A race for New York Supreme Court has attracted attention as it could change the makeup of the bench that currently has no serving women.
No women are serving on the trial bench of New York’s 3rd Judicial District. The Third Judicial district includes Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties. Supreme Court judges are elected to a 14-year term.
The two candidates vying for the opening left by retiring Justice Joseph Teresi, a Democrat from Albany County, are Greene County Republican Lisa Fisher and Albany Democrat Justin Corcoran.
Fisher, who maintains a practice in Kingston and has served as a part-time public defender, has seized on the gender divide on the campaign trail. Fisher cited a report from the New York State Bar Association addressing the lack of diversity on the bench.
“And, of course, not only is that pertaining to minorities with diversity, but most importantly, I think women is what we’re honing in on because there hadn’t been a elected since Leslie Stein in 2001 to the trial court level.”
Running against Fisher is Albany attorney Justin Corcoran. Corcoran, also an Albany county legislator, fended off a challenge from Albany County Family Court Judge Margaret “Peggy” Walsh, who also sought to be the next woman on the Supreme Court. The two campaigns divided the party, with delegates ultimately backing Corcoran.
Corcoran, who has practiced for 20 years, said he works at a firm with 16 lawyers, nine of whom are women, and that he has an understanding of how a judge’s decision affects female clients.
“Supreme Court deals with the most important civil cases and it’s important to have someone that has a lot of experience dealing with a lot of different kinds of cases in Supreme Court.”
Corcoran said he was the only candidate rated “highly qualified” by the Independent Judicial Election Qualification commission, a network of independent screening panels for judicial candidates in New York.
“I think when the voters are evaluating the candidates for any office, but particularly one in the judiciary that has such important and direct impact on the litigance, it’s important to focus primarily on the candidate’s qualifications.”
Corcoran has focused on insurance and medical malpractice defense and bankruptcy law.
Due to ethics rules, judicial candidates are not permitted to speak about issues.
Fisher cited her experience running her own general practice, maintaining a position as a public defender, and working with families.
“I have my family, my family background, my family experiences I bring, and my experience in family court in dealing with people, in family treatment court. I’ve dealt a lot more I feel with real people, and I’ve made an impact on a lot of people’s lives so far, and that’s what I want to bring to the bench.”
Both candidates expressed the importance of a judge being apolitical.
Justin Corcoran…
“It’s not a bureaucrat, it’s not a judge that’s ultimately deciding your fate in many cases, it’s a jury of your peers. But it does take a qualified judge to administer that system impartially and with a good working knowledge of the procedures, with the rules of evidence, and with the practicality of how the trial system works.”
