Council Member Margaret S. Chin
Council Member Rosie Mendez
**MEDIA ADVISORY**
Contact: Paul Leonard (917) 232-3620, [email protected]
Community Groups, LGBT Advocates and Bar Associations Rally to Denounce Flawed Process Banning Distinguished Justice from Bench: Shock and anger over removal of groundbreaking jurist who authored historic LGBT decision that helped pave the way for marriage equality in New York State
WHAT: Members of the Lower East Side and Chinatown communities will come together to express outrage over a decision to take Justice Doris Ling-Cohan, a sitting judge in the Appellate Term, off November’s ballot after 20 years as an independent voice on the bench. Bar association members and LGBT advocates will join the community to call for a new judicial screening panel so that Justice Ling-Cohan can clear her name and keep a job at which she excels.
WHEN: TUESDAY, Sept. 6 at 1 p.m.
WHERE: City Hall Steps
WHO:
- Council Member Margaret Chin
- Council Member Rosie Mendez
- Members of the Lower East Side community
- Members of the Chinatown community
- Asian American Bar Association
- Korean American Bar Association
- Puerto Rican Bar Association
- Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
- LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York
WHY: To date, Justice Doris Ling-Cohan has not been officially informed of the decision to vote her off a panel of judges that will appear on November’s ballot. However, rumors of her removal were confirmed last week in an article in the New York Post, which included unfounded statements assailing her character and reputation as a judge.
Justice Ling-Cohan’s distinguished career on the bench began on the Civil Court of the City of New York in 1995 when she became the first Asian-American in her district elected to public office. She has since been elected to the New York State Supreme Court before being appointed to the Appellate Term in 2014 — both historic firsts.
Among Justice Ling-Cohan’s many decisions and dissents is her landmark ruling in Hernandez v. Robles in February 2005 that same-sex couples have a “fundamental right” to marry who they love.