City judges honor Queens court officers
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Unified Court System court officers and judges stand together during an Acts of Heroism Ceremony held in Queens Borough Hall. Eagle photo by Noah Powelson
By Noah Powelson
Last November, court officer Megan Halliday noticed something strange on the front steps of Queens Family Court.
A woman was leaning over her baby stroller, and hadn’t moved for half an hour during the cold autumn afternoon. Halliday felt something was wrong, and approached the woman to see what was amiss.
What she found was a six-week-old infant and an empty bottle of wine in the stroller, and a distraught mother who admitted she was having trouble caring for the child and started drinking.
Halliday talked the mother through her problems, and eventually convinced her to bring her and her baby inside the courthouse to find services at the Safe Horizon office.
From there, the mother and child were brought to Jamaica Hospital, where they both received treatment. A potential tragedy was prevented, court officials later said.
This week, Halliday was honored before the city’s legal community for the compassion she displayed that may have well saved two lives.
Top judges from Queens and the city’s other four boroughs came together on Monday afternoon to celebrate the court’s most highly visible workers, the court officers of the Unified Court System. Held inside Queens Borough Hall, administrative and supervising judges from across the World’s Borough celebrated their court officers during an Acts of Heroism Ceremony, highlighting moments of service that exemplified the work and character needed to keep courthouses safe.
Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for the New York City Courts Adam Silvera hosted the program and awarded certificates of recognition to Queens court officers who had performed exemplary service to the courts and their community.
Halliday was just one of the 25 court officers honored on Monday.
“Officer Halliday’s compassion and care saved the baby from hypothermia and initiated services for the well being of both the mother and child,” Silvera said. “Her actions exemplify the community spirit of our court officers and connected resource agencies in our courthouse and community.”
Among the other court officers honored were Jason Ellison, Wilson Chan, Weyhi Hago, Taylor Gallagher, Robert Riley and Vance Guarino from Queens Criminal Court.
Court Officer Megan Halliday (far right), is honored for her work in saving an infant child and mother by Administrative Judge Adam Silvera, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Edwina Richardson, First Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Norman St. George and Executive Director of the Office of Court Administration Justin Barry. Eagle photo by Noah Powelson
The six court officers were honored for their work in saving an individual who had become unresponsive inside the courthouse’s AP2 courtroom. The person had been struggling to breathe and had pinpoint pupils when the officers administered two doses of Narcan to them. The person at first refused to be treated by medics who had responded to the courthouse, but was convinced by court officers to get treatment.
Other officers from Queens Criminal, Supreme Criminal, Civil and Family Courts were all also variously honored for interceding in sometimes violent altercations that could have resulted in harm had they not been there.
Officers were honored for saving a court user who struck her head during a seizure, rescuing someone outside a courthouse who had been stabbed, performing CPR on a court user who was choking, and saving a mother and her child from being attacked at the Family Court entrance.
Judge Edwina Richardson, the deputy chief administrative judge for Justice Initiatives, said court officers not only enforce order and safety but provide stability and peace of mind for everyone who walks through the halls of the state’s courts. Richardson said when she visits the state’s problem-solving courts, which diverts litigants from incarceration to treatment programs, users regularly report it was the compassion and encouragement of the court officers they regularly saw that kept them motivated to finish their programs.
“Court officers are the ambassadors of justice, often the first face seen by the people who are entering our court buildings; and more often than not, are entering on perhaps the worst days of their lives,” Richardson said to the gathered court officers on Monday. “Your presence, your professionalism, your compassion, matters more than you will ever know.”
In addition to Silvera and Richardson, court officers were presented with certificates from Administrative Judges Shahabuddeen Ally, Anne-Marie Jolly, Tamiko Amaker, Michelle Johnson, and Supervising Judges Michael Goldman, Edwin Novillo and Gigi Parris, and First Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Norman St. George.
“We know that the courts cannot and will not operate without our incredible court officers,” St. George said. “The Unified Court System takes great pride in the professionalism, dedication and heroic actions demonstrated by these exemplary officers.”
