NY County Judicial Candidates' Voter Guide: You Have No Choice

NEW YORK COUNTY We have been advised of the following judicial candidates for election in your county. Candidates whose names are underlined have opted to participate in this voter guide. Click on underlined names to see biographical information provided by participating candidates. LINK Supreme Court 1st Judicial District Vote for 4: Shlomo Hagler Manuel J. Mendez Saliann Scarpulla George Silver New York City  Surrogate's Court Vote for 1: Rita Mella New York City  Civil Court (New York County) Vote for 3: Melissa A. Crane Verna Saunders Anil C. Singh New York City  Civil Court (2nd District)Vote for 1: Debra Rose Samuels New York City  Civil Court (3rd District) Vote for 1: Lisa A. Sokoloff New York City  Civil Court (6th District) Vote for 2: Arthur F. Engoron Shawn T. Kelly New York City  Civil Court (8th District) Vote for 1: Jeanette Rodriguez-Morick

Please note: Candidates are solely responsible for the content and accuracy of their information. Candidates whose names are not underlined have opted not to participate in this voter guide. Applicable voting rules will determine which registered voters in your county may be eligible to vote for candidates to courts of limited jurisdiction (e.g., City Courts, District Courts, or New York City Civil Courts). From Betsy Combier: Also make note that NYSUT Attorney Shawn Kelly is now a judge!!! Kelley has been responsible for falling in line behind Mayor Bloomberg in destroying the careers of excellent, caring teachers. When Chris Asch went to him to ask for his help in responding to the Appeal of the New York Law Department (they want to overturn the thorough and fair decision of Judge Manuel Mendez to vacate Arbitrator David Hyland's penalty of Chris' 6 month's suspension) he told Chris that Mendez's decision was terrible, and fellow NYSUT Attorney Aileen Naughton did an awful job at the 3020-a, but as Adam Ross, Claude Hersh, and Mike Mulgrew asked him to do the Response papers, he would do it. I suggested that Chris ask NYSUT to help him, and felt very sorry for doing that when Chris called me immediately after he left Shawn's office. Chris hired Fred Aaron and me to help him instead.  Just watch for bias and prejudice if you are a teacher and you end up before Judge Shawn Kelley.

Bob Kappstatter on Maria Baez' Payback and Bronx Surrogate Court Race

Councilwoman behind Dem Boss downfall slapped with 73G campaign tab

By Bob Kappstatter, Bronx Times

Bob Kappstatter

 

LINK

The woman behind Assemblyman Jose Rivera’s downfall as Bronx Democratic county leader owes the city Campaign Finance Board some big bux.

It slapped former west Bronx Councilwoman Maria Baez last week with almost $73,000 in penalties and a bill for unspent matching funds from the 2009 race she lost to current Morris Heights Councilman Fernando Cabrera.

It also hit Yudelka Tapia, female district leader in the 86th Assembly District there, with a $107,704 bill for penalties and unspent funding from that same 2009 council race.

For Maria, who’s since slipped into obscurity, the tab was $45,200 in penalites and $27,762 in unaccounted-for matching funds from $70,100 she received.

Board spokesman Eric Friedman said the former longtime incumbent failed to respond with an accounting after mailings to her last known address, a post office box. Next, he said, could be small claims court, and possibly a lien.

Maria was Jose’s long-time right hand, especially after he took a deal to step out of the borough president’s race against Adolfo Carrion Jr. to become county leader.

A lotta partycrats soon charged Jose (through Maria) was turning the party into an all-Puerto Rican, all-the-time benefits group.

One of the final nails in the coffin came when party consigliere Stanley Schlein demanded Jose choose between him and Maria.

Stanley lost and soon joined dissident electeds who formed the Rainbow Revolution that toppled Jose and installed current leader, Assemblyman Carl Heastie.

Yudelka could now have a problem if she had any plans to jump into the 15th Council District race. With Joel Rivera term-limited out of the central Bronx seat, a number of folks have been eyeing it.

Yudelka COULD run, but without new matching funds unless she pays off $47,774 in fines and repays or accounts for $59,930 out of the original $78,828 in matching funds.

One candidate out of the red, so speak, is Andy King, who has the backing of the Dem Party in the Nov. 6 special election to fill the northeast Bronx seat of disgraced - and convicted - former Councilman Larry (The Fox) Seabrook.

King owed the board $30,000 from his last unsuccessful challenge in 2009. He’s now received $49,000 in matching funds from the CFB, based on $28,000 he’s already raised for this race, said Friedman.

SIDE NOTE: King was admitted to a local hospital with chest pains Sunday evening, missing Monday night’s debate on Gary Axelbank’s BronxTalk with five other candidates vying for Seabrook’s seat. Hope he’s out by now.

To catch the debate, go to www.bronxnet.org/tv/bronxtalk/.

SURROGATE TALE

A little behind-the-scenes look at the Bronx Surrogate’s race:

Gov. Cuomo this month named Bronx state Supreme Court Justice Darcel Clarke to the Appellate Division in Manhattan, who WAS in the running for party backing in the Bronx Surrogate’s race.

Both she and Acting Supreme Court Justice Nelida Malave-Gonzalez passed the party’s judicial screening panel (former Parkchester Assembly and now state labor commissionerPeter Rivera did NOT).

There was lotsa buzz at the time over whether the party would support an African-American or a Latino for the job.

But our source tells us that after passing the appellate division screening panel and being contacted by the governor’s people, Clarke informed the party that she was out of the running for the job as Surrogate.

Current Surrogate Lee Holzman is NOT running for reelection after becoming enmeshed in a scandal involving ex-Public Administrator Michael Lippman, currently facing trial for allegedly looting the estates of persons who died without wills.

INDEPENDENT

Assemblyman Eric Stevenson packed Maestro’s at his Oct. 18 fundraiser against Jose Padilla Jr., who’s on the Independence Party line.

Eric said Jose’s playing a word game, calling himself “the INDEPENDENT Democrat.”

Jose, whose Belmont address was redistricted out of Eric’s 79th A.D. in Morrisania, defeated him in 2006 for male district leader, then was knocked off the ballot in 2008 for both district leader and assembly in a race against former assemblyman Michael Benjamin.

Padilla, a former law enforcement officer, said he didn’t go for matching funds in this race, and is planning a last-minute fundraiser in what looks like a Stevenson steamroller on Nov. 6.

SNOOKI RUNNING

Disappointed supporters of Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera, who lost to challenger Mark Gjonaj in the Sept. 13 Democratic Primary will still have a chance in the Nov. 6 general election when Snooki will be on the Working Families line. Good luck!

COP CORNER

We’re told cops are calling the Pelham Houses the Tell ‘Em Houses after loose lips helped them make a fast ID on a shooter who killed one man and wounded another there.

As for the murder this summer of 88-year-old Evelyn Shapiro, sources tell us cops are just waiting for DNA results before they move in on “a person of interest.”

BRONX BIRTHDAYS

John Gotti. (October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) Yes. He was born in the Bronx.

Judicial Watch: Judicial Financial Disclosure Project

 

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The Judicial Financial Disclosure Project is an educational effort by Judicial Watch, to enable concerned citizens, public interest groups and the media a single, one-stop resource for financial information of the federal judiciary.
Judicial Watch provides a complete, easy-to-use resource for financial disclosure reports for federal judges. Browse our archive of financial disclosure reports for all Supreme Court justices, appellate court and district court judges by selecting an option:

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These financial disclosure reports, which were obtained through the Ethics in Government Act, are released annually following a security review by the U.S. Marshals Service. They have been compiled and posted here as a public service and are accessible at no charge.
Financial Disclosure Report: Filing Instructions for Judicial Officers and Employees.

Former NYS Chief Judge Judith Kaye And SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher Cited In Scam

SUNY flim-flam

• New York POST
• Last Updated: 11:01 PM, October 20, 2012
• Posted: October 21, 2012
• LINK

It looks like state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is about to rip the State University’s Research Foundation for misspending millions.

Including that $913,000 no-bid contract to former New York Chief Judge Judith Kaye’s firm to conduct a legal analysis.

That’s good news: This page first called on DiNapoli to investigate that dubious contract — which spared top SUNY brass from serious criticism in a scandal surrounding an equally dubious basketball program — back in March 2010.

As allegations swirled surrounding the program at SUNY-Binghamton, SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher personally selected Kaye and her law firm for the contract.

Nancy Zimpher

Paying for the Kaye contract was the foundation, which ostensibly funds organized research through its $1 billion endowment.

At the time, Zimpher claimed this was to spare taxpayers the cost of the contract.

But the arrangement also allowed her to get around a state law requiring such contracts to be put to bid and approved by both the attorney general and the comptroller.

And that’s hardly the only problem at the foundation, according to a draft copy of the audit obtained last week by an upstate newspaper.

Zimpher herself reportedly is criticized for spending $28,000 in foundation funds on personal expenses — like private-club memberships and booze.

The foundation fired its general counsel after just 11 months and ended up paying her $655,356 in salary, bonus and severance.

The foundation’s research manager at one campus, who was fired last winter, used his official credit card for foreign travel, an iPad, luxury dining and season hockey tickets.

Moreover, according to the audit, the foundation spent $3 million on at least 10 contracts that violated policy and/or had a potential conflict of interest.

The foundation has hired a new president who’s promised a “new day” by tightening contracting policies and issuing new ethical guidelines.

