Bill Text: NY A00934 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes a system of merit selection of judges of the state's major trial courts instead of elections and for the designation of certain justices of the supreme court; affects certain courts including the supreme court, surrogate's court, the New York city civil court, the New York city criminal court and the district court.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-18 - opinion referred to judiciary [A00934 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A00934-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 934 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 6, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CARROLL, GALEF, GOTTFRIED, PAULIN -- Multi-Spon- sored by -- M. of A. LUPARDO -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Judiciary CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY proposing amendments to article 6 of the constitution, in relation to the manner of selecting judges and justices of the unified court system, and to repeal section 21 of article 6 thereof relating thereto 1 Section 1. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That subdivision c of 2 section 4 of article 6 of the constitution be amended to read as 3 follows: 4 c. The governor shall designate the presiding justice of each appel- 5 late division, who shall act as such during his or her term of office 6 and shall be a resident of the department. The other justices of the 7 appellate divisions shall be designated by the governor, from all the 8 justices [elected to] of the supreme court, other than those serving by 9 interim appointment pursuant to section twenty-one of this article for 10 terms of five years or the unexpired portions of their respective terms 11 of office, if less than five years. 12 § 2. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That subdivisions b and c of 13 section 6 of article 6 of the constitution be amended to read as 14 follows: 15 b. Once every ten years the legislature may increase or decrease the 16 number of judicial districts or alter the composition of judicial 17 districts and thereupon re-apportion the justices to be thereafter 18 [elected] selected in the judicial districts so altered. Each judicial 19 district shall be bounded by county lines. 20 c. [The justices of the supreme court shall be chosen by the electors21of the judicial district in which they are to serve.] The terms of 22 justices of the supreme court shall be fourteen years [from and includ-23ing the first day of January next after their election]. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD89059-01-1A. 934 2 1 § 3. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That section 9 of article 6 of 2 the constitution be amended to read as follows: 3 § 9. The court of claims is continued. It shall consist of the eight 4 judges now authorized by law, but the legislature may increase such 5 number and may reduce such number to six or seven. The terms of the 6 judges shall be [appointed by the governor by and with the advice and7consent of the senate and their terms of office shall be] nine years. 8 The court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine claims against 9 the state or by the state against the claimant or between conflicting 10 claimants as the legislature may provide. 11 § 4. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That subdivisions a and b of 12 section 10 of article 6 of the constitution be amended to read as 13 follows: 14 a. The county court is continued in each county outside the city of 15 New York. There shall be at least one judge of the county court in each 16 county and such number of additional judges in each county as may be 17 provided by law. The judges shall be residents of the county [and shall18be chosen by the electors of the county]. 19 b. The terms of the judges of the county court shall be ten years 20 [from and including the first day of January next after their election]. 21 § 5. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That subdivisions b and c of 22 section 12 of article 6 of the constitution be amended to read as 23 follows: 24 b. The judges of the surrogate's court shall be residents of the coun- 25 ty [and shall be chosen by the electors of the county]. 26 c. The terms of the judges of the surrogate's court in the city of New 27 York shall be fourteen years, and in other counties ten years[, from and28including the first day of January next after their election]. 29 § 6. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That subdivision a of section 13 30 of article 6 of the constitution be amended to read as follows: 31 a. The family court of the state of New York is hereby established. It 32 shall consist of at least one judge in each county outside the city of 33 New York and such number of additional judges for such counties as may 34 be provided by law. Within the city of New York it shall consist of such 35 number of judges as may be provided by law. The judges of the family 36 court within the city of New York shall be residents of such city and 37 [shall be appointed by the mayor of the city of New York for terms of38ten years. The] the judges of the family court outside the city of New 39 York[,] shall be [chosen by the electors of the counties wherein they40reside for] residents of the county. The terms of judges of the family 41 court shall be ten years. 42 § 7. