PRESS RELEASES
National Organization for Women - New York State
Questions the Alleged Bias and Punitive Decisions Made by NYS Supreme Court Judge Joan Lobis
December 18, 2006
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The National Organizations of Women-New York State (NOW-NYS) has received
numerous complaints about NYS Supreme Court Justice, Joan Lobis, and her law secretary,
Ms. Marilyn Sugarman, regarding their allegedly punitive and biased treatment of
women in their courtroom. This is not the first time that NOW NYS has received calls regarding judges' behavior toward women in the courts. Justice Lobis, of New York City, has been cited as allegedly showing bias against, and inflicting punitive decisions upon, women who are merely trying to protect their children.
Recently written up in the New York Daily News for allowing defrocked Judge Reynold Mason to owe over $200,000 in child support, the public has begun to question Lobis' judgment. NOW-NYS is urging Inspector Sheryl Spatz and Chief Justice Judith Kaye to open up an investigation regarding these alleged complaints from women and court watchers about Justice Lobis and her law secretary, Ms. Sugarman and all judges who continue to pour salt on the wound of women who are seeking justice.
"Many women choose to maintain their confidentiality for fear of retaliation from these officers of the courts. One of the brave women who chose to speak out is Esther Yang. Any woman who feels that she has been a victim of bias in the courts, should send their complaints to NewYorkStateNOW@aol.com,” states Marcia Pappas, President of NOW New York State. (See attached statements by Ms. Yang and by the chair of the Battered Mothers Custody Conference IV.)
Chief Justice Judith Kaye must not look at these numerous complaints as merely coming from disgruntled litigants. Women must be able to report biased judges without fear of being retaliated against by the court. To accuse anyone who bravely critiques the court of being a disgruntled litigant is a shallow excuse that only hurts all who seek equality and justice. The NYS Office of Court Administration has freely admitted that there is bias against women in the courts, as evidenced in their own report "Women In The Courts." This report, by the New York State Judicial Committee on Women in the Courts, found extensive gender bias, for example, battered women being given less credibility than their abusers, requiring a higher level of proof for females as compared with males, the use of stereotypes, and the blaming of women for their abuser's behavior. If the court's own committee identified such widespread gender bias, why isn't the court system more open to investigating specific allegations of such bias?
We urge Judge Kaye to take the bold steps so that women may find justice and live without fear."
-end-
Statement by Esther Yang:
"I have always believed in the integrity of a judicial system that NEVER FAILS. My family raised me to believe that the truth always rises to the TOP.
I was dragged to the courtroom by my ex-husband who uses it as his scorched litigation bully playpen. I feel I have been victimized twice when Justice Lobis refused to acknowledge my ex-husband's fraudulent, pendent-lite (asking spousal support and child support). My ex-husband has admitted on the stand, that he claimed our daughter and me as dependents in VA disability then sued me for child support to double-dip, not to mention he has forged my signature to get money, submitted false documents, relocated 3 hours away, enrolled our minor daughter in a new school, shockingly was forced to relocate back, because Justice Lobis gave him the final decision on education, he then put our daughter in a failing school and in a failing district, got me arrested via a false police report and bogus charges. And, in Justice Lobis's recent ruling, unless I came up with $3, 000 by December 5, 2006, I would be jailed for 30 days with a civil and criminal record. My ex-husband has dragged me, as a defendant, to more than 6 different courts in different counties. What a waste of taxpayers' money! My ex-husband and his attorneys walk on water and are allowed to continuously lie in Justice Lobis's courtroom. My parents raised me to believe that in this great country of ours, the best liars don't win. Clearly that was not so in my case.
I am confused to why Justice Lobis chose to allow both forensic experts to NOT review my ex-husband's fraudulent VA disability nor read his medical records. If Justice Lobis is not looking out for our daughter's best interest, then who is??? Our daughter scored in the top 8 percentile from a testing bureau many top schools in Manhattan use, who can offer her scholarship.
Justice Lobis feels that it is okay to put our daughter in a failing State school and in a Title I Federal failing school. Clearly my ex-husband chooses to attack my Chinese culture where we believe education is important. My ex and his attorneys faxed a letter to her chambers that our daughter, who is half Chinese, cannot spend the Chinese New Year with me because "... The MOTHER IS NOT CHINESE.... " I cannot imagine our daughter not having a law guardian to protect her interests.
Since our daughter's abrupt relocation, Justice Lobis has changed our daughter's time with me 5 times in less than a year. Her law secretary, Ms. Sugarman, changed custody to my ex-husband without a custody hearing and denied us to be in front of a judge after my ex-husband retained a political patron, Saul and Adam Edelstein, to live in a home that has no certificate of occupancy from the Department of Buildings. I am confused as to how all of the above is in the best interest of our daughter."
Anonymous victim statement: "Justice Lobis and her law clerk, Ms. Marilyn Sugarman, are punitive to women and mothers. They neglect the innocent children they are entrusted to protect."
Statement by Mo Therese Hannah: "Throughout New York State, mothers who seek legal protections from abusive partners are, instead, being subjected to further abuse within the divorce/child custody court system. "Scorched-earth" litigation processes that culminate in gender-biased, unjust rulings become the primary vehicle by which abusive men re-abuse their partners. Women's groups throughout New York State are organizing to demand court reform and to express their outrage against these kinds of practices, which are harming so many women like Esther Yang." Mo Therese Hannah, Ph.D.Chair, Battered Mothers Custody Conference IV www.batteredmotherscustodyconference.org.
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