Sounds like a thorough housecleaning is called for first.

Cuomo Signs New Law Allowing Attorneys To Put Liens On Settlement Proceeds

Matthew Titone

Cuomo signs attorney fee bill authored by Staten Island's Titone

Published: Friday, October 12, 2012, 6:18 PM     Updated: Friday, October 12, 2012, 6:20 PM

 By Judy L. Randall 
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A bill penned by Assemblyman Matthew Titone, that would allow lawyers to put liens on settlement proceeds obtained through dispute resolution, has been signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Said Titone (D-North Shore): "Allowing these liens not only gives attorneys greatly needed protection for the value of their legal services, but benefits the public as well because it encourages settlement and alternative dispute resolution ... While clients and the court system benefit from the increased use of alternative dispute resolution, as an attorney I recognized that lawyers were assuming a substantial risk in agreeing to perform legal services for clients absent the filing of litigation."

He noted that prior to the law, lawyers didn't have a way of getting paid if the dispute never reached court.

"Expanding the lien law to include alternative dispute resolution and out-of-court settlements will help avoid attorney fee disputes, and encourage the resolution of cases without having to burden an already overburdened court system," said Maria Cilenti, legislative director of the New York State Bar Association, praising the new law.

David Loglisci Sentenced After "Pay To Play" Scheme

Former NY pension fund officer sentenced over corruption

Tue, Oct 9 2012

By Karen Freifeld

NEW YORK (Reuters) - David Loglisci, former chief investment officer at the New York state pension fund, was sentenced to a conditional discharge Tuesday for allowing a "culture of corruption" at the fund.

Loglisci is among eight people who pleaded guilty in a probe of "pay-to-play" at the New York state Common Retirement Fund under Alan Hevesi, the comptroller from 2003 to 2006, whose job it was to manage the fund. Hevesi, who admitted to abusing his position, is serving up to four years in prison.

The investigation by former New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, now the state's governor, revealed how politics and placement fees resulted in favored treatment for certain money managers.

More than $5 billion in alternative investments at the New York pension fund were tainted by kickbacks, the office said.

The probe also revealed similar problems at public pension funds across the country.

Loglisci, 42, who earned a law degree and MBA from the University of Notre Dame, was a vice president of investment banking at Salomon Smith Barney before he began working for the New York State Common Retirement Fund in 2002. He took a 70 percent paycut by going into public service, he said.

"I entered an environment where political considerations were a customary part of the decision-making process," Loglisci told the judge Tuesday in New York state Supreme Court in lower Manhattan. "And to my failure, I went along with it."

Unlike the other defendants, there's no evidence Loglisci received any money from the "pay-to-play" scheme, prosecutors said in court papers.

During the investigation, Cuomo said a low-budget film, "Chooch," produced by Loglisci's brother, had investments from money managers who also did business with the fund.

Loglisci, who now lives in Oklahoma, has already paid a "dear price" for going along, his attorney, Kevin Keating, told New York state Supreme Court Justice Lewis Bart Stone.

He now manages a startup car wash business in Oklahoma, Keating said. "He's done in the financial sector."

Stone said a good argument had been made to sentence Loglisci to a conditional discharge, meaning the case is closed so long as he doesn't commit other crimes.

In 2010, Loglisci had pleaded guilty to a violation of the state's business law, a felony.

"You sold out and you didn't get any money for it, which shows how naive you were," Stone said.

Loglisci ceded his authority at the pension fund to Hevesi's political consultant Hank Morris, who got $19 million in fees. Morris, who also pleaded guilty, went to prison for his role.

Loglisci's cooperation was "a seminal factor leading to the guilty pleas of Hevesi and Morris," Eric Schneiderman, now New York's attorney general, said in court papers.

Loglisci said he is also cooperating with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

With the felony conviction, Loglisci will automatically lose his license to practice law.

During his tenure, the New York state pension fund grew from $95 billion in 2003 to over $190 billion in 2007, Loglisci said, adjusting for member contributions and payments.

The case is People v. Morris, 0025/2009, New York State Supreme Court, New York County (Manhattan).

