LET-'EM-GO LAURA HAS OWN EXIT $TRATEGY [NY Judge]

NY Post ^ | December 3, 2005 | DAREH GREGORIAN

[ncountylee]

December 3, 2005 -- She helped a robbery suspect escape arrest with no problem, but state Supreme Court Justice Laura Blackburne isn't willing to let her salary go. Blackburne's lawyer has sent a letter to the state's highest court requesting that his client be suspended with pay while it decides whether to give the controversial Queens judge the boot.

"We submit that it would constitute an unfair financial burden to impose a suspension without pay upon Judge Blackburne while she is availing herself of her statutory right to appeal," Richard Godosky wrote in the letter to the Court of Appeals.

Blackburne is paid $136,000 a year.

Finding that she had "placed herself above the law . . . and abused the power of her office" by helping robbery suspect Derek Sterling evade arrest, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended last month that she be kicked off the bench.

Sterling was appearing before Blackburne on an unrelated drug case when a detective showed up at the Kew Gardens courthouse and told the judge's court officer that he wanted to question the 24-year-old.

A lawyer Blackburne had called in to help Sterling told the cop that his client wouldn't talk to him — and the detective then said he was going to arrest Sterling. When Sterling's lawyer told the judge about the planned arrest, she went ballistic and ordered her court officer to sneak Sterling out of the courthouse.

Blackburne gave the order even though she had no idea what type of crime Sterling — who was later exonerated — was wanted for and despite the court officer's concern that he was being ordered to commit a crime.

[Woodworker]

Judges are "gods", how can anyone question them, especially in their own domain? When the gods argue, the peons do best to run and hide. Judges are part of the new American aristocracy, along with the Government employees.

[ncountylee]

The Democratic bosses of Queens have long scoffed at the idea of submitting would-be judges to independent screening, they were wrong.

I give you....state Supreme Court Justice Laura Blackburne.

[Condor51]

PAY?

The growing tyranny of the judiciary
July 22nd, 2004

A few weeks ago, Queens Superior Court Justice, Laura Blackburne, a notoriously anti-police judge, was reassigned to civil court for helping a robbery suspect, Derek Sterling, evade an NYPD detective who was in the courthouse to arrest the convicted felon on a mugging charge. ~~snip~~

Two years earlier, Judge Blackburne had ordered that all 13 charges be dropped against a suspected cop-shooter named William Hodges, citing alleged delays in his case, freeing him without bail, and then refusing to reinstate the charges against him later on.

This pro criminal idiot should be behind bars!

[thoughtomator]

I'm absolutely stunned that this woman appears to be being held to account for her behavior. I thought (as did she, apparently) that judges could freely ignore the law at their whim and suffer no consequences other than the possibility of being overturned by a higher court.