On Tuesday, August 20, 2024, Syracuse.com reported that Erin Gall, a New York state Supreme Court justice from Oneida County, appealed a judicial oversight committee’s decision to remove her from office over racially insensitive remarks made at a private party in 2022.

Gall has been suspended with pay since the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct ruled in June that she should be removed from the bench. Police body camera footage from the graduation party showed Gall threatening a group of black teenagers and invoking her position as a judge when speaking to police officers who were called to the scene.

Gall was a guest at a graduation party hosted by her friend, an attorney, in New Hartford on July 1, 2022. Multiple uninvited groups arrived and fights broke out as the party went late into the night. When police responded, Gall identified herself as a judge. She singled out four black teenagers who she claimed attacked her son and husband as they searched for lost keys.

Despite officers explaining why the teens would not be detained, Gall repeatedly asked the police to hold them. Throughout her interaction with the police, she mentioned her title as a judge. She later admitted to the commission that she should not have done so but argued the officers already knew her as a judge. Later that night, Gall threatened the teens, saying she would shoot them if they returned, and made a comment doubting their ability to attend business school like her son.

The commission found Gall tried to influence police using her position and demonstrated racial bias as well as bias favoring law enforcement. It recommended her removal. However, Gall notified the commission on Friday that she does not accept the determination and has appealed to the New York Court of Appeals.

Additionally, the article provides background on Gall, including that she has been a judge since 2011, runs as a Republican, and her current term ends in late 2025. It notes the rarity of the Court of Appeals overturning a removal sanction in its 46-year history.

 

 

Source: Syracuse.com