Manhattan's Appellate Division courthouse, located at 27 Madison Ave., is an example of Beaux-Arts architecture, a time capsule of Progressive Era aesthetic values and recently a canvas for its contemporary leadership to imprint modern attitudes. Photo by Dean Moses [Editors note: Welcome to the inaugural edition of the the amNew York Law Bench Report, where we will feature notable rulings from state and federal judges, brief news bulletins that impact the judiciary and announcements from judges' chambers. Are we missing anything? Contact editor-in-chief Andrew Denney at adenney@schnepsmedia.com]
The law has always been a deeply human affair: attorneys arguing, judges deliberating, juries weighing credibility, precedent, and plain old common sense. But now, something new has entered the courtroom - and it doesn't bill by the hour or even need a coffee break. Artificial intelligence (AI) has arrived, and it's quietly moving closer to the bench. AI is no longer just lurking in the background.
What happened: After years of lawsuits, the state supreme court adjusted its code of conduct for local judges that previously banned them from performing opposite-sex marriages but refused to perform same-sex marriages because it creates the appearance of bias. Bias is OK now if a judge cites a "sincerely held religious belief." Why it matters: In rural parts of the state, there could be as few as one judge in the county who performs marriages at all, adding to the burden LGBTQ+ people have to carry in order to access their rights.
A former New York judge who joined Anderson Kill last month told Law360 that he made the move because of family considerations and a looming mandatory retirement when he turns 70 years old in a few years. But former Judge Louis L. Nock did not mention that he joined the law firm on the same day that New York ethics regulators agreed to drop ethics charges against him in return for his agreement to resign from the bench and never accept judicial office again,
New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to a $1,200 fine after striking a deal to resolve charges that she attempted to interfere with a criminal investigation involving her husband. Hantz Marconi, 69, was sentenced by Judge Martin Honigberg in Merrimack Superior Court in Concord after pleading no contest to criminal solicitation of misuse of position.