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That subdivision a of section 15 43 of article 6 of the constitution be amended to read as follows: 44 a. The legislature shall by law establish a single court of city-wide 45 civil jurisdiction and a single court of city-wide criminal jurisdiction 46 in and for the city of New York and the legislature may, upon the 47 request of the mayor and the local legislative body of the city of New 48 York, merge the two courts into one city-wide court of both civil and 49 criminal jurisdiction. The said city-wide courts shall consist of such 50 number of judges as may be provided by law. The judges of the court of 51 city-wide civil jurisdiction and of the court of city-wide criminal 52 jurisdiction shall be residents of such city [and shall be chosen for] 53 and their terms [of] shall be ten years [by the electors of the counties54included within the city of New York from districts within such counties55established by law. The judges of the court of city-wide criminal juris-A. 934 3 1diction shall be residents of such city and shall be appointed for terms2of ten years by the mayor of the city of New York]. 3 § 8. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That subdivision h of section 16 4 of article 6 of the constitution be amended to read as follows: 5 h. The judges shall be residents of the district and [shall be chosen6by the electors of the district. Their] their terms shall be six years 7 [from and including the first day of January next after their election]. 8 § 9. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That the opening paragraph of 9 subdivision b of section 20 of article 6 of the constitution be amended 10 to read as follows: 11 A judge of the court of appeals, justice of the supreme court, judge 12 of the court of claims, judge of a county court, judge of the surro- 13 gate's court, judge of the family court or judge of a court for the city 14 of New York established pursuant to section fifteen of this article [who15is elected or appointed after the effective date of this article] may 16 not: 17 § 10. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That section 21 of article 6 of 18 the constitution be REPEALED and a new section 21 be added to read as 19 follows: 20 § 21. a. There shall be a judicial nominating commission for each 21 judicial district outside the city of New York to evaluate the qualifi- 22 cations of candidates for appointment in such district to the offices of 23 judge or justice of the supreme court, the county court, the family 24 court, the surrogate's court, and, in each district in which the dis- 25 trict court has been established, the district court. There shall be one 26 city-wide judicial nominating commission to evaluate the qualifications 27 of candidates for appointment in the city of New York to the offices of 28 judge or justice of the supreme court, the family court, the surrogate's 29 court, and the city-wide court or courts for such city established pur- 30 suant to section fifteen of this article. There shall be one statewide 31 judicial nominating commission to evaluate the qualifications of candi- 32 dates for appointment to the office of judge of the court of claims, and 33 for designation to the offices of presiding justice and justice of the 34 appellate division. 35 b. (1) Each such commission shall consist of thirteen at-large members 36 of whom four shall be appointed by the governor, three by the chief 37 judge of the court of appeals, one each by the temporary president of 38 the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority leader of the sen- 39 ate and the minority leader of the assembly, and one by the president of 40 the New York state bar association. The chief administrator of the 41 courts shall be a member of the statewide judicial nominating commis- 42 sion. Each commission, other than a statewide judicial nominating 43 commission, also shall include one at-large member appointed by the pre- 44 siding justice of the appellate division of the department in which the 45 district is located and two regional members from each county in the 46 district appointed by the chief elected official of the county, except 47 that there shall be four regional members appointed from each county in 48 the city of New York, two of whom shall be appointed by the chief 49 elected official of such county and two of whom shall be appointed by 50 the mayor of such city. Regional members shall serve only when the 51 vacant office is to be filled by a resident of their county. To the 52 extent practicable, the members of each commission shall reflect diver- 53 sity of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, geography and, 54 among those who are also members of the bar, various practice areas and 55 size of practice.A. 934 4 1 (2) Of the four members of each commission appointed by the governor, 2 not more than two shall be enrolled in the same political party and at 3 least two shall not be members of the bar of the state. Of the three 4 members appointed by the chief judge of the court of appeals, not more 5 than two shall be members of the bar of the state. The member appointed 6 by the presiding justice of the appellate division shall be a member of 7 the bar of the state. The two regional members from each county outside 8 the city of New York shall not be enrolled in the same political party 9 and one shall not be a member of the bar of the state. The two regional 10 members from each county in the city of New York appointed by the chief 11 elected official of each such county shall not be enrolled in the same 12 political party and one shall not be a member of the bar of the state, 13 and the two regional members from each county in the city of New York 14 appointed by the mayor of such city shall not be enrolled in the same 15 political party and one shall not be a member of the bar of the state. 