Brooklyn, NY— Today, the Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn announces the formation of the Kings County Democratic County Committee’s Ad-Hoc Judiciary Committee, consisting of:
Committee Chair Dana Rachlin (District Leader, 50th AD), and Committee Members Sarana Purcell (DL, 43rd AD), Jacqui Painter (DL, 51st AD), Kenesha Traynham-Cooper (DL, 56th AD), and Michael Boomer (DL, 57th AD).
The Brooklyn Democratic Party endorses and nominates candidates for judicial office on the Party line across the borough for election to the Civil Court, Surrogate Court, and Supreme Court. The Ad-Hoc Judiciary Committee plays an integral role in identifying qualified candidates for endorsement by Kings County Democratic County Committee.
"The Ad-Hoc Judiciary Committee is dedicated to enhancing our Party's commitment to a fair and prudent selection process, by ensuring that the members of the executive committee have the information they require in order to endorse candidates they believe best represent Kings County," said Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn.
The five highly qualified Committee Members were chosen by Party Chair Bichotte Hermelyn. This committee does not replace the standing Judicial Screening Panel charged with vetting judicial candidates.
"We are dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion in endorsing competent judicial candidates that serve the needs of all Brooklynites fairly and impartially," said Bichotte Hermelyn.
Ad Hoc Judiciary Committee Chair Dana Rachlin, who sees her appointment as a unifying move for the Party, said “The Ad-Hoc Judiciary Committee will encourage a process that engages the leaders that represent our community that is transparent, fair, and inclusive.”
“Communities have requested our process to include the voices of the various stakeholders that are most impacted by judicial proceedings and decisions,” Rachlin continued. “We will support fairness and effectiveness, and ensure that those who make it through do so only after interfacing in a meaningful way with both District Leaders and the community.”
The Party’s longtime judicial vetting and endorsement process, in accordance with the Party Rules, resulted in the 2022 Democratic Judicial Convention nominating the most historically-diverse slate of candidates for New York State Supreme Court Justice -
with an unprecedented number of women and minorities - all of whom won in the 2022 General Election.
The formation of the new Ad-Hoc Judiciary Committee is “another step forward for more unity in our transparent process," concluded Bichotte Hermelyn.
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