Page 179 - Demo

Off-Year Election Sees Democratic RunoffFor Bench Seats In The Countv Civil CourtBY IRENE VAN SLYKEEight seats of the 32 member Civil Court are up for the Democratic nomination in an off-year primary. In heavily Democratic Kings County the ones who are nominated as Democratic Party nominees for Civil Court more often than not are elected in November.In this race 12 candidates are vying for 6 countywide seats and four candidates are running for two districtwide races with two candidates in each district.At $51,000 per judge a year for ten years - that%u2019s the term they will be elected for - Democrats will be voting on who to spend some $4 million on this September 11. Theproblem is that it is not all that easy to decide who to vote for and by what criteria. It might be that that is one of the reasons only some 10 percent of the Democratic Party electorate will participate.The Civil Court, a part of the statewide court system, handles civil cases, that means if you sue someone for less than $10,000 you go to the Civil Court. The court also handles small claims and landlord and tenant cases.Even though 6 civil court judges will be selected county wide, the two who will be elected from two districts will perform the exact same function as judges elected countywide. Districtwide elections are an anachronism left over fromthe days when judges had different jurisdictions but politicians have never gotten around to changing district races to countywide races.State laws, in citing qualifications for a, candidate, will only say that they must have been members of the bar for at least ten years and that they will serve for ten years. State laws also set rules for campaigning by candidates for judicial office. They cannot take positions on issues such as the death penalty since judges are sworn to uphold the U.S. Constitution and laws, even if they disagree with them. In the courts, on the other hand, laws have to be enforced and interpreted and candidates can discuss a law%u2019s interpretation.Bar Associations have been the traditional organizations to rate judicial candidates, citing qualifications like experience, scholarship and judicial temperament. Some, like the Association of the Bar of the City of New York either %u201c approves%u201d or does %u201c not approve%u201d candidates. Others, like the Brooklyn Bar Association rates candidates %u201c highly qualified%u201d or %u201c qualified.%u201dFor the last three years the Kings County Democratic Coalition (KCDC), a coalition of reform clubs, has set up its own 15 member judicial screening committee. It says it has reviewed anybody who has been willing toappear before them, and they have given ratings that range from %u201c highly qualified,%u201d %u201c well qualified,%u201d %u201c acceptable,%u201d to %u201c not recommended,%u201d in a published report.The regular organization headed by country leader Meade Esposito in response created the Kings County Democratic County Committee Executive Committee which has also rated candidated although it has not published its reports.Then there are good government organizations such as the Citizens%u2019 Union which after interviewing the candidates publish their %u201c preferred%u201d status of judicial candidates.I I Regular%u201d SlateThe following are the candidates running together on the slate of the Regular Brooklyn Democratic organization. Voters may, however, cast their ballots for individual members of the slate.Gloria Cohen Aronin hasbeenin private practice since 1950andhas an office at 16 Court Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Aronin says she has done real estate and trial and appeal work although she has not done a substantial amount of criminal work. She was rated %u201chighly qualified%u201d by the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, %u201c well qualified\Brooklyn Women%u2019s Bar Association and %u201c qualified%u201d by the Brooklyn Bar Association. Aronin says that becoming a judge is what every lawyer thinks about and that she feels capable of being \other side of the bench.%u201dGloria Aronin, wife of Supreme Court Judge Irving Aronin, lives at 2276 E. 74th Street in Brooklyn.Jerome Cohen has been in private practice for 17 years and has an office at 26 Court Street in downtown Brooklyn. Cohen lists as his qualifications that for 16 years he was a law secretary of Supreme Court Judge McLaughlin and then a trial lawyer for 17 years giving him both civil and criminal experience.Cohen says that now that his children are grown he %u201c would like to do the thing I love the most%u201d which is to become a judge and %u201c with my experience,%u201d he adds, %u201c I can do a good job.