Special Commission on the Future of the New York State Courts

significant authority over our state’s families yet are either
elected on a countywide basis or are not even elected at all;
Supreme Court Justices preside over a wide variety of civil and
criminal matters and may be located in the same building as the
Family Court, yet its judges today are elected on a Judicial
District basis. Our proposal makes no changes to this already
complex system of selection while concentrating on much needed
structural improvements to the courts. The notion that the
resulting system will seem “incongruous” should not stand in the
way of reform that will profoundly impact the lives of millions
of New Yorkers.
Concerns About “Diluting” the Pool of Justices
Eligible for Appointment to Appellate Positions
“A broader pool of judges
should make it easier for
women and minorities to be
designated to the appellate
court.”
– Atlantic Legal
Foundation, March
2005
It has been suggested by some that court restructuring
would unfairly “dilute” the existing pool of judges eligible for
appointment to the Appellate Division. In other words, because
consolidation would make selection to the appellate bench
possible for large numbers of additional judges, the concern is
that this could reduce the chances of selection for existing,
experienced JSCs.
We view an expanded pool of potential appellate judges
to be a benefit to the public, not a concern. Because only sitting
Supreme Court Justices may be appointed to the Appellate
Division, the pool of eligible judges is both small and not
sufficiently diverse. By elevating Family Court judges, for
example, to Supreme Court positions, the number of women and
minorities who would be eligible to sit on the appellate bench
would be increased. 166 Because a primary focus of efforts to
restructure the courts is to facilitate a more equitable
administration of justice, we strongly believe that one way to
achieve such equality is to provide the means for a more diverse
pool of decision makers in our state’s appellate courts. We also
note that by expanding the pool of eligible judges, the selection
166
In 2006, 27% of JSCs, excluding Acting JSCs (who are not eligible
for appointment to the Appellate Division) were women. By contrast, 71% of the
New York City Family Court judges were women and 48% of the Family Court
judges outside New York City were women. Data provided by OCA.
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A Court System for the Future, February 2007