Queens democrats to name Supreme Court nominees

By Jacob Kaye

Later next week, judicial delegates of the Queens County Democratic Party will meet to nominate potential judges for New York State Supreme Court.

The party’s nearly 180 judicial delegates will meet on Thursday, Aug. 5, to nominate the potential Supreme Court justices to a spot on the Democratic party’s line in the November election.

Nominees are all but shoo-ins for a spot on the bench – a vast majority of Queens voters are registered Democrats.

The judicial convention will seek to fill the six vacant seats on the bench in the borough, according to the Office of Court Administration.

In addition to two current vacancies, one of the vacancies is attributed to a recently passed law that expands the number of Supreme Court justices in Queens by one.

Two others are attributable to Justices Kenneth Holder and Denis Butler, who have reached the end of their 14-year term. Holder will seek a second term, his chambers told the Eagle.

Butler did not respond to request for comment.

Lastly, the sixth vacancy was created because Justice David Elliott will turn 70 years old this year, the mandatory age of retirement for judges.

How it works

Supreme Court justices, unlike Civil Court judges, do not run in a primary election. Instead, they are nominated by the judicial convention and run on the party’s line in the November general election.

The party’s judicial convention is made up of judicial delegates, who are elected by the voters. Often, judicial delegates are either district leaders, community leaders or current elected officials.

Prior to the convention, potential nominees meet with the chairman of the party for an interview. As of Friday, meetings with Rep. Gregory Meeks, the chair of the Queens County Democratic Party, were still in progress, according to the party.

In the days leading up to the convention, Meeks will make his recommendations and issue them to the delegates. Typically, Meeks will not make more recommendations than there are vacancies.

“I don't imagine him making a recommendation list that is much larger than the vacancies, I would imagine it would match,” said Anotonio Alfonso, Jr., a district leader in 36AD and political director of the Queens County Democratic Party. “Historically, it has matched.”

Once the nominees are set, the judicial delegates will meet, as they will on Thursday, and vote to give the potential judges their stamp of approval.

But the process isn’t completely over at that point.

In the month leading up to the November election, nominees are invited to meet with the Queens County Bar Association’s Judicial Committee, which is made up of 25 members.

Following a rigorous process, which includes interviews, an observational period, a questionnaire and a background check into their past judicial practices, the nominees will be issued a rating of either not approved, qualified or well qualified.

“I think it's an excellent process and it's been working pretty well,” said Les Nizin, the attorney who chairs the bar association’s Judicial Committee. “The Queens County Bar Association

looks forward to continuing this process, because it gives the members of the bar association

input into the judges, and it gives the judges an input into the feelings of the members of the judiciary.”

Who’s in the running

Typically, those looking for a shot at the Democratic party ticket for Supreme Court judge are sitting judges.

“There are several individuals who look to be nominated at these conventions and year after year, most of them are sitting Civil Court judges,” Alfonso said.

Nominees also often include sitting Criminal Court and Family Court judges.

The final list of Meek’s nominees isn’t set yet and likely won’t be until the immediate days preceding the convention.

However, there are some judges who have received support from bar associations and district leaders.

Although he isn’t a sitting judge, Michael Goldman, who lost a bid for Civil Court judge last month, told the Eagle that he is seeking a nomination to the bench.

If nominated and elected, Goldman would be the first out LGTBQ judge to take the bench in Queens Supreme Court.

“It’s certainly not a secret that Queens is the only borough that has not had an out LGBT judge on the bench,” Goldman said. “I think that in a borough as diverse as Queens, having all of our communities represented at all levels of government is important.”

Despite not being a sitting judge, Goldman’s nomination wouldn’t be unprecedented.

Now-Queens Supreme Court Judge Wyatt Gibbons lost his bid for Civil Court in 2019 to Judge Lumarie Maldonado-Cruz. After losing the election, Gibbons got the party’s nomination for Supreme Court and was elected to the seat in November 2019.

Ali Najmi, an attorney and a founding board member of the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean Bar Association of Queens, said that he sees Goldman as a “highly qualified individual.”

“We have another opportunity to make history this year by electing the first openly gay attorney to Supreme Court in Queens County,” Najmi said.

Najmi and his bar association are also pushing for sitting Judge Karen Gopee, who currently serves in New York City Criminal Court.

“Judge Gopee is a qualified and historic candidate,” Najmi said. “Should Judge Gopee get the nomination and be accepted, she would be the first Indo-Carribean judge on the bench in Supreme Court in Queens County.”

The Queens County Democratic Party’s judicial convention will meet at Antun’s catering hall in Queens Village at 6 p.m. on Thursday.