Specialized
60-665: Gerald Sheindlin (born November 19, 1933) is an American author, television personality, jurist and attorney. He spent many years as a trial judge serving the New York Supreme Court . After serving in the Army during the Korean War, Sheindlin received a B.A. from Long Island University and a L.L.B from Brooklyn Law School , in 1959. He is the author of two books, Genetic Fingerprinting: The Law and Science of DNA Evidence and Blood Trail . Following his career as
120-432: A jury or an administrative agency in the context of APA adjudication or formal rulemaking will be normally upheld on appeal unless it is unsupported by "substantial evidence." This means something "more than a mere scintilla" of evidence. It means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion." Under the "substantial evidence" standard, appellate review extends to whether there
180-731: A Commercial Division judge in Manhattan from 1996-2018, Justice Elizabeth Hazlitt Emerson served in the Suffolk County Commercial Division from 2002-2023, Justice Carolyn E. Demarest served in the Brooklyn, Kings County Commercial Division from its inception in 2002 through 2016, Justice Deborah Karalunas presided in the Onondaga County (Syracuse) Commercial Division from its inception in 2007 for over 15 years, Justice Eileen Bransten served in
240-474: A contract, as well as actions for a declaratory judgment . The Supreme Court also has exclusive jurisdiction of matrimonial actions, such as either contested or uncontested actions for a divorce or annulment . The court also has exclusive jurisdiction over "Article 78 proceedings" against a body or officer seeking to overturn an official determination on the grounds that it was arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable or contrary to law. At English Common Law,
300-453: A decision of a tribunal, board, commission or other government decision-maker can be reviewed on one of several standards depending on the circumstances. In each case, a court must undertake a "standard of review analysis" to determine the appropriate standard to apply. Where the relevant statute provides for an appeal to the courts, questions of law are subject to a standard of "correctness" and questions of fact and mixed fact and law subject to
360-717: A decision. Decisions by the Appellate Term must be followed by courts whose appeals lie to it. In New York City, all felony cases are heard in criminal terms. The Criminal Term of the Supreme Court, New York County is divided into 2 Trial Assignment parts, 10 conference and trial parts, 1 youth part, 1 narcotics/felony waiver part, 1 integrated domestic violence part, and 16 trial parts which include 1 Judicial Diversion part, 1 Mental Health part, 1 Veteran's Court part, and 1 JHO part. In New York City, all major civil cases are heard in civil terms. The court system
420-561: A manner that has the force of law used to be subject to Chevron review until Chevron was overturned by Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo . Questions of statutory interpretation decided by an agency in a manner that does not have the force of law are subject to Skidmore review. A new trial in which all issues are reviewed as if for the first time is called a trial de novo . Court and jury decisions concerning mixed questions of law and fact are usually subjected to de novo review, unless factual issues predominate, in which event
480-570: A material fact, thereby implying that the finder of fact must have engaged in impermissible speculation with no reasonable basis in order to reach a verdict. If the parties presented conflicting evidence, appellate courts applying a "substantial evidence" standard assume that the jury or administrative adjudicator resolved the conflict in favor of the prevailing party, and in turn, appellate courts must defer to such implicit findings about which side's witnesses or documents were more believable, even if they suspect they might have ruled differently if hearing
540-585: A party screening committee. Sometimes, the parties cross-endorse each other's candidates, while at other times they do not and incumbent judges must actively campaign for re-election. Judicial conventions have been criticized as opaque, brief and dominated by county party leaders. In practice, most of the power of selecting justices belongs to local political party organizations, such as the Kings County Democratic County Committee (Brooklyn Democratic Party), which control
600-515: A previous ruling is invalid because it was made on unreasonable grounds or without any proper consideration of circumstances. This is an extremely deferential standard. In administrative law , a government agency 's resolution of a question of fact, when decided pursuant to an informal rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), is reviewed on the arbitrary and capricious standard. A finding of fact made by
660-528: A statute impinges on a fundamental right, such as those listed in the Bill of Rights or the due process rights of the Fourteenth Amendment , then the court will apply strict scrutiny . This means the statute must be "narrowly tailored" to address a "compelling state interest." The courts will also apply strict scrutiny if the law targets a suspect classification , such as race. In Canada ,
