Hand
06-26-2017, 06:55
I ran across this article during the weekend regarding politically appointed judge Elizabeth Shollenberger. I blew it off as being some extremely exaggerated anti democrat hit piece.
City Judicial Review Committee member Mark Elliott has publicly accused Mayor Tom Roach of making sure “the fix was in” for the judge, who had been his campaign treasurer.
“She came to the interview with an oxygen tank. She’s very fragile,” Elliott told The Post.
“No reasonable person could have looked at her as I did and thought that she could finish her 10-year term.”
The committee rejected the Yale Law School grad, 61, for appointment to the post.
But she got the job anyway, and promptly went on the first of several medical leaves just a week after being sworn in to her $175,500-a-year job.
The job also provides $65,000 worth of annual health benefits, which the currently hospitalized Shollenberger has been putting to good use.
Aside from the alleged cronyism, court workers were also troubled by a more immediate concern — a severe gastric distress problem that made itself apparent on the few occasions the judge made it into court.
“She would come in and we would see the diarrhea running down her leg and to the floor,” one court worker said. “She would soil the chair and then ask for a new one.”
Another court worker said Shollenberger astounded staffers by acting with “complete arrogance” following the awful accidents.
“She would just say, ‘There is a mess over there. I think someone should clean it up,’ ” the source said.
Source (http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/06/ny-dems-give-politically-connected-judge-six-figure-job-shes-obese-soil-chair-ask-new-one/)
I dug a little further and while her crappy attitude and lack of bowel control may be empty assertions, her political appointment was not:
WHITE PLAINS - The recent appointment of a longtime White Plains Democratic Committee chairwoman to a 10-year term as city court judge by the all-Democratic Common Council has come under fire from a member of the advisory panel that reviewed the candidates' qualifications.
Mark Elliott, who served on the White Plains Judicial Review Committee, accused Mayor Tom Roach of showing "utter contempt of this process" in a scathing Dec. 23 email to the mayor, claiming that Roach "disregarded the Committee's views, and instead, presumably for your personal political gain, appointed a machine politician as a City Court Judge."
Roach did not address Elliott's claims directly, saying in a statement Wednesday that the Review Committee serves "in an advisory capacity. Their opinions are not binding on the Common Council members ... I believe that two qualified individuals will be taking the bench in January, and I am sure that they will serve us well."
...
City Court judges are paid by the state, earning between $138,500 and $150,600.
...
"I'm deeply offended by the process," Elliott said. "They wasted all over our time. This was pure politics."
...
Source (http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/white-plains/2016/12/28/white-plains-judicial-review-process-under-fire/95887906/)
She is obviously suffering from severe health problems as well, which was known at the time of her appointment:
Another judge, Elizabeth Shollenberger of suburban White Plains, landed a $175,500 seat— but her 400-pound weight prevented her from being able to climb the three steps to her courtroom bench. She’s on a fully paid, indefinite medical leave.
Interestingly enough, in the article above is reference to ANOTHER judge with some...issues:
A New York judge is raking in $175,500-a-year in her state-taxpayer-funded salary — for sitting in jail.
Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio has been locked up since June 5 for violating her parole for a DWI conviction.
“You’re ruining my f–king life,” Astacio reportedly whined to cops when they found her behind the wheel of her car on the side of the highway around 8:00 a.m. on Feb. 13, 2016.
She reeked of alcohol and refused a Breathalyzer, according to reports.
Still she got off with a $500 fine, a one-year conditional discharge and an interlock device on her car.
Then in May, the judge overseeing her probation ordered a random alcohol test after a high reading on the interlock device. Astacio wasn’t able to complete the test in a timely fashion because she was in Thailand.
“You’re doing everything to show that you don’t care what happens to your public trust,” Judge Stephen Aronson told his colleague before throwing her in jail for contempt earlier this month.
She’s due back in court in July for her sentencing on the contempt ruling.
Ironically state law protects Astacio despite her behavior.
...
Shollenberger and Astacio can keep their salaries even though the Office of Court Administration have barred them from handling cases. Only the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct has the power to remove judges from their posts.
The commission does not comment on probes until and unless a judge is formally disciplined.
Nearly 2,000 people are clamoring for Astacio’s ouster.
“If regular citizens don’t get off easily, why should she?” fumed one person in an online petition.
Astacio was elected to her six-figure post in 2014.
Her attorney did not return a message seeking comment.