%u201d He was rated %u201c highly qualified%u201d by the Bedford Stuyvesant Lawyers Association and the New York Trial Lawyers Association. The KCDC Judicial Screening Committee rated Cohen %u201c well qualified%u201d and he was endorsed by the Association of legal Aid Attorneys. During the Second World War Cohen served in the U.S. Navy and was awarded a Purple Heart. He has been a National Commander of the Jewish War Veterans. Cohen was born and bred in Brooklyn and now resides at 45 Grace Court in Brooklyn Heights.Samuel Greenstein, has been ingeneral private practice for 31 years and considers becoming a civil court judge %u201c a lifelong dream%u201d because it is a %u201c people%u2019s court%u201d where people go who are often of a lower economic class. Greenstein has been a small claims court arbitrator for 16 years and a hearing officer for New York State Employees Relations and examiner for the Parking Violations Bureau. Greenstein says he was endorsed by the Brooklyn Bar Association and the Bedford Stuyvesant Lawyers Association. He is a member of Community Board 5 and lives at 1807 E. 91st Street in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn.Herbert Kramer, is in private practice and prior to that for three years served as the Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Department of Justice. Kramer%u2019s civic involvement includes being a Chairperson of Community Board 17 and Vice Chairperson of the Citywidc Coalition of Community Boards. When asked why he wants to run for judge, Kramer says that he is still young, 43 years, and would like to make being a judge his %u201c career.%u201d Kramer was rated %u201c preferred%u201d by the Citizens' Union and was endorsed by Manhattan Borough President Andrew Stein, by local City Councilmembers Abe Gerges and Tom Cuite, the Brooklyn Bar Association and the Bedford Stuyvesant Lawyers Association. The KCDC Judicial Screening Committee rated Kramer %u201c acceptable. He lives at 235 E. 88th Street in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.Gabriel Krausman, is a law secretary to a Supreme Court Judge and cites that background as the most important in becoming a judge but mentions that judicial temperament and scholarship are also important.Krausman mentions that he has been a lawyer for 20 years, has set up a course to acquaint incoming judges to the court system in Brooklyn and has written a book on search and seizure. The success of the court, Krausman finds, can be measured when people, win or lose, feel they have had a fair trial. Krausman was rated %u201c preferred%u201dLocal Ju d icia l D is tric tMichael Wolfson is running in the 6th District of the Civil Court encompassing Park Slope and Flatbush. Wolfson has been in private practice since 1966 and has also served as a Special Referee in Brooklyn%u2019s Supreme Court and as a lecturer at Adclphi University. He has been endorsed by Assembly-:-------1-------u :l %u201e t,.%u201e c ___lllc,l n ue i ,j lunvv a vjv v , uvv a v-i i >o(Rhoda Jacobs. Wolfson was rated %u201c qualified%u201d by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. The Citizens Unionfound both Wolfson and his opponent, Martin Schneier, %u201c equally qualified.%u201dWolfson is active in civic affairs in Park Slope where he resides on President Street. He is a trustee on the Park Slope Civic Council and cites as one of his accomplishments to help save the Union Street FireH CUSC. W o lfs o n V/ %u00b0 %u00b0 ^ %u00b0 O M rInt-roJby the Liberal Party and will appear on that line in November.Martin Schneier, lives at 455 E. 17 Street in Flatbush and could not reached for comment.by the Citizens Union, rated %u201c highly qualified%u20191 by the New Yojk State Trial Lawyers Association, the Brooklyn Women%u2019s Bar Association and the Bedford Stuyvesant Lawyers Association and approved by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Krausman lives at 670 E. 22nd Street in South Midwood where he is active in its Civic Association.Lorraine Stein Miller appears to evoke strong reactions in the various groups that endorse or rate judicial candidates but nobody disputes her qualifications. For the last three years she has been a Housing Judge, an appointed position, in Brooklyn%u2019s Civil Court. Miller says she wrote the legislation creating the Housing Courtwhich settles disputes between landlords and tenants and deals with code enforcement. Miller cites as one of her achievements that 9,000 cases she has decided she has never been reversed in a higher court.The Association of the Bar of the City of New York said of her that she %u201c demonstrated a lack of jucidial temperament and demeanor while serving as judge in the housing part of the civil court.%u201d Miller%u2019s comments on those harsh words are, %u201c I was not interviewed and did not appear before them and that was by agreement of all regulars%u201d and therefore she does not understand the evaluation.The KCDC Judicial Screening Committee rated Miller %u201c NotRecommended.%u201d Asked to comment on that rating Miller says that the Committee disapproved of her habit of visiting buildings to see if tenants have heat. If she notified litigants of her visits, as the Committee thinks she should, landlords would turn on the heat just for her visit, Miller says.Miller was rated %u201c preferred%u201d by the Citizens Union, %u201c highly qualified%u201d by the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, and the Bedford Stuyvesant Lawyers Association. In the November election Miller will appear on the Republican and Liberal party lines. Judge Miller lives at 85 Livingston Street in Brooklyn Heights.I I Reform%u201d Candidate SlateThe following are the candidates running together on the Kings County Democratic Coalition slate. Voters may, however, cast their ballots for individual members of the slate.Leona Freedman for the past year has served as law