Tag: candidates

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK SEEKING CANDIDATES FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT PANEL

NOTICE TO THE BAR
CONTACT: Karen Van Outryve 212-417-8741

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK SEEKING CANDIDATES FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT PANEL

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is seeking applicants for the SDNY Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Panel.  Applications are available on the court’s website at www.nysd.uscourts.gov/cja.php. Completed applications must be addressed to David Patton, Executive Director of the Federal Defenders of New York, and submitted electronically by May 31, 2014 to [email protected]; no paper applications will be accepted.

The CJA Panel is comprised of private attorneys who are authorized to serve as appointed defense counsel pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3006A. To qualify for a position on the CJA Panel, attorneys must be members in good standing of the Southern District and have proven experience and competency in the field of federal criminal defense work. Applications will be reviewed by a committee of attorneys that will forward its recommendations to the Southern District Board of Judges’ Defender Services Committee. The Court is committed to increasing the diversity of the applicant pool and encourages qualified female and minority lawyers to apply for positions.

Candidates can apply to be a member of either the Foley Square or the White Plains CJA Panels, or to both panels. CJA Panel attorneys commit to being “on duty” one day every four to six months if a member of the Foley Square panel and approximately one day every month if on the White Plains panel. On that “duty day,” CJA attorneys represent clients when the Federal Defender has a conflict; the hours of duty are from 9:00 a.m. until the closing of the Magistrate Judges Office, which is sometimes after 5:00 p.m. CJA Panel members serve a three-year term and are reimbursed at the rate of $126/hour for in-court and out-of-court time.

“Our justice system owes a great debt to the efforts of CJA attorneys,” said United States District Judge Cathy Seibel, who leads the Southern District’s Defender Services Committee. “They are instrumental to fulfilling the Constitutional mandate that every defendant has a right to
counsel.”

Southern District Chief Judge Loretta A. Preska said, “The Southern District’s CJA Panel is the best in the nation, and we are fortunate that so many capable attorneys take part in this program.”

Attorneys can also apply for membership on panels that represent defendants in capital cases and in non-trial work, primarily habeas corpus proceedings. In addition, the Southern District also sponsors a mentoring program that helps identify and prepare experienced state court
practitioners for appointment to the Panel. While the mentorship program is aimed at increasing the diversity of the Panel, the program is open to all.

Contact Peter Quijano at 212-686-0666 or Anthony Ricco at 212-791-3919 for more information on the mentorship program.

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JOINT MINORITY BAR ASSOCIATION JUDICIAL SCREENING PANEL REPORTS QUALIFICATION RATINGS

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 14, 2013 – New York

JOINT MINORITY BAR ASSOCIATION JUDICIAL SCREENING PANEL REPORTS QUALIFICATION RATINGS

(NY, NY) The Joint Minority Bar Association Judicial Screening Panel recently interviewed and rated judicial candidates for the Civil Court of the City of New York and the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Interviews were conducted by representatives of the Asian American Bar Association of New York, Dominican Bar Association, LGBT Bar Association, Metropolitan Black Bar Association, Puerto Rican Bar Association and the South Asian Bar Association of New York.

The Committee convened to determine whether candidates were qualified for the judicial office using a three-tiered rating system of “qualified,” “well qualified,” and "exceptionally well qualified."  A candidate was rated “Qualified” if the candidate satisfied the basic criteria to be considered a viable candidate for the judicial position sought. A rating of “Well Qualified” was given if the candidate met the basic criteria and demonstrated a level of skill, experience, sound judgment, and excellence in his or her professional career, which would sustain or improve the quality of the bench or judicial position sought. An “Exceptionally Well Qualified” rating reflects that the candidate has fulfilled the requirements necessary for a “Well Qualified” rating and demonstrated outstanding accomplishments. The ratings were decided during a closed-door vote after review of the each candidate’s background, professional ability, experience, character, judicial temperament, and other pertinent qualities. The Panel’s findings were as follows:

New York Supreme Court – Bronx County
Hon. Larry S. Schachner – Exceptionally Well Qualified

New York Supreme Court – Kings County
Hon. Desmond A. Green – Exceptionally Well Qualified

New York Supreme Court – New York County
Hon. Peter H. Moulton – Exceptionally Well Qualified

Judge of the Civil Court, 1st Municipal District, Bronx County
Lucianna Locorotondo – Well Qualified
Armando Montano – Well Qualified

Judge of the Civil Court, Kings County
Hon. ShawnDya L. Simpson – Exceptionally Well Qualified

Judge of the Civil Court, New York County
Dakota Ramseur – Well Qualified

Judge of the Civil Court, 2nd Municipal Disctrict, New York County
Hon. Kathryn E. Freed – Exceptionally Well Qualified
Hon. Marcy S. Friedman – Exceptionally Well Qualified
Adam Silvera – Well Qualified

For more information contact R. Nadine Fontaine at [email protected].

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From our friends at AAF: SAVE THE DATE: ONE-ON-ONE WITH CARRION SET

Please join the Asian American Federation, Coalition for Asian Children and Families, and their membership agencies in meeting the top 3 Mayoral candidates.  Because of scheduling challenges, they are scheduling each candidate individually for 1 hour to hear each candidate’s vision for the city, the growing APA population and how he hopes to engage our community. 

The first meeting is Thursday, October 17th  at 2 pm at the Federation office, 120 Wall Street- 9th Floor. 

They are confirming the meeting with Joe Lhota for the following week.  Details will be sent out.

The format for all these meetings will be a roundtable discussion to learn more about his platform and will also give our community an opportunity to ask questions.  

As the leading social justice voices for New York City’s APA community, AAF and CACF encourage you to make the time to join them to hear what each candidate has to say so we can all be informed New Yorkers.  There will also be an opportunity for participants to ask questions of the candidate.  If there are specific issue areas that you have questions about, please send AAF and CACF the topics that you would like to discuss so that they can ensure that they will be able to cover as many diverse issues as possible.

They will be sending out additional information next week, but please RSVP to [email protected] or [email protected] as soon as possible.  

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NAPABA Seeks At-Large Board Member Candidates Submission Deadline Extended to September 15th

This year, the NAPABA Board of Governors will appoint two At-Large Board Members to serve a two-year term that will begin in the 2013-2014 bar year.

The NAPABA Nominating and Elections Committee invites all members in good standing to submit their names and statements as candidates for At-Large Board Member to Pia Rivera at [email protected] on or before September 15, 2013.

For additional information, click here to review the complete At-Large Members Guidelines.

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AABANY Announces NAPABA Election and Endorsements.

Dear AABANY Members & Friends,

As you may know, AABANY is an affiliate of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (“NAPABA”).  All dues paying members of AABANY as of August 1, 2013 are NAPABA members and have the right to vote in the upcoming NAPABA election, except for student members who are not voting members of AABANY and thus not eligible to vote in the election. Note that AABANY Sponsor Members (those who joined through sponsorship of the Annual Dinner) are voting members of AABANY and thus eligible to vote in the election.

Certain NAPABA candidates in this year’s NAPABA election reached out to AABANY seeking its endorsement. These candidates were afforded the opportunity to address AABANY’s Board and answer various questions from our Board members.  After due deliberation and consideration by the Board of each of the candidate’s presentations, AABANY is pleased to announce its endorsement of, and recommendation that its members and friends vote for, the following candidates (click name to view candidate’s statement):

For President-Elect:  Han Choi 

For VP, Programs & Operations: Michael Yim 

For VP, Finance & Development: Alexander Lee 

For VP, Communications: Cyndie Chang

For VP, Membership: Brad Yamauchi

Further information about the NAPABA election may be found at www.napaba.org.

