The sleazy patronage machine is alive and well in NYC courts

A Brooklyn judge handing out cushy positions to connected lawyers proves that corruption is still alive and well in the city court system, despite reforms put in place in the early 2000s.

From 2022 to 2024, The Post reported last week, Brooklyn Judge Lawrence Knipel handed out 881 fiduciary appointments to 25 lawyers who’d donated a total of $25,000 to his wife, Democratic district leader Lori Knipel. These gigs typically involve overseeing the assets of businesses, the elderly, or the cognitively impaired. They usually yield lawyers ample rewards for minimal effort, making them prime patronage opportunities—though they’re supposed to be awarded based on merit.

As the only state where county party committees select nominees for local judgeships with zero public input, New York is especially susceptible to such corruption. This is particularly true in areas like most of the city, where one party overwhelmingly dominates and elections are effectively a foregone conclusion.

Cue a noxious back-scratching circle: lawyers donate to politicians, politicians pick judges, and dutiful jurists grant lucrative receivership or conservatorship roles to the palm-greasing lawyers. Too bad if vulnerable clients—whether aging or disabled—receive sub-par representation or even have their assets looted by an attorney who essentially bought their way onto the case.

Rank courthouse corruption throughout the 1990s, especially in Brooklyn, culminated when Kings County bosses were caught squeezing judicial candidates for $50,000 a pop in exchange for nominations. This scandal prompted state Chief Judge Judith Kaye’s early 2000s reforms, aimed at dismantling this corrupt patronage machine by limiting party leaders’ ability to place political pals on the bench.

Tried, but plainly failed: today’s sleaze is not limited to Brooklyn. New York Focus recently conducted a deep-dive investigation into the “judicial patronage problem” in The Bronx and Queens courts. For example, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who serves as Bronx County Committee secretary, has received 40 appointments in guardianship and Surrogate’s Court cases since 2010.

The oversight body charged with rooting out this favoritism, the Commission on Judicial Conduct, appears either utterly incompetent or willfully blind.

Corruption thrives under one-party rule. In most of the city, good government requires Democrats holding other Democrats accountable—and even when reformers take over, they have historically wound up milking the system themselves to maintain power.

If the public can’t wrest the power of choosing judges from insiders, slaying the putrid patronage beast festering in New York’s courts requires upending Democrats’ lopsided dominance across the city. Without systemic change, these audacious pay-for-play scandals will never stop.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/29/opinion/the-sleazy-patronage-machine-is-alive-and-well-in-nyc-courts/

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