By GRAHAM RAYMAN
July 2, 2003 - NEW YORK NEWSDAY
In a challenge to the dominance of the Democratic political machine, the Working Families Party on Tuesday announced an effort to create a "transparent" judicial selection committee in Brooklyn.
The move comes amid an ongoing judicial scandal in Brooklyn, which has included the arrests of two State Supreme Court justices and does not show any signs of abating anytime soon. One of the main criticisms of the system run by the county Democratic organization is that it is surrounded in secrecy.
Working Families Party co-chairwoman Bertha Lewis, speaking outside State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, contended that the entire judicial selection process in Brooklyn is broken.
"It would be funny if it was not so tragic," she said. "When it came to stopping corruption, two political parties stepped back and threw up their hands and said there's nothing wrong with this."
Selection committee member Charlotte Hitchcock pledged that the committee will be open and transparent, posting all the key information about the process on the Internet. In addition, candidates will likely be asked to state positions on key issues -- something that the county Democratic machine specifically outlaws.
Retired Justice Frank Barbaro, who served more than 30 years in the state Legislature, volunteered to serve on the committee, and said the system needs to be changed.
"In my 35 years in public life, no one ever asked me for a penny," Barbaro said, adding, "but it is an environment that leaves it open for corruption."
He said he obtained his position on the bench in 1997 by going to Democratic Party leaders and requesting a nomination, citing his many years of public service. He said after his election, one official asked him to hire a certain person as legal secretary. He refused.