Attorneys For Silver, Skelos Will Appeal
If the federal indictment, trial, and subsequent conviction of former Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver (D – Lower East Side, Manhattan) have taught other elected officials anything, it is that even if you think what you’re doing is legal, the justice system, led by prosecutors, may have a different opinion.
A week and a half after Silver’s conviction, former Senate majority leader Dean Skelos (R – Rockville Centre, Nassau County) and his son, Adam, were found guilty on eight felony counts each. Skelos ad to resign his Senate seat, which includes a heavily Orthodox Jewish constituency.
Silver and Skelos each face up to 130 years in prison if they are ordered to serve the convictions consecutively. The 71-year old Silver would serve 20 years if the judge mandates that he serve concurrent terms.
A sentencing date for Silver has not yet been set. Skelos, 67, will be sentenced on March 3, 2016.
Silver’s and Skelos’s legal teams plan to appeal the convictions, and the cases could take several years to wind their way through the backlogged court system.
Asked about the atmosphere in Albany, one former lawmaker would only speak on the condition of anonymity.
“It’s just not a good environment,” my source said. “It’s not an environment I want to be a part of. When I joined the Assembly, it was such a different place. It was a Jewish place and I liked it. It was a Jewish place because of Shelly and there were a lot of Jewish legislators. Now it’s just not the element I want to be in. You’re guilty by association.”
More Jewish Seats Lost In Judiciary And Legislature
The aftermath of Sheldon Silver’s conviction leaves his Lower East Side Assembly seat up for grabs for the first time since 1976, when he was first elected. Sources tell The Jewish Press the leading candidate to succeed Silver is Jenifer Rajkumar, a civil rights attorney with the firm Sanford Heisler Kimpel. She is 33, an Indian-American, and the district leader for the Downtown Independent Democrats. Other hopefuls are said to include Paul Newell and Gigi Li. There are four Democratic clubs in lower Manhattan.
Alec Brook-Krasny, a Russian-born, Jewish Democrat who represented the 46th Assembly District, including the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Brighton Beach, Sea Gate, and Coney Island, resigned in July for a job as chief operating officer with QLS Quality Lab Services. Last month his seat was filled by African-American retired Rikers Island Corrections Officer Pamela Harris.
Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman has reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 after serving only six years as the state’s top jurist. His predecessor, Judith Kaye, now 77, served as chief judge for 15 years. After 21 years of two Jewish jurists leading the state’s top court, the governor has nominated Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, the only child of Italian immigrants. She is married to retired attorney Dennis Glazer.
Freshman Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky (D – Long Beach, Nassau County), 37, a former federal prosecutor, is said to be the odds-on favorite for the Skelos seat.
There are four open seats in the state legislature. The governor has hinted that the special election to fill the vacancies will be April 19, 2016, the date of New York’s presidential primary election.
Since 2013 there are five fewer seats occupied by Jewish members in the state legislature. In 2013, 16 percent of the 213-member legislature was represented by Jewish lawmakers. Now it is 13 percent.