End party rule over the courts

To the editor:

(re: “Power of the blank line,” Nov. 12)

The recent Press editorial serves as a reminder how fortunate we are to have a journal such as The Riverdale Press reporting on matters of importance to us.

In noting that the “blank” line on the Election Day ballot box out-voted the three judicial candidates selected by the Bronx Democratic Party insiders, I submit that the only lesson to be drawn is that we, the people of this community, are being served badly by our political leadership.

Many of us bray at the abuses committed by President Trump in placing judicial appointments in the hands of a small group imposing its will on the third branch of government. But here in the Bronx — in a court system every bit as important to its users as decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court — Democratic Party officials hunker down, thereby insisting that we accept that judges in black robes are simply part of the politician’s right to patronage.

We read daily of flaws in the criminal justice system. And yet we are given candidates who, in a moment of candor, would acknowledge they are not competent to represent a client facing criminal charges. But once enrobed, these same men and women are assigned to make irrevocably scarring decisions relating to “stop and frisk,” or release on bail, or “no knock” search warrants.

As the campaign to elect a council person revs up, each candidate should be heard on the subject of how to bring the nominees for supreme court and civil court in the Bronx to a level of excellence. Candidates Jessica Haller and Dan Padernacht have publicly declared their support for reformation, lifting the selection process from a closed-door cabal to an impartial nominating group accessible to the community at large, regardless of political affiliation.

This merit-based process has been in effect for years with considerable success in another borough with Democratic Party dominance: Manhattan.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, secretary to the Bronx Democrats, apparently has concluded that he can ignore the public requests for information. His son, Eric Dinowitz — another of those running for the open council seat — asks that his independence be assessed on his own merits. Fair enough, but what use will he make of his public platform as a candidate to press for judicial selection reformation?

What role does he take as a current insider in the existing judicial selection process?

The slate of announced candidates for the city council opening bring a variety of talents of benefit to this constituency. Surely it should be mandatory that each declare publicly, and act upon it in the few months before election, and demand that judicial selection be removed from patronage.

How wonderful it would be if their financial providers made that a condition of support this year, and of party boss Jeffrey Dinowitz, next.

Eric Seiff

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