Justice Blackburne stripped of robes

Controversial Queens Supreme Court Justice Laura Blackburne was benched by the State Supreme Court after a series of headline-making missteps — including helping a robbery suspect escape before his imminent arrest. The New York State Supreme Court called Blackburn’s actions “rash and reckless” as they kicked her off the bench last week with a 5-2 ruling.
Blackburne, the court said, had “placed herself above the law she swore to administer, thereby bringing the judiciary into disrepute and undermining public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of her court.”
In 2004, Blackburne ordered court officers to take Derek Sterling, a suspect in a robbery and assault case, out of the court’s side door to prevent his arrest – resulting in Blackburne’s removal from criminal cases.
Two years earlier, Blackburne dropped charges against a defendant who was accused of shooting Detective David Gonzalez during a 1999 drug bust, claiming that the suspect, William Hodges, had been denied a speedy trial. Her decision, which was later appealed by the state appeals court, sparked anger from Gonzalez, who hailed Blackburne’s dismissal last week with satisfaction.
According to the court’s ruling, Blackburne was “an adversary of the police,” which “is completely incompatible with the proper role of an impartial judge.”
Before Blackburne’s stint on the State Supreme Court, which began in 2000, she served on the City’s Civil Court for five years and as the head of the Housing Authority, where controversy also plagued her reputation.
In 1991, Blackburne helped issue the ruling that cleared Mayor David Dinkins of racism and wrongdoing involving the boycott of Korean grocers in Brooklyn. In 1992, Blackburne was forced to resign from the Housing Authority after the media blasted her lavish office refurbishments — totaling $341,000 for her executive offices and including $3,000 for a pink leather couch.
Last year when the State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued charges against Blackburne and recommended her removal from the bench, she was suspended and stripped of her $136,700-a-year salary. Blackburne was two months away from retiring when the court issued their ruling last week.
“We’re very disappointed,” said her lawyer Richard Godosky, according to published reports. “Everyone agreed that she would never repeat this again.”
Blackburne’s supporters in southeast Queens also expressed dissatisfaction at the ruling.
“I know Ms. Blackburne, and I know her as a great person,” said Yvonne Reddick, district manager for Community Board 12 in St. Albans, adding that she has known Blackburn for many years.