-888-600-5232) or email (contact JCEC@courts.state.ny.us), or visit our web site (http://www.nycourts.gov/ip/jcec/).
For further information contact Rachell Sirota at (212) 340-0572 or e-mail rsirota@courts.state. ny.us. |
(New for 2008)
