Date: January 14, 2003

As Statewide Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Court Operations and Planning, Judge Kluger will spearhead a comprehensive plan to establish Integrated Domestic Violence Courts in every judicial district in the state, as announced in Chief Judge Judith Kaye's State of the Judiciary address yesterday. Judge Newton will succeed Judge Kluger in her current position as Administrative Judge for the New York City Criminal Court, filling the top administrative post of the state's busiest criminal court, as well as continuing to serve in her current capacity as the Statewide Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives.

Judge Lippman said, "The court system will be making great strides in confronting the scourge of domestic violence with the creation of this top-level position to coordinate and oversee the institutionalization of Integrated Domestic Violence Courts throughout the state and our efforts to operationally simplify New York's courts. I can think of no candidate more ideally suited to meet these critical challenges than Judge Judy Kluger.
For the past seven years, Judge Kluger has been applying a problem-solving and innovative approach to court operations, particularly in the handling of domestic violence and drug cases, as the Administrative Judge of the New York City Criminal Court. She has overseen the creation throughout New York City of specialized domestic violence courts, bringing essential services into the courtroom to assist victims and monitor defendants. Judge Kluger will now utilize her expertise in this area statewide, working with the Presiding Justices, administrative and supervising judges, local court personnel and judges, as well as institutional and community representatives in all 12 judicial districts."

"I am delighted that Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Juanita Bing Newton, a highly skilled and veteran court administrator, will fill the crucial position of Administrative Judge of the New York City Criminal Court," said Judge Lippman. "Judge Newton's grounding in criminal law hails from her years on the Supreme Court bench adjudicating criminal cases, in addition to her tenure as Administrative Judge of the Criminal Branch of the Supreme Court. More recently, she has excelled in the statewide post of Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives, a position that focuses on ensuring access to justice for all New Yorkers and one that she will continue to hold along with this new assignment. I have no doubt that with her extraordinary energy, resourcefulness and managerial expertise, Judge Newton will continue to further the significant advances made in this critical area, while at the same time managing the operations of the New York City Criminal Court - one of the busiest criminal courts in the country - and providing that court with outstanding and effective leadership."

Judge Bing Newton, a Court of Claims Judge and Acting Supreme Court Justice since 1987, has held for the past four years the position of Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives, a statewide post that has as its mission the challenge of ensuring public access to the New York legal system. Prior to that she served as the Administrative Judge of the Supreme Court, Criminal Branch, in Manhattan, a court where she had been presiding over criminal cases since her appointment to the bench. Judge Newton was the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for New York City Courts from 1985 to 1986, and her career in the law includes positions at the Bronx County District Attorney's Office, where she served as an assistant district attorney for nearly a decade, the New York State Sentencing Guidelines Committee, the U.S. Department of Justice, and  the Legal Aid Society. A graduate of the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and Northwestern University, Judge Newton is a member of the New York State Judicial Committee on Women in the Courts, formerly served on the New York State Advisory Committee on Criminal Practice and Procedure, and was a founding member of the Franklin Williams Judicial Commission on Minorities in the Courts.

Judge Kluger, who was appointed to the bench in 1988 as a Criminal Court Judge in Manhattan, has been the Administrative Judge for the Criminal Court since 1996, during which time she has overseen the creation of Specialized Domestic Violence Courts throughout New York City. She served as a Criminal Court deputy supervising judge for several years and presided over cases at the Midtown Community Court - a court  that has received national acclaim for its innovative handling of quality-of-life crimes, in-house treatment programs and unique community partnership - as well as being a key member of the court's development team. After graduating from New York University and St. John's University Law School, Judge Kluger began her legal career as an assistant district attorney in the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, where she became Bureau Chief of the Sex Crimes and Domestic Violence Bureau and later Chief of the Criminal Court Bureau. Judge Kluger co-chairs the Local Courts Advisory Committee of the Chief Administrative Judge and is a member of the Advisory Committee for Statewide Implementation of Court-Supervised Drug Treatment. Judge Kluger's efforts in the area of domestic violence were recognized in 1999 when she received an award from the Mayor of New York City for outstanding leadership in breaking the cycle of domestic violence.