Yesterday, Elena Kagan was sworn into the Supreme Court, becoming its 112th Justice and its fourth female justice. The judicial oath, which she took in front of family, new colleagues, and TV audiences, says, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent on me, under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God." more ›

Would-be Empire State Building jumper, Jeb Corliss (pictured), isn't in the clear yet. Last year's decision from Supreme Court Justice Michael Ambrecht to dismiss the charges against him was overturned yesterday when The Supreme Court Appellate Division decided to bring the case back to life. more ›

Two lawsuits currently wending their way through New York courts are forcing judges to grapple with the legal ramifications of “gay divorce.” more ›

The construction worker who killed Adrienne Shelly in her West Village office pleaded guilty to manslaughter - and gave new details about why he killed the actress-director. Diego Pillco will receive 25 years in prison; as an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, the Post says his sentence will be "almost certainly followed by deportation." more ›

After almost a week of delays, jurors were back in court for the Nixzmary Brown murder case. A expert said that the malnourished 7-year-old's blood was found under the fingernails Brown's stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, as well as on his jeans. Rodriguez faces murder charges for the malnourished 7-year-old's 2006 death. more ›

Charles F. Luce, who was Con Ed's chairman and chief executive between 1967 and 1982, died last week at the age of 90 in California. The Bronxville, NY resident died of prostate cancer. more ›

Last October, a fire was started outside the Engine 34/Ladder 21 firehouse on West 38th Street. The fire was put out, but upon investigation, it turned out the ones who set it were firefighters from different firehouses! A surveillance cameras actually captured Michael Izzo and Richard Capece purchasing the gasoline at a gas station and later splashing the stationhouse's garage door and igniting it, setting off what was described as a fireball. more ›

State Supreme Court Justice Helen Freedman has ruled that the Broadway production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas can and will proceed, despite the theater owner’s attempt to lock out the stagehands. “Grinch” producers dragged Jucamcyn, the third largest owner of Broadway theaters, into court yesterday seeking an injunction to let the show go on. Local One, the stagehands’ union, is on strike until a contract is agreed upon with the producers’ league, of which... more ›

After Brooklyn prosecutors decided to drop murder charges against ex-FBI agent R. Lindley DeVecchio, after the star witness's testimony was deemed questionable, the judge presiding over the case decided to scold the defendant. DeVecchio had been on trial for allegedly giving mob informant Gregory "The Grim Reaper" Scarpa information to kill other rival informants. more ›

Supreme Court Justice Jill Konviser has ruled that the three men charged in the murder of Michael Sandy can be charged with murder as a hate crime. Last October, Anthony Fortunato, John Fox, and Ilya Shurov had lured Michael Sandy through a gay chat room to meet them near the Belt Parkway. When Sandy arrived, they robbed and beat him, causing him to flee into the highway and get hit by a car. Sandy was critically injured and after many days, his family decided to turn take him off life support. more ›

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A Harlem Assemblyman is so unhappy with Governor Spitzer that he's laying down what the Post calls Spitzer's "DEBUT DEM DISS." Keith Wright, who is a Democrat, told the Post, "He’s acting like a Democrat Giuliani - it’s either his way or no way. I’m not a big fan. I had a better relationship with [Republican former Gov.] George Pataki.” Ouch! That's a double diss - to bring up Giuliani AND to say Pataki was a better colleague. more ›

The Department of Education officials are smiling and parents are seething: Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Lewis Bart Stone ruled that the DOE could continue to ban cell phones. more ›

Now that he's been found medically fit to stand trial, jury selection has started in the trial of Peter Braunstein, the journalist who allegedly posed as a firefighter and molested a former co-worker on Halloween in 2005. The thing is 70% of the jurors questioned yesterday had heard about the trial and left, thanks to the moment-to-moment coverage of the case (exhibit A, B, C). But the NY Times said 30 prospective jurors who would be able to be fair remained. Can you imagine if you were on called to serve on that jury? more ›

Manhattan State Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden today declined to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that would have blocked developer Forest City Ratner from commencing demolitions within the footprint of the “Atlantic Yards” project before the legal challenge to the state’s environmental review and approval of the project, as well as a motion for a preliminary injunction, can be heard in court on May 3rd. more ›

A Manhattan jury found four women guilty of gang assault for attacking a man outside the IFC Center last summer. The man, Dwayne Buckle of Queens, said that the group of lesbians attacked him because he was straight, while the women contended Buckle had used slurs and threw a cigarette at them - and that another man stabbed him. more ›

BusinessWeek assistant managing editor and blogger Bruce Nussbaum may have been one of the 40 most powerful people in design (back in 2005), but he was no match for State Supreme Court Justice Edward J. McLaughlin. more ›

A Long Island couple is suing a Manhattan fertility clinic for using the wrong sperm during in-vitro fertilization. Nancy and Thomas Andrews were having trouble conceiving a second child, so they went to the New York Medical Services for Reproductive Medicine to have Nancy's eggs fertilized with Thomas's sperm. But when baby Jessica was born in 2004 to the couple, they suspected something was wrong. From the Daily News:

Thomas Andrews is white and his wife is Dominican. But Jessica, who was born Oct. 19, 2004, has darker skin than either of them as well as "characteristics more typical of African or African-American descent," the lawsuit states. more ›

