Judicial Conduct Unbecoming

It does not take a law degree or special knowledge of judicial ethics to know that handing out courthouse jobs to favored friends and relatives is wrong.

But that did not stop Luis Gonzalez, the top judge in the appellate division that covers Manhattan and the Bronx, from treating openings in his part of the court system as personal patronage. A state agency that polices judges’ conduct issued a highly critical report about Justice Gonzalez, yet he remains a presiding justice.

Justice Gonzalez joined the appellate court in 2002 and became the presiding justice in 2009. He quickly reverted to a clubby hiring process, increasing his control and returning to the practice of advertising nonattorney jobs only within the courthouse. His predecessor, the state’s chief judge, Jonathan Lippman, stopped that practice.

According to the report by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, in 2010 when an early-retirement program produced a slew of vacancies, almost all of the 25 replacements hired “got their jobs through word of mouth, because they had acquaintances, friends, relatives or other contacts at the appellate division.”

Among those hired, six had direct links to Justice Gonzales or his staff, including his ex-wife, who was hired at a higher salary than most other paralegals, nephews of his executive assistants who did not meet the listed qualifications for the positions and his secretary’s brother. Justice Gonzalez signed the papers approving each hire.

But that did not stop Luis Gonzalez, the top judge in the appellate division that covers Manhattan and the Bronx, from treating openings in his part of the court system as personal patronage. A state agency that polices judges’ conduct issued a highly critical report about Justice Gonzalez, yet he remains a presiding justice.

Justice Gonzalez joined the appellate court in 2002 and became the presiding justice in 2009. He quickly reverted to a clubby hiring process, increasing his control and returning to the practice of advertising nonattorney jobs only within the courthouse. His predecessor, the state’s chief judge, Jonathan Lippman, stopped that practice.

According to the report by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, in 2010 when an early-retirement program produced a slew of vacancies, almost all of the 25 replacements hired “got their jobs through word of mouth, because they had acquaintances, friends, relatives or other contacts at the appellate division.”

Among those hired, six had direct links to Justice Gonzales or his staff, including his ex-wife, who was hired at a higher salary than most other paralegals, nephews of his executive assistants who did not meet the listed qualifications for the positions and his secretary’s brother. Justice Gonzalez signed the papers approving each hire.

The commission said, rightly, that a system in which most administrative jobs are posted only in nonpublic rooms of the courthouse invites nepotism and favoritism. It also cheats the public of the services of highly qualified candidates from outside the court system.

Source:
Judicial Conduct Unbecoming

See Also:
System, Not Judge, is Blamed for Nepotism in Court Hiring