If you live in a rural county in Western New York and you end up in State Supreme Court, that judge is less likely to be a member of the community they’re serving according to Democratic State Assemblymember, Jon Rivera.
In an effort to change that, the Buffalo lawmaker sponsored legislation passed last week that restructures some judicial districts in the region.
The changes impact the New York State Supreme Court’s Fourth Department, which is a trial court that hears appeals in both criminal and civil cases for 22 Central and Western New York counties.
Under the state constitution, the state legislature is authorized to alter judicial districts every 10 years, but Rivera said that’s not happened in Western New York in more than a century.
“I say it half-jokingly, but you know, two world wars and the sinking of the Titanic have happened more recently than when we've redrawn these lines," he said. "As you can imagine, when we're talking about something that may have occurred at the turn of the century, a lot of things have changed. Population shifts have changed. Demographics have certainly changed."
Under the current structure, all eight Western New York counties are grouped into one judicial district. The new legislation would separate Erie County – the most populous – from the other seven. Rivera argued this would create a more representative and equitable judicial system.
"Allegany County has not elected a supreme court judge in our judicial district since the early 80s. So if I'm a resident of Allegany or Genesee or Orleans or Cattaraugus County, I almost certainly have not seen a judge from my community in my lifetime."
President of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association for the western region, David Wolff, supports the changes.
“I think the Constitution of the United States wants us to have a representative of our community that decides the case. That's why we have the jury system in general. That's why we have the judges system that we do currently, with breaking it down into districts," Wolff said.
But the legislation was greeted with caution by New York State Bar Association President, Kathleen Sweet. In a statement issued before it was passed, she urged state lawmakers to “refrain from acting on this legislation at this time.” Sweet wanted a better evaluation of the change.
But Wolff argues the restructuring will help move cases along.
"From my perspective, in response to the critics of the bill, we are living and working in these conditions and these courts every single day. And our organization are trial lawyers, and we are for this because it will lead to better judges every single day, more qualified judges representative of the community."
The legislation is expected to be signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul.