16 Except for the chief administrator of the courts, no at-large or 17 regional member of any commission shall hold or have held any judicial 18 office or hold any elected public office for which he or she receives 19 compensation during his or her period of service, except that the gover- 20 nor and chief judge may each appoint no more than one former judge or 21 justice of the unified court system to each commission. No at-large or 22 regional member of any commission shall hold office in any political 23 party, and, except for the chief administrator of the courts, no member 24 shall be eligible for appointment to judicial office in any court of the 25 state during the member's period of service or within one year thereaft- 26 er. 27 (3) The members of each commission first appointed by the governor 28 shall have, respectively, one, two, three and four year terms as he or 29 she shall designate. The members first appointed by the chief judge of 30 the court of appeals shall have, respectively, two, three and four year 31 terms as he or she shall designate. The member first appointed by the 32 temporary president of the senate shall have a four year term. The mem- 33 ber first appointed by the speaker of the assembly shall have a three 34 year term. The member first appointed by the minority leader of the sen- 35 ate shall have a two year term. The member first appointed by the minor- 36 ity leader of the assembly shall have a one year term. The members first 37 appointed by the presiding justice of the appellate division and the 38 president of the New York state bar association shall have four year 39 terms. The regional members first appointed from each county outside the 40 city of New York shall have, respectively, two and four year terms as 41 the person appointing them shall designate. The two regional members ap- 42 pointed from each county within the city of New York by the chief 43 elected official of each county shall have, respectively, one and three 44 year terms as the person appointing them shall designate and the two 45 regional members appointed from each county within the city of New York 46 by the mayor of such city shall have, respectively, two and four year 47 terms as the mayor shall designate. Each subsequent appointment shall be 48 for a term of four years. 49 (4) The governor shall designate a chairperson for each commission 50 from among its at-large members. 51 (5) Each at-large member of each commission shall be a resident of, 52 have an office in or work in the judicial district in which he or she is 53 to serve, except that each at-large member of the city-wide commission 54 for the city of New York shall be a resident of, have an office in or 55 work in such city and each at-large member of the statewide commission 56 shall be a resident of the state.A. 934 5 1 c. (1) The statewide judicial nominating commission shall consider the 2 qualifications of all candidates for appointment to the office of judge 3 of the court of claims, and for designation to the offices of presiding 4 justice and justice of the appellate division; and each such other dis- 5 trict commission shall consider the qualifications of candidates for ap- 6 pointment outside the city of New York to the offices of judge or 7 justice of the supreme court, the county court, the family court, the 8 surrogate's court, and, in each district in which the district court has 9 been established, the district court. The city-wide commission for the 10 city of New York shall consider candidates for appointment within such 11 city to the offices of judge or justice of the supreme court, the family 12 court, the surrogate's court, and the city-wide court or courts for such 13 city established pursuant to section fifteen of this article. Whenever 14 one or more vacancies in such offices occur, the appropriate commission 15 shall prepare a written report and recommend to the appropriate appoint- 16 ing authority persons who by their character, temperament, professional 17 aptitude and experience are well-qualified for that judicial office. To 18 the extent practicable, the nominees shall reflect diversity of race, 19 gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and geography, taking into 20 consideration the court to which they are being nominated and the 21 members with whom they might be serving. 22 (2) The legislature shall prescribe by law the organization and proce- 23 dure of each commission, provided, however, that where there is one 24 vacancy to be filled, at least three persons and not more than five per- 25 sons shall be recommended as provided herein; where there are two vacan- 26 cies in the same judicial office, at least five persons and not more 27 than eight persons shall be recommended; and, where there are three or 28 more vacancies in the same judicial office, the number of persons recom- 29 mended by the appropriate commission shall be at least two times the 30 number of vacancies and not more than three times the number of vacan- 31 cies. Notwithstanding the foregoing, where a commission is unable to 32 recommend as well-qualified for a judicial office such number of per- 33 sons as is prescribed herein, it shall recommend such lesser number of 34 persons who are well-qualified therefor. To the extent practicable, the 35 nominees shall reflect diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, 36 ethnicity, and