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Vote for Change in Brooklyn, Committee Oks Framework for New Judicial Panel Criteria

By GRAHAM RAYMAN
July 3, 2003 - NEWSDAY

A subcommittee of the beleaguered Brooklyn Democratic organization voted Tuesday night to use one member's proposal as a framework for possible changes to the composition of the panel that recommends judges.

Committee members were quick to say yesterday that the proposal still has to go before the full executive committee of the Kings County Democratic organization in two weeks, and the final result could be substantially different. How judges are selected in Brooklyn has come under intense criticism since the arrest of Supreme Court Justice Gerald Garson in April.

"We agreed to the proposal in concept," said Brooklyn City Councilman and executive committee member Lewis Fidler, who initially proposed the idea in May. "We need to fine-tune some things."

Fidler said under his proposal, just six of the 18 members of a new panel would come from the executive committee. The other 12 members would be lawyers from the Brooklyn and city bar associations, Brooklyn Law School and other organizations without formal ties to the party. Judicial vacancies this year will still be filled under the old process.

"There is no disagreement that the committee needs to move forward with changes," said an executive committee member who requested anonymity. "This was purely for the purpose of more analysis."

Several committee members acknowledged that public pressure had a role in the vote.

"There certainly were people who found out that fair or not, people's perception of the judicial selection process in this county was negative," Fidler said. Alan Fleishman, a district leader critical of the current process, said: "The negative media attention has made even the people who fought an independent panel reconsider. They just don't think we can wait anymore. There's a general feeling out there that the party has become the laughingstock of the state."

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