New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle A - Governor's Office › Chapter I - Executive Orders › Part 4 - Executive Orders (Mario M. Cuomo) › Section 4.9 - Executive order no. 9: establishing the judicial screening committees

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
I, Mario M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New York, in
					 accord with my desire to appoint as judges only those persons who are, by
					 virtue of their character, temperament, professional aptitude and experience,
					 well qualified to assume the duties of judicial office, do hereby establish
					 Judicial Screening Committees, as hereinafter set forth, for the purpose of
					 recommending to the Governor persons to fill vacancies in judicial office. The
					 power to fill a vacancy in a judicial office will be exercised by the Governor
					 in accordance with the procedure outlined below.
1. Judicial Screening Committees are hereby
				  established to evaluate the qualifications of candidates for appointment or
				  designation to judicial office throughout the State, and to recommend to the
				  Governor those persons who are well qualified to hold judicial office. Each
				  committee shall consider the qualifications of any candidate proposed to it by
				  citizen organizations, by any member of the committee, by the Governor, or by
				  any other person or group. Each committee shall establish procedures to assure
				  that persons who may be well qualified for judicial appointment, other than
				  those who have requested consideration or who have been recommended for
				  consideration by others, are encouraged to apply for consideration by the
				  committee. Each committee shall report to the Governor the names of those
				  persons whom it recommends as well qualified to hold any of the particular
				  judicial offices within the committee's jurisdiction as hereinafter set forth.
				  A person may not be recommended by a committee unless a majority of the full
				  membership of the committee concurs in finding that such person is well
				  qualified for appointment to the particular judicial office.
Each committee shall recommend to the Governor only those
					 persons who by their character, temperament, professional aptitude and
					 experience have demonstrated their special qualification for judicial office.
					 The committee shall prepare a written report consisting of a summary of the
					 qualifications of each person recommended to the Governor. Such report shall be
					 made available to the public upon the announcement by the Governor of an
					 appointment, and where Senate confirmation of a nominee is constitutionally
					 required, such report shall be made available to the Senate a reasonable time
					 prior to any public hearing on confirmation of such nominee. Except as may be
					 necessary for the preparation of such reports, all information submitted to the
					 committee shall be confidential, and shall not be disclosed except to the
					 Governor, and to the Senate when needed for constitutional confirmation, unless
					 required in connection with the performance of official duties or disciplinary
					 proceedings.
2. There is
				  hereby established a State Judicial Screening Committee, consisting of the
				  chairman of each of the departmental judicial screening committees established
				  by paragraph three of this Order, and two of the other members of each of the
				  departmental judicial screening committees, who shall be selected by the
				  Governor. The Chairman of the State Judicial Screening committee shall be
				  appointed by the Governor from among the members of the committee.
The State Judicial Screening Committee shall have
					 jurisdiction to consider the qualifications of candidates for appointment to
					 the offices of Judge and Presiding Judge of the Court of Claims, and to
					 recommend to the Governor all persons whom it finds well qualified for those
					 judicial offices. When exercising the power to designate the Presiding Judge of
					 the Court of Claims pursuant to section 2 (6)  of the Court of Claims Act; or the
					 power to appoint a Judge of the Court of Claims pursuant to section 9 of
					 article VI of the Constitution and sections 2 (2) and 2 (4)  of the Court of
					 Claims Act; or the power to fill a vacancy in the office of Judge of the Court
					 of Claims pursuant to section 21(b) of article VI of the Constitution, the
					 Governor shall appoint or designate only persons who have been recommended by
					 the State Judicial Screening Committee as well qualified for the judicial
					 office to which the appointment is to be made.
The State Judicial Screening Committee shall promulgate
					 appropriate rules and regulations to govern its proceedings and those of the
					 departmental and county screening committees established by this Order. Such
					 rules and regulations shall include standards and procedures for insuring, to
					 the extent possible, uniformity of criteria for evaluating the qualifications
					 of candidates for appointment or designation to judicial office throughout the
					 State.
