Voters in Westchester will be voting for Judges on the County Court, NYS Supreme Court, and in Yonkers, the Yonkers City Court.
In Yonkers two qualified candidates are seeking the bench: Democrat Elena Goldberg-Velazquez and Republican Robert Sweeney. Sweeney served on the Yonkers City Court in 2010. He was appointed by former Mayor Phil Amicone but lost his election to a full term. That was Sweeney’s best opportunity to win election for Yonkers judge.
In this election, we endorse Elena Goldberg-Velasquez for Yonkers City Court. As of Jan. 1, the Yonkers City Court is positioned to have no women on the bench. Goldberg-Velazquez would bring a women to the court and as a mother of two young girls, would be a welcome addition to serve those who stand before her in court, because of her qualifications and experience, but also as a female judge. Her professional experience, coupled with her continuous civic engagement, has provided Goldberg-Velasquez with the skills and temperament to join the Yonkers City Court.
For many years, Rising newspapers, and many groups, have opposed the concept of electing members of our judiciary. In the past, we have believed that electing judges, and forcing them to campaign and raise money, diminishes the office and their ability to adjudicate the law fairly. We no longer hold that view, in part because of the way in which candidates for judge in Westchester have campaigned and interacted with the public and with their constituents and possible future parties before the bench.
We endorse Robert Prisco for County Court judge Nov. 5. Prisco has campaigned all over Westchester for the past six months, and has heard the views and opinions of the people from Yorktown to Yonkers, which we believe will help him serve the people of Westchester fairly and justly. Prisco’s experience as an assistant district attorney for 32 years in the Westchester D.A.’s Office, where he has served and prosecuted thousands of homicide and violent felony offenses, makes him most suited for the County Court
Prisco has also received the rating of “well qualified” from both the Westchester County Bar Association and the Westchester Women’s Bar Association, making him the only candidate for County Court to receive this rating from both organizations. And, as a member of the Bail Reform Initiative and the Raise the Age Committee, Prisco said he views reforms to the criminal justice system as long overdue.
We endorse Robert Prisco for Westchester County Court judge.
In the race for Supreme Court Judge in the Ninth Judicial District, which includes Westchester and where there are four seats up for election, we endorse democratic judicial candidates Gina Capone, Nancy Quinn Koba, Lewis Lubell and Steven Milligram. All four are sitting judges; Lubell is a sitting New York State Supreme Court judge; Koba is an Ossining town justice; Capone is a Putnam Valley justice and would become the first female Supreme Court judge from Putnam County; and Milligram currently serves as a town justice in Monroe.
We appreciate how the slate of four democratic Supreme Court judicial candidates come from different parts of the district, and that two of the candidates are well qualified women who will serve the residents of Westchester well on the bench. Most important, all four are well qualified to serve and have our endorsement to serve on the NYS Supreme Court bench for the next 10 years
