By Noah Powelson<\/p>\n
New York\u2019s top judge will not face any consequences for advocating for the passage of a sentencing reform bill, which Republican lawmakers claimed crossed an ethical line.<\/p>\n
An ethics complaint filed against Chief Judge Rowan Wilson was dismissed by the state\u2019s Commission on Judicial Conduct after they determined New York\u2019s top judge was well within his right to speak on pieces of legislation concerning New York\u2019s legal system. Both Wilson and the Republic lawmakers who filed the ethics complaint against him were notified of the decision on July 7. <\/p>\n
The ethics complaint filed by Republican lawmakers focused on comments Wilson made in support of the Second Look Act \u2013 a sentencing reform bill \u2013 during a February symposium at the CUNY School of Law.<\/p>\n
The ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Anthony Palumbo, and his colleagues argued Wilson\u2019s advocacy had crossed veered into politics the political realm, casting doubt on the chief judge\u2019s ability to act impartially.<\/p>\n
But in a confidential July 7 letter from the CJC obtained by the Eagle, the commission said that chief judges are allowed to both advocate and propose legislation, as long as it concerns the legal system.<\/p>\n
\u201cJudges and candidates for judicial office are explicitly permitted by the rules to speak, write, lecture, teach and participate in extra-judicial activities concerning the law, the legal system and the administration of justice,\u201d the letter read. \u201cBecause the Second Look Act concerns the law, the legal system and the administration of justice, it was permissible for the Chief Judge to speak publicly about it and\/or to advocate for its passage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chief judges in the past have repeatedly introduced and advocated legislation concerning the law, like when former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman proposed the Raise the Age Act. Wilson\u2019s own advocacy of the Second Look Act was well within his rights and did not violate his ethical obligations, the commission ruled.<\/p>\n
Wilson is still required to keep his speech and advocacy within the rules of judicial conduct, as are all judges in the state. In reviewing Wilson\u2019s comments, the CJC determined certain statements could be concerning.<\/p>\n
During the symposium, Wilson referred to the state\u2019s current criminal sentencing practices as \u201cstupid\u201d and expressed disapproval for how certain judges approached sentencing, but that he and Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas were limited in how they could change that. Wilson also quoted an unnamed judge who referred to a defendant as an \u201canimal [that] should be put in a cage for the rest of [his] life\u201d during sentencing. Wilson then told audience members they could find out who those judges are and urged them not to vote for them. <\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t vote for them and get other people not to vote for them,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s something you can do for me and for [Chief Administrative] Judge [Joseph] Zayas.\u201d <\/p>\n
In response to the ethics complaint, Wilson sent a letter to the commission on March 30 to explain the statements he made during the CUNY symposium, conceding that some of his words were poorly chosen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I had been clearer: after saying that Judge Zayas and I lack any real ability to address such situations, I should have said that the voters have that ability and should become informed and express their preferences through the electoral process,\u201d Wilson said in the letter to the commission. <\/p>\n
The commission determined that Wilson\u2019s language in his March 30 letter was what he intended to convey. The commission also determined Wilson did not advocate for voting against any specific judge by name.<\/p>\n
Finding no ethical breaches, the commission dismissed the complaint.<\/p>\n
Palumbo did not respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n
Wilson has long advocated for the passage of the Second Look Act, dedicating his entire 2025 State of the Judiciary address to the reform. The bill would give New Yorkers serving lengthy prison terms an opportunity to have their sentences reviewed. No current process for challenging potentially excessive sentences exists \u2013 unless the sentence was handed down illegally. <\/p>\n
\u201cOverincarceration has everything to do with the courts,\u201d Wilson said in 2025. \u201cNo prosecutor, no jury, no legislator or executive branch official imposed a prison sentence. Everyone sentenced to prison in New York was sentenced by a judge of the Unified Court System.\u201d <\/p>\n
In addition to his comments about the state\u2019s sentencing practices at the symposium, Wilson said that for decades, judges have issued out large sentences to defendants they know little about. Even if an incarcerated person reforms themselves for the better while locked up, there are few ways for them to contribute to society, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of us are really very good about predicting the future, but the system depends on what I consider a stupid assumption that judges can do that,\u201d Wilson said during the symposium. <\/p>\n
The comments irked Palumbo and seven other Republican lawmakers \u2013 State Senators Andrew Lanza, Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, Steven Rhoads and Assemblymembers Michael Tannousis, John Mikulin, Keith Brown and Doug Smith \u2013 who said Wilson\u2019s comments resembled that of a politician and not a judge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Noah Powelson New York\u2019s top judge will not face any consequences for advocating for the passage of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-324482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}