The Board recommends each eligible member of AABANY to vote in the upcoming NAPABA elections for the candidates that have been endorsed by AABANY.  All ballot submissions must be received by 11:59pm PT on Sunday, September 15, 2013.

If you believe that you were a dues paying member of AABANY as of August 1, 2013 but do not receive the NAPABA election ballot by email or mail from NAPABA (by August 15, 2013), please contact AABANY at [email protected].

Thank you.

Mike Huang, President

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Press release: Historic Mayoral Forum on Asian Pacific Americans Galvanizes over 600 Community Members to Demand Candidates’ Responses to Key Issues

Press release from the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families:

New York, NY- On May 20, 2013, over 50 Asian led and Asian serving organizations brought mayoral candidates to speak in front of our community at Growing Numbers, Growing Impact: Mayoral Candidates Forum on Asian Pacific Americans at LaGuardia Community College. The forum demonstrated the growing influence of Asian Pacific Americans, and focused on priority issues of high concern to the community.

Candidates that committed to join the forum were Sal Albanese, Bill de Blasio, John Catsimatidis, John Liu, Christine Quinn, Erick Salgado, and Bill Thompson. Candidates that actually attended the event were Sal Albanese, Bill de Blasio, John Liu and Erick Salgado. Christine Quinn and Bill Thompson notified the organizers on Monday morning that they would not be able to attend and while John Catsimatidis confirmed, he did not attend.

“Many groups/organizations from the Asian Pacific American community put a great deal of effort into organizing an informative event for the community members to hear from various Mayoral candidates of their plans on how they will improve New York City. However, last night, our community members were robbed of the opportunity to have their voices and concerns heard and to hear viable responses and solutions from the candidates themselves. The Asian Pacific American population was the fastest growing over the last 10 years, and our votes and voices need to be taken seriously. Our numbers are growing, our voters are growing, our needs are growing, and our voices need to be heard. It was a bit disappointing that not all of the candidates could be there last night and hopefully they will make themselves available through another avenue.” Linda Lee, Executive Director of the Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc.

Luna Ranjit, Executive Director of Adhikaar said, “We are disappointed that many of the candidates who confirmed did not show up to the mayoral forum on Asian Pacific Americans. For weeks, we mobilized our Nepali-speaking members to attend the event and worked to ensure that they had interpretation available. If our members can take time out after a long day of work, why can’t the front runner candidates make it a priority to come talk to them and ask for their votes?”

“I think the lack of attendance by those candidates who had confirmed they would come says a lot of their lack of commitment to the Asian Pacific American community. This is particularly disappointing in light of the fact that our community is typically undeserved and under-recognized,” Nyasha Griffith, Deputy Director, Arab-American Family Support Center.

“We understand that some of the elected officers were at the LGBT rally yesterday and couldn’t attend the Asian Pacific American forum. However, there were some candidates who declined and we felt that they needed to be at the forum to gain a comprehensive understanding of Asian Pacific American issues and to hear first hand/have a face to face discussion and be able to connect to the members of the diverse Asian community. The candidates had the opportunity to address nearly 600 community members and did not take it. I heard many audience members say that they will not vote for anyone who will not prioritize our needs,” said Lois Lee, Director of the Chinese-American Planning Council.

“Last night’s forum was a historic moment for the community; we were to come together in an effort to hold candidates accountable to the issues and concerns of our community. Regardless of who showed up, hopefully it will serve as a foundation for the work ahead of us,” Seema Agnani, Executive Director of Chhaya CDC.

Each candidate joined the forum for 20 minutes and answered questions compiled by the Asian Pacific American community of New York City. Moderated by Richard Lui, NBC and MSNBC News Anchor, this educational, non partisan event brought together over 600 community members, advocates, seniors, parents and youth from all five boroughs, representing over 30 ethnicities.

"The Asian Pacific American population is the fastest growing group in New York City. It is a community that has contributed mightily to this City’s growth, and is eager for civic engagement. It represents a large and influential voting block. Anyone who ignores this population does it at his or her own peril,” said Joyce Moy, Executive Director of the Asian American/Asian Research Institute, City University of New York.

