2007 Issue 1 - New York City Bar Association

J U D I C I A L S E L E C T I O N T A S K F O R C E
reform of the current judicial convention and primary systems designed
to redress—among other things—the constitutional infirmities identified
in Lopez Torres until the State Constitution is amended in favor of a
commission-based appointive system. The Task Force is adamantly opposed
to the default solution of primary elections for Supreme Court
without public financing and without a convention system. See generally
Section II.
Finally, regardless of whether appointive or elective systems are in use
for the selection of judges, changes must be made to promote a more
diverse pool of candidates, and therefore a more diverse bench. These
changes include public financing for all judicial candidates; the use of
diverse screening and qualification commissions; encouraging appointing
authorities to commit to the importance of diversity; public education
about the importance of a diverse judiciary; and, if the convention
system survives after Lopez Torres, reductions in the number of convention
delegates. See generally Section III.
The Task Force believes that the recent developments relating to judicial
selection issues, and in particular the Second Circuit’s decision in
Lopez Torres, require a change to the current election process and provide
the most promising opportunity in many decades for a thorough reassessment
of the current judicial selection system. In this Report, we urge
the adoption of reforms designed to provide our State with a judiciary of
the highest quality and independence, and to restore the confidence of
all New Yorkers in the judicial system.
I. PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
IN FAVOR OF A COMMISSION-BASED APPOINTIVE SYSTEM
New Yorkers are faced with a historic opportunity for reforming the
State’s disingenuous process for selecting many of New York’s trial court
judges. In the wake of the seminal decision by the Second Circuit Court
of Appeals in Lopez Torres, the Legislature must consider what changes
should be made in the manner in which candidates are nominated for
the position of Supreme Court Justice. For reasons set forth in this Report,
the Legislature should seize this opportunity and enact, for consideration
by the voters in a statewide referendum, an amendment to Article
6 of the New York State Constitution providing for commission-based
appointment for all New York State trial court judges and for the presiding
justice and justices of the Appellate Divisions of the State Supreme
Court.
T H E R E C O R D
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