Who's that? Why, it's Supreme Court Justice Gerald Garson, taped by the Brooklyn DA's office. Garson is on trial for accepting bribes from lawyers while presiding over divorce cases - and the accusations are incredible. The 74-year-old jurist, who is now suspended, allegedly accepted cash, cigars, meals and more from lawyers who wanted their clients to win. And how was Garson's side business discovered? When a woman wanted to get a "fixer" to bribe the judge because she wanted to win her divorce and child custody case... only to find out that her husband's lawyer already bribed Garson! more ›

It's really hard to joke about a sex trial where a female Manhattan Montessori school teacher is accused of the statutory rape and sodomy and two teenage boys, but based on the NY Times' article about juror selection, it seems there are moments of levity. more ›

an excuse to Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Berkman, who then said, "I'm supposed to believe this" and later "I'll have [Miranda] arrested." more ›

Governor Spitzer has nominated Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Theodore T. Jones to a position on the NY State Court of Appeals, the state's highest court. You may remember Jones's name from such incidents as the Transit Strike of 2005. Jones is the one who fined the TWU $2.5 million and sentenced TWU president Roger Toussaint to 10 days in jail. more ›

Jerry Seinfeld sure has come a long way from being a struggling stand-up comic to trying to avoid paying a real estate broker her commission! Seinfeld and his wife Jessica say that when they called their broker Tamara Cohen to see a townhouse on West 82nd Street, she didn't pick up her phone. But it turns out the Cohen is an observant Jew and was observing the Sabbath. Here are some details from the NY Law Journal:

Cohen began showing apartments and buildings to the Seinfelds' "estate manager," Steven Galistinos, in September 2004, according to the decision. In January 2005, Cohen showed the 82nd Street townhouse to Galistinos. The listing broker for the townhouse agreed to "co-broke" the house with her. more ›

The two page blackmail letter that Yoko Ono's driver, Koral Karsan, wrote in hopes of receiving $2M from her, was released yesterday. Karsan's lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, filed it with Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Daniel FitzGerald. more ›

Now that the media has been able to see the papers in the battle over Brooke Astor's care, it turns out that Supreme Court Justice John Stackhouse has made some decisions about the ailing philanthropist's care. When Astor's grandson, Philip Marshall, accused his father, Anthony Marshall, of mishandling Astor's estate - with Anthony spending money on his own dealings, not his 104 year old mother - temporary guardiandship of Astor went to her friend Annette de la Renta and JP Mordan Chase. And Justice Stackhouse told JP Morgan Chase to get rid of the couch that smells like dog urine and to buy Astor "new nightgowns, new outfits, new underwear and new accessories" as well any medicine she might need. And the judge suspended Anthony Marshall's $2.3 million salary, with noting the bank could pay Astor's staff and themselves. more ›

Last May, math-majoring junior Michael Quercia was arrested for possession of 10 ounces of pot in his dorm room, and NYU decided that he should perform 500 hours of community service and would remain suspended until 2007. Quercia thought that was a bit extreme, and a Manhattan judge agreed, calling NYU's ruling "a Draconian measure that is disproportionate to the offense committed." The Daily News reported that Supreme Court Justice Walter Tolub thinks that Quercia should be "reinstated after completing 100 hours of community service" - which Quercia is performing at the Salvation Army Northport Veterans Residence. more ›

2005 . . . 30,452,319 more ›

Even judges can be judged. And in this case, the verdict is "You're out!" State Supreme Court Justice Laura D. Blackburne was "fired" by the state Court of Appeals, regarding that 2004 incident where she let a robbery suspect evade arrest. The suspect was in Justice Blackburne's court for a different hearing, and a detective was waiting outside to question him; Blackburne knew the detective was waiting outside, but advised that the suspect be taken out a back entrance. Blackburne was suspended from the bench during the investigation, and the Commission on Judicial Conduct had recommended her removal. Blackburned appealed, but yesterday, the court ruled 5-2 that she "transcended the boundaries of acceptable judicial behavior" and the Commission's recommendation stands. Though the robbery charges against Derek Sterling were eventually dropped, the court found problems with Blackburne's action. From Newsday:

Though it was a single instance of misconduct, the high court said Blackburne acted out of "anger and pique" over a mistaken belief that [Detective] Devlin had lied to her about why he had come to court. Though she had chances to rectify her mistake on the spot, Blackburne pressed a court officer to allow Sterling to leave despite concerns by prosecutors it might be an obstruction of justice. more ›

The 11,000 square foot mansion dreams of a couple that owns 47 East 3rd Street in the East Village have been stalled for now, as a judge ruled that Catherine and Alistair Economakis did not get permission to cancel their tenants' leases. The buliding has 15 rent-stabilized apartments (totaling 60 rooms) which range from from $600 to $1200, and the Economakises asked the tenants to hit the road when they were expecting a baby. And enter the dispute, with some of the tenants suing the couple, putting their plans to turn the building into a five bedroom, plus six bath, den, library, study, gym, and nanny suite, home on ice; this has been roiling for over a year. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Faviola Soto ruled that the Economakises violated rent stabilization code and that there would be an "inescapable consequence" of converting the building to a single-unit residence: "all of the building's 15 rent-stabilized apartment units will be forever withdrawn from the rental market." Alistair Economakis says that they thought they would just live in the "only building that my wife and I own" but the tenants' lawyer, Stephen Dobkin (yes, there is a connection to Gothamist!), told the Post, "To me, it's the kind of thing that spoiled brats would do." more ›

Some good news for photobloggers and fans of street photography: a Manhattan judge has ruled photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia was well within his rights to sell copies of this photograph of an Orthodox gentleman. The shot was taken as part of diCorcia's "Heads" project, which involved shooting pictures using a concealed camera. The Post reports: more ›