"LaGuardia Community College is a place where we foster dialogue, ask questions and encourage debate,” said Dr. Gail O. Mellow, President of LaGuardia Community College. “We are thrilled to host this mayoral forum and it offers a great opportunity for our city’s leaders to share their vision for the future of our City.”

“The Asian Pacific American community makes up nearly 14% of the population with 1.3 million New Yorkers throughout all five boroughs. The community is an essential economic driver in the City with growing voting power and a strong donor base,” said Wayne Ho, Executive Director of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families. “CACF is proud to be part of this collaborative event to give our community members the opportunity to learn about each candidate and make an informed decision when choosing our City’s next mayor. We look forward to continuing to collaborate to ensure our next mayor is held accountable to our community.”

Candidates addressed constituents about key issues that affect the Asian Pacific American community including health, education, economic development, social service needs, civic engagement, and immigration.

“New York City is the Great Experiment, where people from across the globe come to grow and thrive together. Asian Pacific Americans are an integral part of the fabric of the City,” said democratic candidate Sal Albanese.
Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio stated, “Asian Pacific Americans are a growing and critical piece of New York City’s fabric. This forum is a unique opportunity to talk about how we build leadership that listens to every neighborhood and every community across the City.”

“There was a time in the not-too-distant past when invitations to candidate forums about APIA issues would fall on deaf ears. The participation of this year’s major Democratic candidates for Mayor is a testament to the sheer growth and potential of the NYC APIA community’s political relevance and influence, and I am honored to be a part of it,” said democratic candidate John Liu.

Democratic candidate Erick Salgado stated, “As the Asian Pacific American community continues to grow in our City, I am honored to participate in a forum that will give Asian Pacific Americans the opportunity to learn my ideas for helping all of New York City’s diverse communities. As a part of a minority group myself, I understand how important it is to have all communities well represented in our government. Therefore, I am the candidate who is going to ensure a fair representation of underrepresented communities.”

Although she was not able to attend, democratic candidate Christine Quinn said, “As one of the fastest growing communities in New York City, the Asian Pacific American community cares about the same issue that all New Yorkers care about – strengthening the middle class. I am proud of my record of protecting affordable housing, ensuring quality public schools in all neighborhoods, and standing up for immigration reform. I look forward to working with this vital community as we fight for a better and more prosperous New York City.”

AABANY was pleased to be a Supporting Organization for this important mayoral candidates’ forum.

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NYC Mayoral Republican Candidates Forum’s Straw Poll Results are In!

AAF Logo 2 3

AAF HOSTS NYC MAYORAL REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FORUM

STRAW POLL RESULTS ARE IN!
 

The Asian American Federation’s Republican Mayoral Candidates Forum was held on April 2nd at the CUNY Graduate Center.  Many thanks for Adolfo Carrión, Jr., John Catsimatidis, and George McDonald who graciously shared two hours of their evening with our community leaders.
 
Our discussion panelists, S. Mitra Kalita from Quartz;Kwang S. Kim from the Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (KCS); Luna Liu from the World Journal, and Vivian Lee from NY1, asked questions that related to the candidates’ leadership vision, focusing on the areas of education, health and social services, small business, and community development. 

Many thanks to them, and our moderator Ti-Hua Chang at Fox 5 News, for initiating some lively discussions.
 
At the end of the evening, audience members were asked to participate in a straw poll, selected the candidate that would get their vote based on the forum.  The results are: 
 

  • Adolfo Carrión, Jr. – 44%
     
  • John Catsimatidis – 29%
     
  • George McDonald – 27%
 
With many more months of campaigning left to go, we hope the candidates will have many more opportunities to engage our City’s Asian American community.
 
The Democratic Mayoral Candidates Forum will be held next Tuesday, April 9, 2013 from 6-8 pm at theTime Warner Center.  Please RSVP to: [email protected].