|
QUEENS---The board of managers of the Queens County Bar Association has issued an unanimous resolution in support of Queens Supreme Court Justice Laura D. Blackburne who the state Commission of Judicial Conduct says should be removed from office.
In a 9-2 vote in November, the judicial commission recommended that Blackburne, 67, be removed from office for directing a court officer to escort a defendant out of the courthouse through the judge's private entrance in order to elude a detective who was waiting to arrest the defendant after his appearance in Drug Court before Blackburne. http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/112405QueensJudge.html
Two commission members wrote strong dissents opposing the majority removal determination.
According to New York Lawyer, the bar association said that the "unjustified exercise of the removal power" would have a chilling effect on judges. The group resolution acknowledged that Blackburne had exercised poor judgment but said that removal should be reserved for situations where a judge's action have been found to be criminal, venal or corrupt.
The Court of Appeals has ruled that Blackburne will collect her full judicial salary of $136,700 while she appeals the determination which was due on Dec. 18. The state Office of Court Administration immediately removed her from active judicial service. 12-27-05
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
|
