Supreme Court of the State of New York

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The Supreme Court of the State of New York includes 62 courts--one Supreme Court for each County. These courts are the highest trial courts in New York State, and are of general jurisdiction.

The New York Supreme Courts are not New York's courts of last resort. The Court of Appeals is the highest court in New York.[1]

Jurisdiction

The statewide Supreme Court

"...generally hears cases outside the authority of the lower courts such as civil matters beyond the monetary limits of the lower courts’ jurisdiction, divorce, separation and annulment proceedings, and criminal prosecutions of felonies." ("The New York State Courts: An Introductory Guide", a publication released by the New York State Unified Court System)[2]

Criminal/Civil jurisdiction

Outside New York City, the Supreme Courts typically handle large civil cases. These courts also have the authority to hear criminal felony cases, but felony cases are usually heard in the County Courts. In the 5 New York City districts however, each Supreme Court has a criminal term, or division, which handles large felony cases. The New York City Supreme Courts also have civil terms which handle civil cases. Smaller civil cases and less serious criminal cases are handled in other courts.[3][4][5]

Appeals

Appeals from Supreme Court decisions go to the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, which is New York's intermediate appellate court divided into four appellate departments. Notwithstanding the departments, the Appellate Division is one court, and its decisions are binding on all lower courts unless there is a conflict among the appellate departments. New York's highest appellate court is the New York Court of Appeals; appeals are taken from the four departments to the Court of Appeals; decisions from the Court of Appeals are binding throughout the state.[1]

Judicial districts

The counties are grouped into judicial districts from which the justices are elected. Judgeships are then allotted among the counties of the district. There are 13 judicial districts in New York.

5 judicial districts make up New York City:

There are 8 judicial districts outside of New York City:

3rd District:

4th District:

5th District:

6th District:

7th District:

8th District:

9th District:

10th District:

Election

New York Supreme Court justices are elected to 14-year terms. In practice, most of the power of selecting judges belongs to local political party organizations who cross-endorse each others' candidates. Regardless of the term for which they are elected, justices retire at the end of the year in which they reach the age of seventy years, though subject to annual review justices may serve till the age of 76, a replacement being chosen to a fresh 14-year term that November with effect from the start of the following year.

In the Spring of 2007, a federal district court in Brooklyn declared the method of nominating Supreme Court justices to be unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Judge John Gleeson stated: "A state may decide whether or not voters will be the best choosers of judges. But it may not say one thing – 'The justices of the supreme court shall be chosen by the electors,' N.Y. Const. art. VI § 6(c) – and do quite another, as they have here by effectively transferring the power to choose major party leaders. Put simply . . . the state may not pass off the will of the party leaders as the will of the people. Because that is exactly what the New York judicial convention system does, it violates the First Amendment." In late August 2006, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously affirmed Gleeson’s ruling, which mandates open primaries until the state legislature builds a new system. The old system remains in place under a stay for the 2006 judicial election process. On February 20, 2007, the Supreme Court of the United States granted petition for certiorari in this case. The case will be argued on October 3, 2007, with the decision expected by June 2008.

Because the number of elected Supreme Court Justices is far less than the number of judges needed in many counties, there are provisions for judges of the New York City Civil Court, New York City Criminal Court, New York Family Court, and New York Court of Claims to be designated as Acting Supreme Court Justices.[1]

2009 General Election

See also: 2009 contested judicial election results

The New York State general election will be held on November 3, 2009. Current candidates are listed below.

1st District:

3rd District:

4th District:

5th District, 2 vacancies:

7th District:

8th District:

9th District:

10th District:

11th District:

12th District:

(Final results are currently unavailable)

13th District:

Current Justices

External links

References

Portions of this article have been taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Copyright Notice can be found here.

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "New York Supreme Court" on Wikipedia
  2. ↑ "The New York State Courts: An Introductory Guide", (page 5)
  3. ↑ 6th Judicial District: Supreme Court jurisdiction
  4. ↑ Supreme Court 13th Judicial District
  5. ↑ New York County - Supreme Criminal Term
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 2009 Candidate List
  7. ↑ "Judge race set in district", Carol DeMare for Times Union.com, Sept. 26, 2009
  8. ↑ "Notice of Judicial Vacancies, Third Judicial District", press release, April 30, 2009
  9. ↑ "Notice of Judicial Vacancies, Fourth Judicial District", press release, March 12, 2009
  10. ↑ Democracywise, Onondaga County Races and Candidates
  11. ↑ 7th Judicial District 2009 Candidate Ratings
  12. ↑ "Democrats, GOP back Troutman, Burns in Supreme Court contest", Robert J. McCarthy, The Buffalo News, Sept. 25, 2009
  13. ↑ "Incumbents headed back to the bench", Stephen T. Watson, The Buffalo News, Nov. 03, 2009
  14. ↑ "Other Results of Note from Tuesday's Elections in Western New York", WBFO Radio News, Nov. 4, 2009
  15. ↑ "Westchester dominates Ninth Judicial District contest", Kyle Wind, Daily Freeman, November 5, 2009
  16. ↑ "2 Dutchess lawyers to run for state Supreme Court", Larry Hertz of the Poughkeepsie Journal, Sept. 28, 2009
  17. ↑ "Castro rejects Republican offer to run for seat on district court", Jonathan Bandler on LoHud.com, Sept. 30, 2009
  18. ↑ "Nassau County Republican Committee", 2009 victories
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 NY Courts: Trial Court Vacancies in the Second Judicial Department
  20. ↑ "Dominican-born judge wins bench in N.Y. State Supreme Court(UPDATE)", Dominican Today, Nov. 4, 2009
  21. ↑ Scribd.com: Initial Results Summary for the 2009 General Election pg. 3
  22. ↑ Scribd.com: Initial Results Summary for the 2009 General Election page 4
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