Source (http://nypost.com/2017/06/23/new-york-judge-still-rakes-in-175k-salary-in-jail/)
Drain the swamp indeed.
City Judicial Review Committee member Mark Elliott has publicly accused Mayor Tom Roach of making sure “the fix was in” for the judge, who had been his campaign treasurer.
“She came to the interview with an oxygen tank. She’s very fragile,” Elliott told The Post.
“No reasonable person could have looked at her as I did and thought that she could finish her 10-year term.”
The committee rejected the Yale Law School grad, 61, for appointment to the post.
But she got the job anyway, and promptly went on the first of several medical leaves just a week after being sworn in to her $175,500-a-year job.
The job also provides $65,000 worth of annual health benefits, which the currently hospitalized Shollenberger has been putting to good use.
Aside from the alleged cronyism, court workers were also troubled by a more immediate concern — a severe gastric distress problem that made itself apparent on the few occasions the judge made it into court.
“She would come in and we would see the diarrhea running down her leg and to the floor,” one court worker said. “She would soil the chair and then ask for a new one.”
Another court worker said Shollenberger astounded staffers by acting with “complete arrogance” following the awful accidents.
“She would just say, ‘There is a mess over there. I think someone should clean it up,’ ” the source said.
Source (http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/06/ny-dems-give-politically-connected-judge-six-figure-job-shes-obese-soil-chair-ask-new-one/)
I dug a little further and while her crappy attitude and lack of bowel control may be empty assertions, her political appointment was not:
WHITE PLAINS - The recent appointment of a longtime White Plains Democratic Committee chairwoman to a 10-year term as city court judge by the all-Democratic Common Council has come under fire from a member of the advisory panel that reviewed the candidates' qualifications.
Mark Elliott, who served on the White Plains Judicial Review Committee, accused Mayor Tom Roach of showing "utter contempt of this process" in a scathing Dec. 23 email to the mayor, claiming that Roach "disregarded the Committee's views, and instead, presumably for your personal political gain, appointed a machine politician as a City Court Judge."
Roach did not address Elliott's claims directly, saying in a statement Wednesday that the Review Committee serves "in an advisory capacity. Their opinions are not binding on the Common Council members ... I believe that two qualified individuals will be taking the bench in January, and I am sure that they will serve us well."
...
City Court judges are paid by the state, earning between $138,500 and $150,600.
...
"I'm deeply offended by the process," Elliott said. "They wasted all over our time. This was pure politics."
...
Source (http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/white-plains/2016/12/28/white-plains-judicial-review-process-under-fire/95887906/)
She is obviously suffering from severe health problems as well, which was known at the time of her appointment:
Another judge, Elizabeth Shollenberger of suburban White Plains, landed a $175,500 seat— but her 400-pound weight prevented her from being able to climb the three steps to her courtroom bench. She’s on a fully paid, indefinite medical leave.
Interestingly enough, in the article above is reference to ANOTHER judge with some...issues:
A New York judge is raking in $175,500-a-year in her state-taxpayer-funded salary — for sitting in jail.
Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio has been locked up since June 5 for violating her parole for a DWI conviction.
“You’re ruining my f–king life,” Astacio reportedly whined to cops when they found her behind the wheel of her car on the side of the highway around 8:00 a.m. on Feb. 13, 2016.
She reeked of alcohol and refused a Breathalyzer, according to reports.
Still she got off with a $500 fine, a one-year conditional discharge and an interlock device on her car.
Then in May, the judge overseeing her probation ordered a random alcohol test after a high reading on the interlock device. Astacio wasn’t able to complete the test in a timely fashion because she was in Thailand.
“You’re doing everything to show that you don’t care what happens to your public trust,” Judge Stephen Aronson told his colleague before throwing her in jail for contempt earlier this month.
She’s due back in court in July for her sentencing on the contempt ruling.
Ironically state law protects Astacio despite her behavior.
...
Shollenberger and Astacio can keep their salaries even though the Office of Court Administration have barred them from handling cases. Only the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct has the power to remove judges from their posts.
The commission does not comment on probes until and unless a judge is formally disciplined.
Nearly 2,000 people are clamoring for Astacio’s ouster.
“If regular citizens don’t get off easily, why should she?” fumed one person in an online petition.
Astacio was elected to her six-figure post in 2014.
Her attorney did not return a message seeking comment.
Source (http://nypost.com/2017/06/23/new-york-judge-still-rakes-in-175k-salary-in-jail/)
Drain the swamp indeed.