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TwitThisFailure to Preserve Integrity
Laura D. BlackburneQueens, New York
It is a rare day in America when a sitting judge helps a criminal suspected of a violent crime flee a courtroom to elude a detective waiting to arrest him. Yet that's exactly what Queens Supreme Court Justice Laura Blackburne did on June 10, 2004.
On that day, convicted cocaine dealer Derek Sterling, 23, appeared before Judge Blackburne to report on his progress in overcoming a drug addiction. At the same time, New York City police detective Leonard Devlin arrived at the courthouse to arrest Sterling as a suspect in a brutal robbery and beating that occurred three weeks before. Arrests in courthouses are not uncommon and are considered far safer than confronting suspects in their homes; a high level of security is in place, and suspects have gone through metal detectors.
The detective observed protocol by informing one of Blackburne's court officers and the prosecutor that he was there to question Sterling. Blackburne, angered by what she called a "ruse" by the detective, told Sterling, "I have directed that you be escorted out of the building." With that, a court officer took Sterling out a rear door. Though Detective Devlin raced down three flights of stairs in the block-long building, he lost the suspect outside.
As news of the extraordinary event spread, angry reactions were swift. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly called it "beyond the pale for a sitting jurist." Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed it "was an outrage, and she should be ashamed." The next day, Michael J. Palladino, president of the Detectives' Endowment Association, took part in a scathing press conference regarding Blackburne. Palladino said the judge "turned the controlled situation [of a courthouse arrest] into a potentially dangerous one." Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, also alluded to the case of William Hodges. Hodges was charged with shooting a police officer but was freed on a technicality by Blackburne in 2002 when she dismissed the charges against him -- infuriating police union officials. However, Blackburne's controversial decision was overturned in November 2004, and Hodges will soon stand trial for the cop-shooting charges.
That Blackburne might be accused of misconduct is not surprising given her checkered past. In 1990, Blackburne headed the New York City Housing Authority, which sheltered 600,000 people with a budget of $1.3 billion. It was the profligate spending of funds during Blackburne's tenure that led to her resignation in 1992. Among other things, she reportedly spent $13,000 on an inaugural bash for herself; more than $25,000 on travel, which included lavish hotel stays and a trip to South Africa; and $38,000 to redecorate her office with a $3,070 pink leather couch and $5,500 for matching pink venetian blinds. Blackburne denied any wrongdoing.
After the Sterling incident, Blackburne was transferred to civil court. At the request of Mayor Bloomberg and other complainants, the Commission on Judicial Conduct started an investigation of Blackburne in June 2004. In the meantime, she is still on the bench.
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Benchable Offenses
- Criminal conduct
- Unprofessional behavior inside or outside the courtroom
- Demonstration of bias
- Sexual misconduct
- Substance abuse
- Undisclosed conflicts
- Failure to follow the law
- Use of office to grant or receive favors
- Lack of candor or cooperation with authorities
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