ALBANY— The Albany County Democratic Party’s executive committee approved the nominations of three people to fill open state Supreme Court seats at a judicial convention in August.
The executive committee voted to put forth two Albany County Family Court judges, Sherri Brooks-Morton and Richard Rivera, as well as Deputy Albany County Executive Daniel Lynch as nominees for the seats in the Third Judicial District. The district includes Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties.
The open seats are created by two brothers, state Supreme Court Justices Peter and Michael Lynch, reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 this year, as well as state Supreme Court Justice Margaret Walsh stepping down. Justice Michael Lynch serves on the Third Department’s Appellate Division.
Daniel Lynch is the Lynch brothers’ nephew. He was appointed deputy county executive in December 2019. Prior to that he served as the Albany County attorney for four years and spent 13 years prior to that in the Albany County district attorney’s office.
Lynch said he was, “grateful and humbled,” to pursue a dream of his. His uncles have served as mentors over the years, including encouraging him when he was young to apply to law school, he said.
Brooks-Morton was the first Black woman to serve as a family court judge in Albany County, winning her seat in 2019. She previously served as the county’s alternate public defender. Brooks-Morton could not immediately be reached for comment.
Rivera was elected to the bench in 2014, becoming the first person of color to be elected to a countywide judicial seat. If elected, he would be the first Hispanic judge elected in the 3rd District.
Rivera is an acting Supreme Court justice and is the supervising Family Court judge for the 3rd District.
In 2022, he was…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply