A Queens judge with a history of legal errors and allegations of bias will continue to serve on the bench for at least another two years, state court officials confirmed.
Justice Michael Aloise was one of more than a dozen New York City judges who sought special permission to remain on the bench past age 70 this year. Criminal justice reform advocates urged court officials to force him into retirement in a rare public campaign to remove a sitting judge.
Records show higher courts have overturned Aloise’s decisions about evidence and sentences at a higher rate than nearly any other New York state judge. His decisions about whether to suppress evidence have been reversed at a higher rate than about 95% of active state judges, and sentences he imposed have been reduced at a higher rate than almost 98% of his peers, according to a database of the court system’s approximately 1,200 current judges.
New York law requires many types of state judges to retire at the end of the year they turn 70. But they are allowed to keep serving in two-year stints until they turn 76, as long as officials find them fit to serve, according to state law.
Aloise’s clerk referred questions to the court system. A spokesperson for the state Office of Court Administration confirmed Aloise received permission to keep serving on the bench past retirement age. The spokesperson said all the other New York City judges seeking to stay on the bench past retirement have received permission to do so, except one who withdrew his application.
The advocacy organization Center for Community Alternatives sent a 12-page letter over the summer to court officials outlining various concerns with Aloise’s record. The center wrote that his behavior on the bench has “created a perception of bias against defendants and in favor of law enforcement.”
Gothamist reviewed various rulings from higher courts that found Aloise had violated criminal defendants’ rights, mishandled jury deliberations, imposed sentences that were too long or allowed prosecutors to use evidence police illegally obtained. In one case, an appellate court threw out a murder conviction because Aloise banned a friend of the defendant from the courtroom after he fell asleep during proceedings, according to court records.
Peter Martin, director of judicial accountability at the Center for Community Alternatives, said he was “deeply disappointed” with the court system’s decision to allow Aloise to stay on the bench.
“Denying Justice Aloise’s application for certification would have made New York’s bench more impartial, more credible and more competent in applying the law,” Martin said in a statement. “It would have sent the right signal to the public and the profession: that judicial merit and fidelity to the law, not seniority or insider status, determine who will continue to serve.”
This story has been updated to include additional information from the state Office of Court Administration.
