By Gina Martinez
City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest) commended Mayor Bill de Blasio for filling interim Civil Court vacancies last week.
De Blasio announced the appointments of two new judges to Criminal Court and seven new interim Civil Court judges who will sit in Criminal Court.
According to de Blasio, these judges span a wide spectrum of experiencesand are uniquely qualified to serve New Yorkers.
“New Yorkers deserve dedicated, experienced and impartial judges in court,” he said. “I look forward to working with these nine new judges, who have diverse personal and professional backgrounds and will represent the best interest of New Yorkers across the five boroughs.”
Judge Keshia Espinal, who served with the Queens County District Attorney’s Office for 16 years, and Judge Danielle Hartman, a former prosecutor with the Queens DA’s office, are the two new judges assigned to Criminal Court.
The seven Civil Court judges include Judge Angela Badamo, who served with the New York State Unified Court System for 17 years; Judge Mary Bejarano, who served for nearly five years with the Queens County DA’s office before becoming a criminal defense attorney; Judge Tara Collins, who served with the Legal Aid Society, criminal defense practice for 18 years, including the last nine years as a mental health attorney; Judge Scott Dunn, who served with the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn for the past 23 years; Judge Jerry Iannece, who served with the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office; Judge Joseph McCormack, who served with the Bronx County DA’s office for 31 years, most recently as the chief of the Trial Division/Vehicular Crimes Bureau; and Judge Jeffrey Rosenblueth, who served with the New York State Unified Court System for the last seven years as a principal law clerk.
Lancman, who serves as the chairman of the Council’s Committee on Courts & Legal Services, said after months of waiting he is glad the mayor filled the court vacancies.
“The new judges will almost certainly be assigned to serve in New York City Criminal Court where we are in dire need of judges.,” he said. “The addition of these seven qualified judges to Criminal Court will help ease the tremendous case backlog that currently exists. I urge the mayor to begin the planning process for next year’s appointments immediately, following judicial nominating conventions in September, where the number of judicial vacancies will first become known. Doing so will ensure judges are in place by Jan. 1.”
Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmart