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#1732797288738720-525: A statute requiring the licensing of opticians is permissible because it is directed to the legitimate state objective of ensuring the health of consumers, and the licensing statutes are reasonably related to ensuring consumers' health by requiring certain education for opticians. Under the Equal Protection Clause, when the law targets a "quasi-suspect" classification, such as gender, the courts apply intermediate scrutiny , which requires
780-404: A substantial right, meaning that it was likely that the mistake affected the outcome of the case below in a significant way. In federal court , if a party commits forfeiture of error, e.g. by failing to raise a timely objection , then on appeal, the burden of proof is on that party to show that plain error occurred. If the party did raise a timely objection that was overruled, then on appeal,
840-420: A trial court finds, based on the testimony of a single eyewitness, that a defendant broke a window by throwing a 30-pound rock over 100 feet, the appeals court might reverse that factual finding based on uncontradicted expert testimony (also presented to the trial court) stating that such a feat is impossible for most people. In such a case, the appeals court might find that, although there was evidence to support
900-471: A trial judge, Sheindlin became a television arbitrator when he replaced former New York City Mayor Ed Koch as the presiding judge on The People’s Court in the fall of 1999. This put him in competition with his wife Judith Sheindlin , a fellow former judge who presided over top-rated court show Judge Judy , which ran for 25 seasons from 1996 to 2021 and led to spin-off courtroom streaming series Judy Justice . Jerry presided over The People’s Court for
960-565: Is a retinal surgeon and Greg, Adam and Nicole are lawyers. New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the judiciary of New York . It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil jurisdiction, with most criminal matters handled in County Court . New York
1020-500: Is any relevant evidence in the record which reasonably supports every material fact (that is, material in the sense of establishing an essential element of a claim or defense). Appellate courts will not reverse such findings of fact unless they have no reasonable basis in the evidence submitted by the parties. In other words, they will not reverse unless no one submitted any testimony, documentation, or other evidence which directly or indirectly (i.e., through reasonable inferences) supports
1080-547: Is divided into thirteen judicial districts: seven upstate districts each comprising between five and eleven counties, five districts corresponding to the boroughs of New York City, and one district on Long Island. In each judicial district outside New York City, an Administrator (or Administrative Judge if a judge) is responsible for supervising all courts and agencies, while inside New York City an Administrator (or Administrative Judge) supervises each major court. Administrators are assisted by Supervising Judges who are responsible in
1140-401: Is not required to grant certification even if judges are capable. In 2020, for example, OCA denied certification to 46 of the 49 judges who applied for it, citing budget cuts and a hiring freeze. These additional six years of service are available only for elected Supreme Court Justices, not for "Acting" Justices whose election or appointments were to lower courts. A referendum to increase
1200-562: Is sometimes referred to as "plenary review" or the "legal error" standard. It allows the appeals court to substitute its own judgment for the lower court's on how to apply the law. For example, as noted in Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. , de novo review is required in the United States when First Amendment issues are raised on appeal. Questions of statutory interpretation decided by an administrative agency in
1260-452: Is somewhere in between de novo review and clearly erroneous review. Under independent review, an appellate court will reexamine the record from the lower court as the appellate court makes its legal determinations. Where a lower court has made a discretionary ruling (such as whether to allow a party claiming a hardship to file a brief after the deadline), that decision will be reviewed for abuse of discretion . It will not be reversed unless
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#17327972887381320-534: Is the only state in the United States where the Supreme Court is not the state's court of last resort (which would be the New York Court of Appeals ), but it is a trial court . Also, although it is a trial court, the Supreme Court sits as a "single great tribunal of general state-wide jurisdiction, rather than an aggregation of separate courts sitting in the several counties or judicial districts of
1380-408: The standard of review is the amount of deference given by one court (or some other appellate tribunal) in reviewing a decision of a lower court or tribunal. A low standard of review means that the decision under review will be varied or overturned if the reviewing court considers there is any error at all in the lower court's decision. A high standard of review means that deference is accorded to
1440-564: The 1995 Commercial Courts Task Force, facilitated the 2006 Commercial Division Focus Group study, and has chaired the Commercial Division Advisory Council since 2013 (through at least May 2024). Appeals from Supreme Court decisions, as well as from the Surrogate's Court, Family Court, and Court of Claims, are heard by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division . This court is intermediate between
1500-510: The 1999–2000 season and most of the 2000–2001 season, after which he left the series and was replaced by Marilyn Milian . He is married to Judy Sheindlin , better known as Judge Judy (so named after her court TV series ). The two married in 1978, a second marriage for both. They were divorced in 1990, but they remarried in 1991. Sheindlin has 3 children (Gregory, Jonathan and Nicole), 2 stepchildren (Jamie and Adam Levy), 13 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild. Jonathan A. Sheindlin
1560-607: The 1st and 2nd Judicial Departments only, representing Downstate New York . These hear appeals from the New York City Civil Court , New York City Criminal Court , City Courts in the 1st and 2nd Departments, and District Court . (City Courts in other departments appeal to the County Courts instead.) The 1st Department has a single Appellate Term covering Manhattan and The Bronx . The 2nd Department has two Appellate Terms. The Appellate Term for
1620-740: The 2nd, 11th and 13th Judicial Districts covers Brooklyn , Queens , and Staten Island , and generally sits at 141 Livingston Street in Brooklyn. The Appellate Term for the 9th and 10th Judicial Districts covers Nassau , Suffolk , Westchester , Rockland , Orange , Dutchess , and Putnam Counties; it generally rotates between the Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains , the Nassau County Supreme Court Building in Mineola , and
1680-742: The 8th District (located in Buffalo), and the Albany, Bronx, Kings, Nassau, Onondaga, Queens, Suffolk and Westchester County Supreme Courts. These are specialized business courts , with a defined jurisdiction focusing on business and commercial litigation. The jurisdictional amount in controversy required to have a case heard in the Commercial Division varies among these Commercial Division courts, ranging from $ 50,000 in Albany and Onondaga Counties to $ 500,000 in New York County, but
1740-601: The Appellate Division or the Appellate Term). As a result, New York City has too few judges to handle New York City's caseload, which is more than 100,000 cases annually; the population-based formula in the state Constitution does not account for the millions of non-resident workers and visitors in the city, nor the 315,000 business associations that operate in the city. Elected New York Supreme Court justices can be moved or temporarily reassigned anywhere in
1800-640: The Cohalan Court Complex in Central Islip . They occasionally sit at other locations within their jurisdiction. Appellate terms consist of between three and five justices of the Supreme Court, appointed by the Chief Administrative Judge with the approval of presiding justice of the appropriate appellate division. The court sits in three-judge panels, with two justices constituting a quorum and being necessary for
1860-466: The Commercial Division rules (Section 202.70) are otherwise uniform. The first specialist commercial judges assigned to the pilot Commercial Parts in 1993 were Justices Ira Gammerman , Myriam Altman, Herman Cahn, and Beatrice Shainswit. Among other long serving Commercial Division Justices, these judges served at least a decade: Justice Cahn continued on as a Commercial Division judge in Manhattan from 1995 until 2008, Justice Charles Ramos served as
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1920-696: The Manhattan Commercial Division from 2008 to 2018, Justice Timothy S. Driscoll has served in the Nassau County Commercial Division since 2009 (as of May 2024), and Justice Thomas A. Stander served in the Monroe County Commercial Division from its inception for ten years. One constant throughout the Commercial Division history has been the involvement of New York attorney Robert L. Haig, who, among other things, co-chaired
1980-574: The New York Supreme Court and the New York Court of Appeals. There is one Appellate Division, which for administrative purposes comprises four judicial departments. Decisions of the Appellate Division department panels are binding on the lower courts in that department, and also on lower courts in other departments unless there is contrary authority from the Appellate Division of that department. The Appellate Division of
2040-548: The New York Supreme Court in New York City. A similar practice is done in the 9th Judicial District (which covers the New York suburban counties of Orange , Dutchess , Westchester , Rockland and Putnam ), in which County and Family Court judges have been designated as acting Supreme Court justices, serving part-time on that court. However, this practice also strains the resources of the courts that "lend" justices to
2100-716: The New York Supreme Court under the New York Constitutional Convention of 1846. In November 2004, the court system merged the operations of two separate criminal courts—the Bronx County Criminal Court and the Criminal Term of Bronx County Supreme Court—into a single trial court of criminal jurisdiction known as the Bronx Criminal Division. Arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable In law,
2160-623: The New York trial courts are published selectively in the Miscellaneous Reports . A judge of the New York Supreme Court is titled a justice . The number of justices of the Supreme Court in each New York Supreme Court judicial district (including justices assigned to the Appellate Division) is set forth by the New York State Constitution. Once a decade, the state Legislature may increase
2220-679: The State of New York itself. In practice, the Supreme Court hears civil actions involving claims above a certain monetary amount (for example, $ 50,000 in New York City) that puts the claim beyond the jurisdiction of lower courts. Civil actions about lesser sums are heard by courts of limited jurisdiction, such as the New York City Civil Court , or the County Court , District Court , city courts, or justice courts (town and village courts) outside New York City. The Supreme Court also hears civil cases involving claims for equitable relief, such as injunctions, specific performance, or rescission of
2280-708: The Supreme Court are responsible for oversight of the related programs. With respect to criminal cases, the Criminal Branch of Supreme Court tries felony cases in the five counties of New York City, whereas they are primarily heard by the County Court elsewhere. Misdemeanor cases, and arraignments in almost all cases, are handled by lower courts: the New York City Criminal Court ; the District Court in Nassau County and
2340-400: The Supreme Court in each judicial department is authorized to establish "appellate terms". An appellate term is an intermediate appellate court that hears appeals from the inferior courts within their designated counties or judicial districts, and are intended to ease the workload on the Appellate Division and provide a less expensive forum closer to the people. Appellate terms are located in
2400-399: The Supreme Court. Supreme Court justices are elected to 14-year terms. Justices are nominated by judicial district nominating conventions, with judicial delegates themselves elected from assembly districts. Some (political party) county committees play a significant role in their judicial district conventions, for example restricting nomination to those candidates that receive approval from
2460-497: The burden of proof is on the other party to show that the error was harmless error . This approach is dictated by Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 52, which holds, "[a]ny error, defect, irregularity, or variance that does not affect substantial rights must be disregarded, [while a] plain error that affects substantial rights may be considered even though it was not brought to the court's attention." The appellate court has discretion as to whether or not to correct plain error. Usually
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2520-446: The context of challenges to the constitutionality of awards of punitive damages ). In other words, the common law (including case law ) is not immune to at least some minimal amount of judicial review for compatibility with the federal Constitution. Generally, the Supreme Court judges legislation based on whether it has a reasonable relationship to a legitimate state interest . This is called rational basis review . For example,
2580-424: The court will not correct it unless it led to a brazen miscarriage of justice . Questions of constitutionality are considered a type of question of law, and thus appellate courts always review lower court decisions that address constitutional issues de novo . However, the term "standard of review" has an additional meaning in the context of reviewing a law for its constitutionality, which concerns how much deference
2640-409: The decision is "plain error". One consideration is whether "unpreserved" error exists—that is, mistakes made by the lower court that were not objected to as the law requires. In such a case, the appellate court may still choose to look at the lower court's mistake even though there was no objection, if the appellate court determines that the error was evident, obvious, and clear and materially prejudiced
2700-410: The decision under review, so that it will not be disturbed just because the reviewing court might have decided the matter differently; it will be varied only if the higher court considers the decision to have obvious error. The standard of review may be set by statute or precedent (stare decisis). In the United States , "standard of review" also has a separate meaning concerning the level of deference
2760-399: The decision will be subject to clearly erroneous review. When made by administrative agencies, decisions concerning mixed questions of law and fact are subjected to arbitrary and capricious review. Additionally, in some areas of substantive law, such as when a court is reviewing a First Amendment issue, an appellate court will use a standard of review called "independent review." The standard
2820-445: The delegates. The process was challenged in litigation which ultimately resulted in a U.S. Supreme Court decision in N.Y. State Board of Elections v. Lopez Torres (2008), in which the justices unanimously upheld the constitutionality of New York's judicial election system. Under state law, New York Supreme Court justices have a mandatory retirement age : a justice's term ends, even if his or her 14-year term has not yet expired, at
2880-556: The end of the calendar year in which the justice reaches the age of 70. However, an elected Supreme Court Justice may apply for a "certification" from the Office of Court Administration (OCA) to continue in office, without having to be re-elected, for three two-year periods, until final retirement at the end of the year in which the Justice turns 76. A judge applying for certification to continue to serve must pass cognitive tests , but OCA
