December 11, 2008

Two separate scandals are in the news about the Gotham institution long troubled by reports of favoritism and insidership. The New York Times reports on the indictment of Manhattan Surrogate's Court judge-elect Nora S. Anderson on charges that she had contrived with Seth Rubenstein, a lawyer who was her "boss, friend and campaign adviser", to funnel $250,000 of his money covertly to her campaign fund in violation of law. More at WSJ law blog. And the New York Daily News (via Judicial Reports and Scott Greenfield, both of whom comment) thinks New York AG Andrew Cuomo should go after attorney Louis Rosenthal over fees directed his way by now-disbarred Brooklyn Surrogate's Court Judge Michael Feinberg, in a scandal that came to light six years ago.

P.S. Unrelatedly, a former state judge upstate has just been indicted on bribery charges.