The Brooklyn Democratic Party's judicial delegates gathered in an enormous stuffy tent at the Marine Park Golf Course on Thursday night to rubber stamp the party leadership's picks to be the party's nominees to fill four vacant Supreme Court seats.
As Hell Gate has documented in our Courts of Contempt project, the way that people become judges in Brooklyn is complicated, confusing, and—at least historically—rife with the opportunity for self-dealing. At least at first, it appeared that, unlike some past years, this year's selection process would be unremarkable and unconcerning.
For one thing, by universal consensus among the people Hell Gate spoke to, this year's nominees are all excellent and well qualified to take up positions on the State Supreme Court bench. "This is not a situation where there are people being put forward who aren't qualified to do the job," Mark Hanna, an attorney and a district leader associated with the party's reform coalition, told Hell Gate. "If anything, this year we had more excellent candidates than we had positions to fill."