secretary to Supreme Court Judge Allen Murray Meyers and in addition has worked in various other courts for the past six years. Freedman has practiced law for 20 years of which 10 were spent in private practice and three as an attorney for the Legal Aid Society. Freedman says that she lacks a political background but still seems to have amassed quite a bit of political support. She is endorsed by City Council President Carol Bellamy, Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtman and Council member Susan Alter and the political clubs of the Kings County Democratic Coalition. The Citizens Union rated her %u201c preferred%u201d and she was endorsed by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, rated %u201c qualified%u201d by the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. The KCDC Screening Committee rated her %u201c well qualified.%u201d Freedman lives at 11 Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, but says that she was born and brought up in Brooklyn.Stanley Glantz for three years has been a law assistant in Brooklyn%u2019s Civil Court and prior to that a law secretary to Civil Court Administrative Judge Abraham Schulman. For six years prior to that he was in private practice. This is the third time Glantz is running for Civil Court and he has KCDC%u2019s support. Glantz cites as his endorsements being rated %u201c approved%u201d by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York,%u201c hiohlv nnalifioH %u2019 %u2019 hv thf%u00bb New O 'J l - - ^York State Trial Lawyers Association, %u201c qualified%u201d by the Brooklyn Bar Association and %u201cacceptable\the KCDC screening panel. Glantz, the proud father of 8children, lives at 1762 E. 28 Street in Marine Park in Brooklyn. Glantz has also been endorsed by the Liberal Party and will appear on that line in November.Irving Sadur for the last year has been a staff attorney for the city%u2019s Human Resources Administration. Sadur has 35 years of experience in private practice and volunteers his time as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.Sadur was %u201c approved%u201d by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and %u201c well qualified%u201d by the KCDC Screening panel. He lives in Staten Island and could not be reached for comment.Bernard Klieger is the only incumbent judge who is running for reelection. Klieger prides himself on the fact that he was instrumental in founding the Brooklyn reform movement in the late 1950%u2019s and was active in political campaigns before his election to Civil Court Judge in 1959. In this campaign he has been endorsed by several of the city's unions such as the Uniformed Firefighters and the Policemen%u2019s Benevolent Association. Klieger attributes this to his four year service as Assistant Comptroller to Abe Beame during the sixties when he was in charge of negotiating contracts for the city with unions. Klieger says of his union support %u201c they came to respect me.%u201d Judge Klieger has creatgcd controversy over his practice as a judge not to give adjournments easily. Klieger says, %u201c 1 am tough on lawyers.%u201d The KCDC Judicial Screening Panel rated him %u201c acceptable\his refusal to grant adjournment as one of the reasons why his rating was low. The Citizens Union, on the other hand, rated Klieger %u2018preferred%u2019%u2019 and was rated%u201c annmvpH%u201d hv the* Association ofthe bar of the City of New York. Klieger says he really enjoyed his It) years on the %u201c peoples court%u201d and dccidcdtorun again. He lives at 2501 West 2nd Street in ConeyIsland in Brooklyn.For Eleazer S. Goldstein, this is (he second time around in his campaign to get elected to the Civil Court and he has the reformers blessing. Goldstein has been in private practice specializing in negligence cases which often took him into Civil Court. Since 1947, he has been a master arbitrator for the State Insurance Departent. Goldstein has gathered quite a few endorsements from politicians such as Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, City Councilmember Robert Steingut, Assemblymembers Mike Pesce, Joe Ferris, Rhoda Jacobs and Frank Barbaro. The KCDC Judicial ScreeningCommittee rated Goldstein %u201c Well Qualified.%u201d He was approved by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the Brooklyn Bar Association and the Brooklyn Women%u2019s Bar Association.Goldstein for many years has been active in his community where he is the Vice President of the Board of Directors of Trump Village, a large cooperative building complex. Goldstein lives at 458 Neptune Avenue Brighton Beach in Brooklyn.Renee Roth for the last ten years has worked as a Law Assistant Referee in the Brooklyn Surrogate%u2019s Court which hears cases involving the affairs of deceased people, such as wills, the administration of estates and adoption cases. Roth writes a monthly column on %u201c Wills, Estates and Surrogate%u2019s Practice%u201d in the New York Law Journal. Roth says running for the Civil Court is a %u201c natural progress%u201d from her experience and knowledge of the courts. She adds, %u201c I%u2019m good atwtiaf I do iho rnnrf evetpmneeds good judges.%u201d Roth lives at 165 W. 66th Street in Manhattan but says that her %u201croots are here and my family lives here%u201dSeotembRrR