20 new judges sworn into office, many with Brooklyn experience

April 30, 2015 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Bill de Blasio. AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

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Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday administered the oath of office to 28 New York judges — eight of them reappointments. The candidates were nominated for appointment with the advice and consultation of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary — chaired by former Court of Appeals Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick.

“From the beginning,” de Blasio said, “we’ve [felt] a special obligation when it came to the judiciary, given how sacred the judiciary is in our society, that we wanted the very most qualified people, and we wanted people reflective of that totality of New York City.”

The judicial appointment pool is expansive and varied in terms of experience and background. Of the 28 judges sworn-in during Monday’s ceremony, 20 are women, 16 are of African-American, Latino or Asian descent, and four are members of the LGBT community.

“This is the very essence of democracy,” said the mayor. “[T]he diversity…really represents the best of New York City.”

At least nine judges come to the bench with a Brooklyn background.

Judge Jacqueline Deane, who was appointed to Family Court in February 2015, is a member of the LGBT Pride Celebration Planning Committee of Kings County Family Court. She previously served with the Legal Aid Society for 27 years. Judge Carol Goldstein, a graduate of Brooklyn Law School, was appointed to the Family Court bench in April 2015. She previously served for 17 years as a court attorney referee in Brooklyn’s Family Court. Judge Adetokunbo Fasanya was appointed in January 2015 and was first appointed as an interim Civil Court judge in October 2013, and had been serving in Kings County Family Court. Judge Michael Milsap, who was appointed in February 2015, most recently served as a support magistrate in Brooklyn’s Family Court for 21 years. Judge Peter DeLizzo, who was appointed in April 2015, sits in Staten Island but has previously served as an assistant district attorney in Kings County. Judge Kathryn Paek, who was appointed in February 2015, most recently served as principal court attorney in Supreme Court, Criminal Term, Kings County. Judge Heidi Cesare was appointed as an interim Civil Court judge in February 2015 and is serving in Criminal Court. She has previously worked with the Federal Defender Division, Eastern District of New York. Judge Marguerite Dougherty was appointed as an interim Civil Court judge in February 2015 and is serving in Criminal Court. She graduated from St. Francis College and received her law degree from Brooklyn Law School where she has served as an adjunct professor. Judge Laura Johnson was first appointed as an interim civil court judge in January 2013 and has been serving in Criminal Court, Kings County.

In his prepared remarks Monday, the city’s mayor acknowledged, “It is — I would argue — much more challenging to be the judge [in NYC] than in many other places in this country. The complexities, the pace, the caseloads — there’s so many things here that take a particular rigor to address.

When appointing judges to the bench, de Blasio stated that his goal was to “achieve both the highest quality and an extraordinary degree of diversity.”