With the retirement of Justice Randall T. Eng as the presiding justice of the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, Second Department, Governor Andrew Cuomo will soon act to appoint a replacement from the list of current judges who have applied for the post.
For a variety of reasons we urge that he choose an Orthodox Jewish jurist.
The appellate divisions of New York State Supreme Court, of which there are four, are the intermediate appellate courts in New York State. They ordinarily hear appeals from supreme courts, surrogate’s courts, family courts, county courts, and the Court of Claims. They are just below the New York State Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, but as a practical matter most cases end at the appellate division level.
The Second Department courthouse is located in Brooklyn and covers Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, and Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester counties. It is the largest department in terms of population and is considered one of the busiest courts in the United States.
It is not only the largest jurisdiction in terms of general population, it also has within its jurisdictional borders the largest concentration of Orthodox Jews outside of Israel.
Members of the Orthodox community have several unique problems arising out of the conflicts between their religious beliefs and standard societal practices. When these kinds of issues become the subject of legal proceedings in the context of the application of protective laws or common law principles, separate and apart from factual issues it is important that there be the fullest appreciation of the legitimacy of the religious principles invoked. Personal knowledge in this regard is often invaluable.
This is especially true on an appellate court where cases on appeal are conferenced by the assigned justices prior to a decision being rendered. Yet the Orthodox Jewish community is largely unrepresented on the appellate court level.
We ask Gov. Cuomo to pay serious attention to this significant deficiency.