New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle A - Governor's Office › Chapter I - Executive Orders › Part 6 - Executive Orders (Eliot Spitzer) › Section 6.4 - Executive order no. 4: establishing judicial screening committees to ensure that judicial officer appointments are of the highest quality

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
WHEREAS, under the Constitution and Laws of the State of
					 New York the Governor is entrusted with the responsibility of appointing
					 judicial officers to the offices of Judge and Presiding Judge of the Court of
					 Claims; designating Justices of the Supreme Court to the offices of Justice,
					 Temporary Justice, and Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division of the
					 Supreme Court; and appointing judicial officers to fill vacancies in the
					 offices of Justice of the Supreme Court, Judge of the County Court, Judge of
					 the Surrogate's Court, and Judge of the Family Court outside the City of New
					 York; and
WHEREAS, a fair, impartial, independent, highly qualified,
					 and diverse judiciary is essential to ensuring justice for all who come before
					 New York's courts and to fostering public confidence in the integrity of the
					 judicial process; and
WHEREAS, a fair, impartial, independent, highly qualified,
					 and diverse judiciary is cultivated by:
1. encouraging highly qualified candidates
				  from all parts of the State, with diverse backgrounds and experiences, to apply
				  for judicial offices;
2. reviewing
				  candidates for judicial office without regard to political beliefs or party
				  affiliation; and
3. selecting
				  judicial officers who reflect the diverse backgrounds and experiences of the
				  residents of this State, based on their integrity, independence, intellect,
				  judgment, temperament, and experience; and
WHEREAS, the highest quality of judicial appointments can
					 best be assured with the assistance of credible, impartial and non-partisan
					 judicial screening committees;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Eliot Spitzer, Governor of the State of
					 New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Laws
					 of the State of New York, do hereby order as follows:
A. Purpose and Duties
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 highly qualified to hold judicial
				  office.
2. Each Judicial Screening
				  Committee shall:
a. Actively recruit
				  candidates for appointment or designation to the judicial offices within the
				  committee's jurisdiction. In recruiting candidates, the Judicial Screening
				  Committees shall strive to find candidates that reflect the diverse backgrounds
				  and experiences of the citizens of this State;
b. Review and evaluate the qualifications of
				  all candidates for appointment or designation. In reviewing and evaluating the
				  qualifications of candidates, each committee member shall give primary
				  consideration to each candidate's integrity, independence, intellect, judgment,
				  temperament and experience, and shall not give any consideration to the age,
				  creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, military status, sex,
				  disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, marital status or political
				  party affiliation of the candidate;
c. Recommend for appointment or designation
				  only those candidates who, as determined by a majority vote of all members of
				  the committee, are highly qualified for the judicial office for which they are
				  being considered. No committee shall pass on the qualifications of any
				  candidate until after a thorough inquiry has been made by the committee and its
				  staff;
d. Prepare written reports
				  on the qualifications of each candidate it determines to be highly qualified
				  and recommends to the Governor. Committee reports shall be made available to
				  the public upon the announcement by the Governor of an appointment. All other
				  records and deliberations of, and all communications to, any Judicial Screening
				  Committee with respect to a candidate shall be held in confidence and shall not
				  be disclosed to anyone other than the Governor, Counsel to the Governor, or
				  their designees. Notwithstanding the foregoing, information submitted to any
				  Judicial Screening Committee relating to an appointee may be disclosed to the
				  Senate when necessary for confirmation of the appointee, and information
				  submitted to a Judicial Screening Committee may be disclosed to any other
				  person or organization if disclosure is required in connection with
				  disciplinary proceedings or is otherwise required by law.