Lumarie Maldonado Cruz wins Civil Court Judge primary

THE CITY

Tuesday night brought an historic upset triggered by an insurgent candidate running against the Queens political establishment.

No, not Tiffany Cabán — this one was a landslide.

Lumarie Maldonado Cruz scored a resounding victory in the borough’s first primary for a civil court judge seat in over a decade, defeating the Queens Democratic Party’s pick, Wyatt Gibbons, by more than 17,000 votes.

Maldonado Cruz, 47, told THE CITY Wednesday she owed her victory to people that are “hungry for change.”

“From the very beginning, people realized that the communities all throughout Queens are being underserved, undermined and ignored,” Maldonado Cruz said. “Last night was another example as to how people will not sit on the sidelines anymore.”

With Cabán leading in the district attorney primary race and Maldonado Cruz’s resounding win, the Queens Democratic Party suffered a double blow.

Maldonado Cruz said she believes Tuesday’s results send “a clear message again that people are taking their power back.”

“Reform starts from within and it is about time that the legal system treats everyone with fairness regardless of race gender creed or other traits,” she said. “It’s about time that the people who bear that responsibility do so without bias or favor.”

Maldonado Cruz, a former Bronx resident who recently moved to Jackson Heights, is currently an attorney for the Character and Fitness Committee of the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division in Manhattan, which conducts background checks on individuals seeking admission to the New York bar.

Better know your civil court judge candidates

Patch

 The Democratic primary election for Queens district attorney isn't the only race coming up this month. Queens Democrats will also get to vote for civil court judge — for the first time in decades.

Typically the Queens County Democratic Party chooses candidates for judicial openings and they run unopposed. This year, one of the four open seats is contested: Attorney Lumarie Maldonado Cruz is running against the party's pick, defense lawyer Wyatt Gibbons.


The election is countywide, meaning that anyone in Queens who is registered as a Democrat can vote in this particular race.

The New York City Bar Association, which evaluates candidates in contested primary elections, recently rated Gibbons approved and Maldonado Cruz not approved. But a campaign staffer told 
 Patch that Maldonado Cruz chose not to participate in the bar association's interview.


"Candidates rated Approved have affirmatively demonstrated qualifications necessary for the performance of the duties of the position for which they are being considered," the bar association's website says of its ratings.

 The city's civil courts deal with "everyday legal problems," mainly cases involving less than $25,000. The relatively informal small claims court, which deals with matters involving under $5,000, is also part of civil court.


Civil court judges serve 10-year terms, during which they're assigned to different court divisions, known as "parts," or to do miscellaneous court work. Assignments may include family or criminal courts.

Peter Vallone to become a judge

From the Observer:

Peter Vallone Jr., who served as Astoria’s city councilman for 12 years, was nominated for a civil court judgeship this morning, he confirmed to the Observer. Term-limited out of office in 2013, Mr. Vallone had taken a position with the Cuomo administration.

Mr. Vallone is now the Democratic nominee in a judgeship election that will be decided in November. Judicial races are rarely competitive and the Queens Democratic Party’s decision to nominate Mr. Vallone could be tantamount to him winning the election.

As a civil court judge, Mr. Vallone can serve a 10-year term and earn $159,000 annually.

Council looking to decriminalize quality-of-life crimes

From the Daily News:

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s office is working on a proposal that would make some of the most common criminal court summonses civil charges instead. Violators would get a ticket to one of the city’s administrative courts, such as the Environmental Control Board, instead of criminal court. Cops could no longer make arrests for those offenses, and missed court dates would turn into default monetary judgments instead of warrants.

Bratton appears cool to the idea, saying people wouldn’t take a civil ticket seriously.

A Daily News analysis shows the seven offenses that would be sent to one of the city’s administrative civil courts under the Mark-Viverito plan account for roughly 2.7 million, or 42%, of the summonses issued by the NYPD between 2001 and June 2014. They also account for more than 510,000 open arrest warrants, according to the analysis of data provided by the state Office of Court Administration.

The seven offenses under consideration are public consumption of alcohol, public urination, bicycling on the sidewalk, being in a park after dark, failure to obey a park sign, littering and unreasonable noise. The offenses under consideration for decriminalization are under the city’s administrative code — not the state penal code — making it possible to amend them without state approval, officials said.

Public urination and open container are the only two minor offenses for which fines can be paid by mail. But Lancman said many people have reservations about allowing people to simply pay online for criminal court summonses because they’d essentially be pleading guilty to a violation or, in some cases, a misdemeanor without having an attorney present.

“When it’s a civil offense we don’t have any problem letting people pay online or by mail without having to show up at all ... that would almost certainly mean you’d have a higher percentage of people paying a fine,” Lancman said.

He said that in criminal summons court, roughly half the people don’t show up, and of the people who do show up and are assessed a fine, a quarter of them don’t pay.

Council Member wants extension of eviction moratorium

From CBS Local:

New York City Council Member Dan Garodnick (D-4th) has called for a moratorium on evictions until Jan. 1 in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

The New York City Civil Court imposed a citywide moratorium on residential evictions after Sandy, but the moratorium was set to expire on Monday, according to Garodnick’s office.

In a news release, Garodnick said the Monday expiration will come too soon. Even in areas where basic services have been restored, anyone who lacked heat, power, hot water, cell phone service or elevator service for a week is still facing challenges, he said.

In many areas, refrigerators remain empty, child care is not always available, and people have fallen behind on work, he said.