District Leaders: An Old-Fashioned, Crucial Community Liaison The newly established Ad-Hoc Judiciary Committee, which is made up of Committee Members Sarana Purcell (DL, 43rd AD), Jacqui Painter (DL, 51st Ali), Kenesha Traynham-Cooper (DL, 56th AD), and Michael Boomer, has been hailed by Bichotte Hermelm as “another step forward for more unity and community engagement” (DL, 57th AD). Sarana Purcell notes that although there is already a Judicial Screening Committee, this new committee adds another crucial layer to the judicial election process. She states, “look forward to working with my fellow Judiciary Committee Members to bring about greater awareness and education on the judicial selection process, so we can raise voters awareness and participation.”
Nine available seats on the Civil Court bench and seven open seats on the state Supreme Court in Brooklyn are up for election this year. (Justices on the State Supreme Court are appointed for 14 years, and judges on the Civil Court are chosen for 10-year terms.)
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In the primary election, the party endorses and nominates judicial candidates (who are very certain to win in the mostly blue borough).
The party’s current Judicial Screening Committee, which is made up of professionals from the legal sector, conducts the screening process for prospective nominees. Only candidates approved by this Screening Committee for inclusion on the ballot are taken into consideration by the Executive Committee, in accordance with party rules.
However, just because the screening panel gave you their seal of approval does not imply that we would agree with them, Bichotte Hermelyn stated. We need to make sure there is some degree of cultural competency. The District Leaders of the Judiciary Committee step in to help with it.
The Judiciary Committee will “be implementing a process that allows community participation and is grounded in integrity and transparency, resulting in endorsements of candidates because of their merit, experience, and record,” according to Rachlin. This process will include community meetings, forums, and questionnaires from the voices of all the stakeholders that are most significantly affected by judicial proceedings and decisions.
The Democratic Party’s stakeholders and the community’s top desire is transparency and accountability, and the A4 Hoc Committee is committed to upholding that promise and is eager to continue sharing the committee’s accomplishments, according to Boomer.
“It’s not just about vetting Judges; ifs allowing people to have their own voice.”
Kenesha Trayrtham-Cooper, a member of the Judiciary Committee, emphasizes that the Ad-Hoc Judiciary Committee’s responsibilities extend far beyond its function in nominations: “We’re encouraging voters, making them more knowledgeable on the role judges play, allowing voters to meet judges and see their temperament. By getting our communities to start paying more attention, they’ll be more inclined.”
Additionally, this procedure extends past the District Leaders on the Committee. District-by-district, we’re enlisting DLs from every part of Brooklyn to participate. We are gradually but steadily educating the populace as we tour the committee members for Kings County. Engaging in Novel Community Engagement Initiatives
The goal of Traynham-monthly Cooper’s young professional meet & greets is to “get the younger generation educated and excited about politics.” VIDA is a long-running, Black-run organization in Bed-Stuy.
Henry Butler, a fellow 56th AD DL who is also the President of VIDA and the Vice Chair of the Brooklyn Dems, has joined the initiative to achieve inclusivity.
Butler proudly pointed to last summer, when the party nominated a historically-diverse slate of 12 justices, which included an unprecedented seven Black women Justices, and said, “We really vet these judges, and also bring them to our community, holding forums to let them tell their stories so we ensure they’re culturally competent.”
“We’re going to translate who the candidates are and ‘what does it mean to be a judge?,” says Dana Rachlin, executive director of We Build the Block, a public safety reform group she co-founded with the late acclaimed actor and cherished Brooklynite Michael K. Williams. Dana mentioned that she hopes to imitate the way We Build the Block stimulates interaction between political candidates and the communities they aspire to serve by allowing citizens to ask politicians about issues affecting their community (especially if they are tough questions, she emphasized).