3. There is hereby
				  established in each judicial department of the State a Departmental Judicial
				  Screening Committee, consisting of nine members selected as follows: four
				  members shall be selected by the Governor; two members shall be selected by the
				  Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals; one member shall be selected by the
				  presiding Justice of the Appellate Division of such department; and two members
				  shall be selected jointly by the Speaker of the Assembly, the Temporary
				  President of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Minority
				  Leader of the Assembly. The Chairman of each Departmental Judicial Screening
				  Committee shall be appointed by the Governor from among the members of the
				  Committee. Each member of the Committee shall be a resident of, have an office
				  in, or work in the judicial department in which he or she is to serve. In
				  making selections for the Departmental Judicial Screening Committees,
				  consideration shall be given to the need to achieve broad representation of the
				  community.
Each Departmental Judicial Screening Committee shall have
					 jurisdiction to consider the qualifications of candidates for designation to
					 the offices of Justice, Temporary Justice and Presiding Justice of the
					 Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for such department, and candidates for
					 appointment to the office of Supreme Court Justice for such department, and to
					 recommend to the Governor all persons whom it finds well qualified for those
					 judicial offices.
When exercising the power to designate the Presiding
					 Justice for each Appellate Division pursuant to section 4(c) of article VI of
					 the Constitution; or the power to designate other Justices of each Appellate
					 Division pursuant to sections 4(c) and 4(d) of article VI of the Constitution;
					 or the power to designate additional Justices of any Appellate Division
					 pursuant to section 4(e) of article VI of the Constitution; or the power to
					 fill a vacancy in the office of Justice of the Supreme Court pursuant to
					 section 21(a) of article VI of the Constitution, the Governor shall designate
					 or appoint only persons who have been recommended by the appropriate
					 Departmental Judicial Screening Committee as well qualified for the judicial
					 office to which the appointment is to be made.
4. There is hereby established in each county
				  of the State a County Judicial Screening Committee, consisting of the judicial
				  screening committee for the department in which the county is located plus one
				  additional person who shall be a resident of, have an office in, or work in the
				  county in which he or she is to serve, to be selected by the chief executive
				  officer of the county. The Chairman of the Departmental Judicial Screening
				  Committee shall also serve as Chairman of the County Judicial Screening
				  Committee. As used herein, the term chief executive officer for the countyshall
				  mean the appointed or elected county executive, as the case may be, or if there
				  be no such office, the chairman of the governing body of the county provided,
				  however, that for counties within the City of New York, the term chief
				  executive officer for the county shall mean the Mayor of the City of New York.
Each County Judicial Screening Committee shall have
					 jurisdiction to consider the qualifications of candidates for appointment to
					 the offices of Judge of the County Court, Judge of the Surrogate's Court, and
					 Judge of the Family Court outside of the City of New York, for such county, and
					 to recommend to the Governor all persons whom it finds well qualified for those
					 judicial offices.
When exercising the power of appointment to fill a vacancy
					 in the office of Judge of the County Court, of Judge of the Surrogate's Court,
					 or of Judge of the Family Court outside of the City of New York, pursuant to
					 section 21(a) of article VI of the Constitution, the Governor shall appoint
					 only persons who have been recommended by the appropriate County Judicial
					 Screening Committee as well qualified for the judicial office to which the
					 appointment is to be made.
5. No member of a judicial screening
				  committee shall hold any judicial or elected public office for which he shall
				  receive compensation during his period of service, nor shall he hold any office
				  in any political party. No member of a judicial screening committee shall be
				  eligible for appointment to judicial office in any court of the State during
				  the member's period of service or within one year thereafter. Members of
				  judicial screening committees shall receive reimbursement for any necessary
				  expenses incurred by them in connection with the performance of their duties.
				  Each judicial screening committee shall have a paid staff available to it
				  sufficient to enable the committee to properly carry out its responsibilities
				  including adequate investigations into all matters relevant to the
				  qualifications of candidates for appointment to judicial office. The committee
				  shall not pass on the qualifications of any candidate for appointment until
				  after a thorough inquiry has been made by the committee and its
				  staff.
6. Executive Order No. 5
				  dated February 21, 1975, is revoked and superseded by this Executive Order.
Signed: Mario M. CuomoDated: March 4, 1983
[FN**] [Revokes and supersedes Executive Order No. 5 (Hugh
					 L. Carey), §
											3.5, supra.]
[FN[DAGGER]] [Revoked and superseded by Executive Order No.
					 134 (Mario Cuomo), §
											4.134, infra.]
[FN[DOUBLE DAGGER]] [Revoked by Executive Order No. 2
					 (Andrew M. Cuomo), infra.]