Amici Podcast

Transcript: https://ww2.nycourts.gov/doc/14006

In this Jewish Heritage Month Diversity Dialogue segment, we are pleased to feature the Hon. Joan B. Lefkowitz. Judge Lefkowitz, who has been on the bench for 38 years, discusses the intricacies of holding true to her Orthodox traditions while serving in the relatively rigid environment of a Court System. It worked, she says, because both she and the Court System accommodated each other’s needs. S...

A Journey from the Homeless Shelter to the Bench: Hon. Raymond P. Fernandez (edited) by John Caher

Growing up in poverty with parents addicted to drugs, few would have predicted that Ray Fernandez would grow up to be a judge. In this Amici podcast, the Hon. Raymond P. Fernandez discusses his struggle, the guardian angels he encountered along the way, and the importance of rejecting victim mentality and learning to stand on top of, rather than be buried beneath, our past. Transcript: https://ww2...

On Sept. 11, 2001, then-Captain Luis Valcarcel of the Court System’s Department of Public Safety happened to be in Albany attending a meeting on, of all things, emergency preparedness when the country was attacked by terrorists. He was viewing the events unfold on live television, watching as a large plane approached the World Trade Center, and knowing full well that his brother was inside that bu...

In this episode of Diversity Dialogues, a production of the New York State Unified Court System's Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Amici podcast program, we're going to pull back the curtain and try to see the world from a different set of eyes. We are going to explore how this world looks from the perspective of a little person, learn a little bit about the condition called “dwarfism,” a...

Civics Learning Week kicks off today and runs throughout the week, and for the first time ever the New York Court System is involved, reflecting a priority of New York Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson to promote civic education. In this short podcast, Zenith Taylor, the first Civic Engagement Coordinator in the courts, discusses the importance of civics education, what brought her to this position, and...

In this St. Patrick’s Day episode of Diversity Dialogues, we chat with Shane O’Donoghue, the child of Irish immigrants who discusses the centuries long ethnic and religious persecution of his ancestors in Ireland, and the discrimination and hatred the Irish endured in America. Shane, a management analyst in the Court System's Division of E-filing, covers the Cromwell reign of terror, the Great Hun...

This episode of Diversity Dialogues, a production of the NYS Court System's Office of Diversity and Inclusion, is a story of two young people from Poland who met in a displaced persons camp after World War II, found a way to emigrate to America, built a successful business, and raised two daughters who carry their memories, and to some extent, their trauma. One of those daughters is Joan Levenson,...

In this Veterans Day episode of Diversity Dialogues, a production of the New York State Unified Court System’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, we explore leadership, service and camaraderie from the perspective of a woman who followed an unlikely path to become an Army medic, treating Wounded Warriors during Operation Desert Storm, and then an equally unlikely path to become the first Black wom...

In a new Diversity Dialogue podcast, Rafael Dilones, the Clerk of Richmond County Family Court and the child of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, reveals that as a child he questioned whether he was fully American, even though, as a natural born citizen, he’s as American as George Washington. He simply didn’t see anyone who looked like him in authority positions. “When I was in grade school,...

It's hard to imagine anyone having a better grasp of the history of the Office of Court Administration than Legislative Counsel Marc Bloustein -- for the simple reason that Marc is the history of the OCA. Marc was there at the start of OCA and, in his 50-year career, has served under every Chief Administrative Judge in state history. In this wide-ranging and insightful interview, Marc discusses th...

For today's Diversity Dialogue segment, we're going to commemorate National Wellness Month, albeit just a little bit late, with a program that will largely focus on legal, judicial, and court workforce practice. Our guest is Dr. Aimée Neri Gueye of the Office for Justice Initiatives, Child Welfare and Family Justice Division. Transcript: https://ww2.nycourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/files/...

In a special co-production of the Historical Society of the New York Courts and Amici, the podcast program of the NYS Unified Court System, an insightful panel discusses with Host John Caher the growth of the Latino Judges Association, a little known case that ended school desegregation in California and set the stage for future civil rights victories, an upcoming inaugural moot court competition,...

In this latest podcast production by the NY Courts Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Today we have a program like no other, because we have a guest like no other. Nicole "Nicky" Hylton is a new Deputy Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Special Projects Coordinator, but that doesn't begin to tell the story of a "queer" Black woman who grew up with functionally illiterate parents...

In this Amici podcast, we introduce you to the three chairs of the NYS Permanent Commission on Access to Justice -- Helaine M. Barnett, the Grand Dame of the Access to Justice movement, Supreme Court Justice Christina Ryba and Acting Supreme Court Justice Shahabuddeen A. Ally. Transcript: Transcript: https://ww2.nycourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/files/2024-07/A2J.pdf

Thirty-four years ago today, President George Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act, the world's first comprehensive declaration of equality for people with disabilities. Our guest today is a young woman with a very special perspective on the doors that were opened, literally, by the ADA, and a painfully special insight into the consequences of inner-city gun violence. Her name...

In this podcast, Diego Santiago, a court attorney/ referee in the NY Courts, discusses his journey as a gay Puerto Rican, the meaning of "Pride," why he prefers "queer" to "gay," the concepts of "social justice" and “Nuyorican,” explains why gay men often identify with non-gay strong women like Madonna, Cher, Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand -- and even entertains us by singing a stanza from "I...

In a new Diversity Dialogue podcast, the Hon. John Zhuo Wang, a Criminal Court Judge in New York City, discusses the persecution and oppression his family suffered at the hands of the communists in China, his early battles with anti-Asian discrimination, his realization that his ethnic group is just as capable of racial bias as other groups – and his insightful reflections on what makes for a good...

For this Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Diversity Dialogue, we are honored to have an opportunity to chat with the Hon. Jeffrey K. Oing, an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department, in Manhattan. Justice Oing is a native of Hong Kong whose parents brought him to the United States at the age of four and raised him in East Harlem. Transcript: https://ww2.nyco...

Since its creation in 1995, the Commercial Division has transformed business litigation in New York, and as you'll hear, made the New York courts a preferred forum for complex business disputes. We have three guests with us today: the Honorable Jennifer Schecter, who has served on the Commercial Division since 2018; the Honorable Joseph Lamendola, one of the Presiding Justices of the Commercial Di...

Antonella Barbieri was the young mother of a 2 ½ year old boy when she received the shocking and life-altering news: Your son has autism. “I cried,” she said. “I cried a lot.” In this candid and moving episode of Diversity Dialogues, Antonella, a senior management analyst in the Division of E-Filing, takes us behind the curtain to view the real life experiences of an autistic boy and his mother. S...

Many judges decorate their office with pictures of judicial luminaries who they view as role models. In Supreme Court Justice Joanne D. Quiñones' office, you’ll find Wonder Woman memorabilia. Learn why and hear about her "Camp Quiñones" mentoring program, in this new Diversity Dialogue podcast, a production of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Transcript: https://ww2.nycourts.gov/sites/defaul...

The New York State Court of Claims is often a below-the-radar court in the state court system. It rarely makes news. Its jurisdiction is limited to civil cases against the state and some of its entities. There are no jurors, so each case is decided by a judge. And since the judges are all appointed by the Governor, they never interact with the public in the way that judges campaigning for public o...

When Carolyn Walker-Diallo, New York City Civil Court Administrative Judge, took her oath of office in 2015 with her hand on the Qur’an, the public recoil was instant. She was called “un-American,” a "jihadist" and a “terrorist.” For a time, she and her family were under armed guard. In this new Diversity Dialogue podcast, Justice Walker-Diallo, the first Muslim person to serve as a judge in New Y...