2940-428: The evidence themselves in the first instance. This is a highly deferential standard. Under the "clearly erroneous" standard, where a trial court (as opposed to a jury or administrative agency) makes a finding of fact, such as in a bench trial , that finding will not be disturbed unless the appellate court is left with a "definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed" by the lower court. For example, if
3000-508: The five western towns of Suffolk County ; city courts; and justice courts. In 1993, Administrative Judge Stanley S. Ostrau established pilot Commercial Parts in the New York County Supreme Court. Two years later, Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye established a trial level Commercial Division, beginning in New York County (Manhattan) and Monroe County (the 7th Judicial District ). The Commercial Division has expanded to
3060-455: The judiciary gives to Congress when ruling on the constitutionality of legislation. In the United States , the term "standard of review" has several different meanings in different contexts and thus there are several standards of review on appeal used in federal courts depending on the nature of the question being appealed and the body that made the decision. Arbitrary and capricious is a legal ruling wherein an appellate court determines that
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#17327972887383120-508: The judiciary should give the legislature (i.e., the federal Congress or state legislatures) in determining whether legislation is constitutional. Concerning constitutional questions, three basic standards of review exist: rational basis, intermediate scrutiny, and strict scrutiny. This form of standard of review is sometimes also called the standard or level of scrutiny. These levels of scrutiny are normally applied to legislation, but can also be applied to judicial acts and precedents (as seen in
3180-475: The law to be substantially related to an important government interest. As the name implies, it is more strict than rational basis review but less strict than strict scrutiny. Other forms of intermediate scrutiny are applied in other contexts. For example, under the Free Speech Clause, content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions on speech are subject to a form of intermediate scrutiny. If
3240-527: The lord chancellor, not as a part of his equitable jurisdiction, but as the king's delegate to exercise the Crown's special jurisdiction, had responsibility for the custody and protection of infants and the mentally incapacitated. Upon the organization of the Supreme Court in New York the Legislature transferred so much of the law as formed a part of the king's prerogative to it. The Appellate Divisions of
3300-447: The lower court's finding, the evidence taken as a whole—including the eyewitness and the expert testimony—leaves the appellate court with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake was committed by the trial court. Under de novo review, the appellate court acts as if it were considering the question for the first time, giving no deference to the decision below. This standard applies to a lower court's findings on questions of law. This
3360-420: The number of justices in any judicial district, but Article VI of the state Constitution sets a population-based cap on the number of justices in each district, based on census data. As a result of the population-based cap, some areas have overloaded courts. New York City has a cap of 171 justices (and only some of the New York Supreme Court justices in New York City serve in trial parts, with others assigned to
3420-528: The on-site management of the trial courts, including court caseloads, personnel, and budget administration, and each manage a particular type of court within a county or judicial district. The Administrator is also assisted by the District Executive and support staff. The district administrative offices are responsible for personnel, purchasing, budgets, revenue, computer automation, court interpreters, court security, and case management. Opinions of
3480-463: The retirement age to 80 for Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges was defeated by New York voters in 2013. The New York Supreme Court is the oldest Supreme Court with general original jurisdiction. It was established as the Supreme Court of Judicature by the Province of New York on May 6, 1691. That court was continued by the State of New York after independence was declared in 1776. It became
3540-423: The state, although typically such moves or reassignments are within the judge's judicial district. To address the imbalance, the New York court system designates other courts' judges (such as those sitting on the lower-level New York City Civil Court , New York City Criminal Court , and New York City Family Court , as well as the statewide New York Court of Claims ) as "acting" Supreme Court justices to serve on
3600-562: The state." The Supreme Court is established in each of New York's 62 counties . A separate branch of the Supreme Court called the Appellate Division serves as the highest intermediate appellate court in New York. Under the New York State Constitution, the New York State Supreme Court has unlimited jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases, with the exception of certain monetary claims against
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