(Reporting By Karen Freifeld; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Democrats Name LaShann DeArcy To Ethics Panel

LaShann M. DeArcy LaShann M. DeArcy is a member of Morrison & Foerster’s Litigation Department.  Her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation representing Fortune 500 companies, among others, in a wide range of accountant liability, antitrust, contract, tort, and securities matters.  Ms. DeArcy’s experience includes numerous successful representations in state and federal trials, as well as alternative dispute resolution tribunals.  She has authored several successful appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Fourth Circuits and the New York State Appellate Division. In addition, Ms. DeArcy has volunteered her time to numerous pro bono efforts.  She successfully represented a woman on death row, winning a reversal by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals of her client’s death sentence.  She also negotiated a favorable settlement on behalf of an inmate seeking redress of First Amendment violations in a Section 1983 action, among other matters.  Ms. DeArcy has worked directly with programs aimed at introducing minority youth to the law, such as Sponsors for Education Opportunity (SEO), Constitutional Works, and the High School of Law and Justice.  For her work in promoting diversity in the legal profession, Ms. DeArcy was honored by the New York City Bar Association as a recipient of its 2009 Diversity Champion Award. Ms. DeArcy serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Neighborhood Defenders Service of Harlem. Ms. DeArcy is also an executive member of the Council of Urban Professionals, and is a member of the Metro Manhattan Chapter of the Links, Inc. Ms. DeArcy earned her J.D. magna cum laude from Howard University School of Law in 2000.  At Howard University, Ms. DeArcy was a member of the Howard Law Journal.  She was also captain of the national championship Huver L. Brown Trial Advocacy Moot Court Team and was individually honored as the “Best Advocate” in the Allegheny Trial Lawyers’ Association Trial Advocacy Competition.  Ms. DeArcy earned her undergraduate degree from Antioch College in 1992, where she was a Chatergee Merit Scholar.  She was also a member of the United States Air Force from 1995 to 1997. Democrats name LaShann DeArcy to replace Ravi Batra on state ethics panel  Senate Minority Leader John Sampson names Taxi & Limousine Commission lawyer DeArcy to Joint Commission on Public Integrity By Kenneth Lovett / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, October 8, 2012, 12:57 AM Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/dems-new-member-state-ethics-panel-article-1.1177338#ixzz28kIfiIIM Senate Minority Leader John Sampson taps LaShann DeArcy to join ethics panel as it probes sex harassment accusations against Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez. ALBANY — State Senate Democrats have appointed a replacement on the state ethics commission for Ravi Batra, who resigned after complaining about leaks and outside pressure during the Vito Lopez investigation. Senate Minority Leader John Sampson has appointed LaShann DeArcy, a Manhattan lawyer who Mayor Bloomberg named to the city Taxi and Limousine Commission, as his sole appointment to the Joint Commission on Public Integrity, a top Senate Dem said. DeArcy once served as a scheduler for Queens Rep. Floyd Flake. She has been of counsel to Morrison & Foerster LLP since October 2010. Before that, she worked for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as a senior litigate associate. DeArcy joins JCOPE in the midst of a high-profile probe into the handling of sexual harassment allegations against Lopez, a Brooklyn Democratic Assemblyman. klovett@nydailynews.com

William "Bill" Windsor and His Campain To End Court Corruption

Documentary Exposes Unbridled Court Corruption in LAWLESS AMERICA

Posted on October 5, 2012 

William M. Windsor is a man on a mission to stop government abuse of US citizens, particularly by the judicial branch of government.  He has recognized the danger of a growing societal wrong that is harming the people and he has set out to change it. Mr. Windsor is currently traveling the country filming and documenting people’s horror stories of how abusive courts have devastated their lives, many times simply because they questioned the morality or legality of the actions of those in authority. 

 

The documentary is titled Lawless America and the project seems to be going quite well. They are currently filming in Southern California. Today’s filming was in San Diego. It was the 110th day on the road for Mr. Windsor and his crew of the 172 days scheduled throughout the country. 

 

Today I witnessed people share their experiences at the hand of the notoriously compromised California judicial branch. They told of the failure of government agencies and elected officials to stop the courts’ Machiavellian ways. They shared what they had learned the hard way in hopes of helping others to not get caught in the web of manipulation and retaliation that the California legal system become. As I understand it, people are reporting similar horrific abuses all across the country.

 

The filming relies on a small crew and volunteers at each location to help with the mechanics of making a documentary. Bill Windsor is the driving force and tirelessly does all the interviews. He is a handsome man in his early sixties. He is pleasant, a good listener and treats all who he meets with equal respect, patience and courtesy. He carries a demeanor that makes people feel comfortable and safe to share their stories.

 

There can be no doubt that this man is a wise old soul and the epitome of a fearless heart. There can also be no doubt that this kind man will have a retalitory bulls eye placed on his back for exposing massive amounts of fraud, abuse and corruption by those whose sole job is to protect the Constitution and the people from fraud, abuse and corruption, i.e. the broken judicial systems of the United States of America.

 

The filming of the documentary has become a national movement with the momentum growing daily.  On January 9, 2013, Mr. Windsor and friends will personally be delivering the message from the citizens of the United States to its Congress in Washington, DC that abusive courts will no longer be tolerated by the people.

 

If you have a story to tell of unbridled abuse by the courts while other branches of government have turned a blind eye or you are able to help with this worthy endeavor, please visit the Lawless America web site at lawlessamerica.com for more information.

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