geography, taking into consideration the court to which 37 they are being nominated and the members with whom they might be serv- 38 ing. 39 d. (1) From among those recommended by the appropriate commission as 40 provided in paragraph one of subdivision c of this section, the governor 41 shall appoint a person to fill a vacancy in the office of justice of the 42 supreme court and the office of judge of the court of claims, by and 43 with the advice and consent of the senate, and designate a person as 44 presiding justice or justice of the appellate division; the governor 45 shall, upon the nomination of the mayor of the city of New York, appoint 46 a person to fill a vacancy in the office within such city of judge of 47 the family court, the surrogate's court, and the city-wide court or 48 courts for such city established pursuant to section fifteen of this ar- 49 ticle, by and with the advice and consent of the senate; and the gover- 50 nor shall, upon the nomination of the chief elected official of a county 51 outside the city of New York in which a vacancy occurs in the office of 52 judge of the county court, the family court, the surrogate's court, or 53 the district court, appoint a person to fill such office, by and with 54 the advice and consent of the senate.A. 934 6 1 (2) In the case of each appointment that is subject to the advice and 2 consent of the senate, the governor shall transmit to the senate the 3 written report of the appropriate commission relating to the appointee. 4 e. When a vacancy occurs in a judicial office where appointment there- 5 to is subject to the advice and consent of the senate and the senate is 6 not in session to give its advice and consent to an appointment to fill 7 the vacancy, the governor shall fill the vacancy by interim appointment 8 as provided in subdivision d of this section. An interim appointment 9 shall continue until the senate shall pass upon the selection. If the 10 senate confirms an appointment, the justice or judge shall serve the 11 full term provided for his or her office under this article, commencing 12 from the date of such interim appointment. If the senate rejects an 13 appointment, a vacancy in the office shall occur sixty days after such 14 rejection. 15 § 11. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That subdivision a of section 16 25 of article 6 of the constitution be amended to read as follows: 17 a. The compensation of a judge of the court of appeals, a justice of 18 the supreme court, a judge of the court of claims, a judge of the county 19 court, a judge of the surrogate's court, a judge of the family court, a 20 judge of a court for the city of New York established pursuant to 21 section fifteen of this article, a judge of the district court or of a 22 retired judge or justice shall be established by law and shall not be 23 diminished during [the] his or her term of office [for which he or she24was elected or appointed. Any judge or justice of a court abolished by25section thirty-five of this article, who pursuant to that section26becomes a judge or justice of a court established or continued by this27article, shall receive without interruption or diminution for the28remainder of the term for which he or she was elected or appointed to29the abolished court the compensation he or she had been receiving upon30the effective date of this article together with any additional compen-31sation that may be prescribed by law]. 32 § 12. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That article 6 of the constitu- 33 tion be amended by adding a new section 36-d to read as follows: 34 § 36-d. a. The amendments to sections four, six, nine, ten, twelve, 35 thirteen, fifteen, sixteen, twenty and twenty-five of this article, the 36 repeal of section twenty-one, and the insertion of a new section twen- 37 ty-one and this section, as first proposed by a concurrent resolution 38 passed by the legislature in the year two thousand twenty-one, entitled 39 "CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY proposing amendments 40 to article 6 of the constitution, in relation to the manner of selecting 41 judges and justices of the unified court system, and to repeal section 42 21 of article 6 thereof relating thereto" shall become a part of the 43 constitution on the first day of January next after the approval and 44 ratification of the amendment proposed by such concurrent resolution by 45 the people, but the provisions thereof shall not become operative and 46 the repeal of section twenty-one of this article shall not become effec- 47 tive until September first next thereafter which date shall be deemed 48 the effective date of these amendments. 49 b. Notwithstanding any other provision herein, the judges and justices 50 of the appellate division, the supreme court, the court of claims, the 51 county court, the family court, the surrogate's court, the city-wide 52 court or courts for the city of New York established pursuant to section 53 fifteen of this article, and the district court in office on the effec- 54 tive date of this section shall hold their offices as judges and 55 justices of such courts until the expiration of their respective terms.A. 934 7 1 § 13. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That the foregoing amendments 2 be referred to the first regular legislative session convening after the 3 next succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and, in 4 conformity with section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be pu- 5 blished for 3 months previous to the time of such election.
