Judges wield enormous power. Here in the five boroughs, they are often the ultimate arbiters in deciding how many New Yorkers get sent to Rikers Island, where and how new housing will be built, and when children are removed from their families.
You might assume that these judges, whether they are appointed to the bench or elected by voters, have been deeply vetted, earning their positions via their qualifications and merits.
But this is far from the reality.
In 2008, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens famously described New York's method of selecting judges for its higher trial courts as "stupid." We concur, your honor!
For the past year, Hell Gate and Type Investigations have been working the phones, haunting courtrooms, hanging out in strange outerborough political clubhouses, and filing endless requests for transcripts to produce the long-awaited follow-up to the Eric Adams Table of Success, our (first) award-winning collaboration.
Now, please welcome to the stand Courts of Contempt—our investigation into the machinations of New York's broken judicial system.
Why is our judicial system so messed up? The short answer: New York City's long history of graft, the foundation upon which our beautiful city is built. But the long answer can be found in our in-depth inquiry into how people become judges in New York City; the scandalous nature of the county political parties that often subvert democracy to get their favorite attorneys on the bench (yes, we got a recording of a meeting of the Brooklyn Dems' leadership); how those parties use this system to their advantage and financial benefit; and the reform efforts to try to finally fix our judiciary.
Also included in Courts of Contempt: profiles of nine judges who embody aspects of this broken system, where corruption runs rampant, oversight is insufficient, and reform is stymied by cronyism.
You'll read about judges appointed or elected to serve on one court, only to be shifted to another, without any transparency; judges who flout the spirit and intent of the state's 2019 bail reforms; former prosecutors with reversed convictions and reduced sentences; and plenty of bad behavior and ignorance of the law—with regular New Yorkers paying the price.
But we don't have to live this way. (Paging Mayor Zohran Mamdani... )
The Office of Court Administration, the body that runs the state's court system, did not respond to a detailed list of questions.
The beautiful interactive website was made by our friends at the worker-owned design studio Partner and Partners. Courts of Contempt was supported by the Wayne Barrett Project.
Sick of looking at the screen? Great news—we made Courts of Contempt into a zine! If you have tickets to tomorrow's sold-out launch event at Littlefield, you'll be taking one home. And for everyone else, stay tuned for how you can get one yourself!