On March 23, 2023, in celebration of Women’s History Month, Society Executive Director Marilyn Marcus was featured on the court system’s Amici Podcast to discuss Judith S. Kaye, the first woman Associate and Chief Judge on the New York Court of Appeals and the Society’s founder. Podcast host John Caher and Ms. Marcus discuss Judge Kaye’s life and career, the role of the Society in celebrating women in the courts and legal profession, and how Ms. Marcus came to be the Society’s Executive Director. Listen Now!
Judicial Notice Lookback: 20th Anniversary Special
Lookback
In 2022, the Historical Society of the New York Courts celebrated its 20th anniversary. As a part of looking back on its first 20 years, Judicial Notice Editor in Chief Hon. Helen E. Freedman and Style Editor David L. Goodwin revisited past articles, finding the themes that have connected several of these pieces, while looking forward to future issues.
Celebrating the Art & Architecture of the Courts
December is Art & Architecture Month, and, as a part of its mission, the Society has developed programs that celebrate art and architecture in the State’s courthouses and how art has been used to depict justice. As December rounds out the Society’s 20th anniversary year, these past programs continue to inspire and enlighten.
Understanding the Work of the NY Federal State & Tribal Courts & Indian Nations Justice Forum with Justice Mark A. Montour
Recently appointed Appellate Division Justice Mark Montour discusses his pioneering role as the first Native American jurist in NYS as well as the work a collaborative group of federal, state, and tribal nation courts and representatives in ensuring Native Americans have equal access to justice.
This is a segment from a Dispensing Justice from a Distance Series Interview from March 24, 2021. Watch the full interview here: https://history.nycourts.gov/about_period/dispensing-justice-montour/
Watch Now!
Judicial Notice 16: 2021
Issue 16
- The Judicial Career of Justice M. Dolores Denman (1931-2000)
by Hon. Eugene M. Fahey & Dr. Gordon W. Lyon
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg Litigating Against Gender Discrimination… and Remembering One Such New York Case
by Prof. John Q. Barrett
Watch Chatting with the Authors: A Series of our Podcast
Episode 13: Associate Editor, Style Editor David L. Goodwin interviews author Paul DeForest Hicks about the Litchfield Law School and its impact on New York’s bench and bar.
Episode 16: Building on Hon. Eugene M. Fahey and Dr. Gordon W. Lyon’s article about Hon. M. Dolores Denman, Editor-in-Chief Hon. Helen E. Freedman interviews a few of Justice Denman’s colleagues: Hon. Richard C. Wesley, Hon. Eugene F. Pigott, Jr., and Hon. Erin M. Peradotto in this touching tribute to a remarkable jurist.
What is the Significance of Judge Judith S. Kaye’s Red Shoes?
Equal Justice in the New York State Courts
To close out our series Every Month is Black History Month, we are revisiting the important work of the court system in providing equal justice to all New Yorkers.
In January 2021, our series highlighting the individual stories of judges during the pandemic Dispensing Justice from a Distance virtually brought together Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives Hon. Edwina G. Mendelson and interviewer and NYU Law Professor Troy A. McKenzie. Judge Mendelson and Prof. McKenzie’s discussion included how the pandemic has necessitated serious changes to help all New Yorkers receive their day in court.
George Boyer Vashon: New York’s First African American Attorney
In 2021, the Society is celebrating Black History Month every month, spending the year looking back at the impact of Black New Yorkers on the legal history of the state.
George Boyer Vashon (1824-1878) was admitted to the New York Bar on January 11, 1848, thereafter practicing in Syracuse. He became New York’s first African American attorney, after having been rejected on the grounds of race by the Bar of his native Pennsylvania in 1847. He was admitted to the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1867.
Chief Judge Janet DiFiore Announces the Lemmon Slave Case Exhibit Debut
During her biweekly video message, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore this week announced the debut of The Lemmon Case: 1852-1860 — A Prelude to the Civil War, a traveling panel exhibit intended to educate the public on the role of the New York courts in paving the way for the abolition of slavery, and the subsequent freeing of eight enslaved young women and children who sailed into New York harbor with their owners from Virginia. The exhibit began a 90-week tour to 45 courthouses around the state at the Westchester County Courthouse on November 1st.
Eunice Hunton Carter
In 2021, the Society is celebrating Black History Month every month, spending the year looking back at the impact of Black New Yorkers on the legal history of the state.
Eunice Hunton Carter was the real-life heroine who inspired a character on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. She was only the second woman in the history of Smith College to receive a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in four years. She then went on to earn a law degree from Fordham School of Law and start her own practice.