page_title: Rachel Freier
section_title: Civil court judge
hierarchical_section_title: Rachel Freier / Civil court judge
caption_attribution_description: English: Eric Adams giving Judge Freier an Award
context_page_description: Rachel "Ruchie" Freier is a New York City Criminal Court judge.
  In 2016, she campaigned and was elected as a Civil Court judge for the Kings County 5th judicial district in New York State, thereby becoming the first Hasidic Jewish woman to be elected as a civil court judge in New York State, and the first Hasidic woman to hold public office in United States history. Although she ran for the Civil Court, after her election, she was assigned to serve on the Criminal Court in the Kings County 5th judicial district. She previously worked as a real estate attorney and community activist, and served as a volunteer court lawyer in the New York City Family Court.
context_section_description: In April 2016, Freier announced her candidacy for Civil Court Judge, running for the spot on the bench vacated by Judge Noach Dear.
  In the September 2016 Democratic primary election for Civil Court Judge of the Kings County 5th judicial district, Freier garnered 4,730 votes (40.9 percent), followed by Jill Epstein with 3,993 votes (34.5 percent), and Morton Avigdor with 2,835 votes (24.5 percent). She entered the November general election, with Avigdor as a Conservative Party challenger, and received 68,088 votes (74.4 percent), to his 23,393 votes (25.6 percent).
  Freier was endorsed in the three-way race during the elections by The Jewish Press and the New York Daily News.
  On December 22, 2016, she was sworn in at Brooklyn Borough Hall. She delivered a speech that included Hebrew and Yiddish phrases and concepts which she translated into English. Her inauguration ceremony was carried live on WABC-TV  and News 12.
  On hand for her swearing-in was Hasidic singer Lipa Schmeltzer, who sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" with bits of Yiddish and "God Bless America" in full Yiddish version.
  Subsequent to her swearing-in, Freier was assigned to serve on the New York City Criminal Court.
  In December 2017 Megyn Kelly welcomed Freier to The Today Show as the woman The New York Times has called “the Hasidic superwoman of night court”; she was featured in the series “She’s Got Faith,” marking her one-year anniversary on the bench.
caption: Borough President Eric Adams giving Rachel Freier an Award at her Inauguration in Brooklyn Borough Hall
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