In an unusual move, a longtime state judge in Brooklyn is being essentially forced off the bench, and she says in a new lawsuit it’s political payback for refusing to do the bidding of the Brooklyn Democratic party. Our Bobby Cuza has that story.
Laura Lee Jacobson has been a judge for almost 26 years — first civil court, then state Supreme Court here in Brooklyn. However, when her term is up at the end of the year, she will be out of a job. That is because in a rare move, the Brooklyn Democratic Party, headed by chair Frank Seddio, will not support her re-nomination, meaning she is off the ballot this November. The party is acting on the finding of a judicial screening committee that deemed her not qualified.
"She’s dead, professionally," said Ravi Batra
Attorney Batra has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Jacobson, arguing her rights were violated and she was libeled and slandered when information was leaked to the New York Post, which in a pair of stories labeled her incompetent, quoting anonymous party sources.
But Batra says the real story, as detailed in the lawsuit, is that Jacobson issued rulings against lawyers with ties to the Brooklyn Democratic machine, including some on the judicial screening committee.
"As 'payback' for Judge Jacobson’s refusal to judicially act bending and bowing to the Brooklyn political machine," the suit reads, party leaders "broke their own rules and procedures and violated the confidentiality of the judicial screening process with the vindictive and malicious intent of harming Judge Jacobson personally and professionally."
"Not only did they bar her from being a nominee — which she well deserves to be — but they ended her professional career."
In a statement, a Brooklyn Democratic Party spokesman said: "This frivolous complaint reads like a delusional rant, rather than a serious filing. These false and defamatory accusations will be answered in a court of law."
Brooklyn Democratic party officials declined to comment on-camera, now that this is a matter of pending litigation, with the lawsuit having been filed here in Brooklyn federal court late last week. But they noted the selection committee is made up of 24 lawyers, most of them picked by various bar associations, who take their responsibility seriously."
Jacobson’s lawsuit, meanwhile, demands that the screening committee be disbanded and is seeking at least five million dollars in damages.