By NANCIE L. KATZ
May 2, 2003 - NY DAILY NEWS
The state's highest court ordered Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Reynold Mason removed from the bench yesterday because of misconduct, marking the latest taint to the borough's judiciary.
Mason is accused of subletting his $336-a-month rent-stabilized apartment in Flatbush, improperly dipping into an escrow account for the rent and then refusing to cooperate with an inquiry into the arrangement by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Last year, the commission recommended that Mason be taken off the bench. Yesterday, the Court of Appeals in Albany backed the commission, saying Mason, 52, "engaged in misconduct warranting removal."
Mason, a Democrat who was first elected a lower court civil judge in 1995 and then won a 14-year term as a Supreme Court civil justice in 1997, "is in complete disbelief," said his attorney, Paul Gentile.
"The Court of Appeals has cast aside a good judge without good reason," Gentile said.
He quoted his client as saying, "I look around and see the corruption and wrongdoing of judges being reported. I did nothing wrong and I'm removed."
The Court of Appeals agreed that Mason, who was earning $136,700 a year, acted improperly by subletting his apartment to his brother-in-law and dipping into an escrow account for the rent to pay child support and political donations.
"Misuse of an attorney escrow account constitutes serious misconduct that may, in some instances, result in disbarment," the six-judge panel concurred.
Spotlight on bench
Mason's case is the latest scandal to rock Brooklyn's courts. Last week, a divorce judge was charged with taking favors from a lawyer to fix cases. Last fall, a civil judge who confessed to bribe-taking was sentenced to three years behind bars. At least eight other judges have been under scrutiny for official misconduct during the past year.
Judicial commission head Gerald Stern called the high court's ruling a victory over a federal court decision that had crippled agency investigative powers.
"It demonstrates that it is misconduct for a judge not to cooperate with the commission," he said.
Last night, several Brooklyn Democrats called on the party's county leader, Assemblyman Clarence Norman, to reform the judicial selection process. They spoke before the Kings County Democratic dinner at the downtown Brooklyn Marriott.
Norman responded, "We've already done some things like added new people to our screening panel. If there are any other ... changes that have to be made ... those persons who have those recommendations, let them come to the next meeting." >