Court attorney referee wins judgeship
Caribbean Life, J BQ une 28–July 4, 2019 3
By Nelson A. King
Brooklyn civil rights attorney Caroline
Cohen Tuesday night handsomely
defeated three challengers in New York
Democratic Primary for Brooklyn’s 6th
Municipal District Judicial seat.
The district comprises the Brooklyn
neighborhoods of Crown Heights,
Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Flatbush,
Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Ditmas Park,
Kensington and parts of Midwood.
With 96.59 percent of the polling
precincts reporting, New York City
Board of Elections said Cohen captured
44.24 percent of the votes.
Her nearest challenger, Grenadian
lawyer, Alice Nicholson, received 22.06
percent; Nigerian American lawyer,
Chinyelu Udoh received 18.75 percent;
and Tehilah Berman got 14.53 percent.
“I want to thank the voters in
Brooklyn’s 6th Municipal District for
putting their trust in me,” Cohen
told Caribbean Life, in an exclusive
interview, on Wednesday. “This victory
is your victory.”
“When I am on the bench, I promise
that every member of our community is
treated with compassion, regardless of
gender, race, religion, economic status,
sexual orientation or citizenship,” she
added.
Cohen said that, throughout her
career, she has sought to “protect the
most vulnerable.”
Educated at New York University,
where she received her Master of Arts
in non-profit management and Yeshiva
University’s Cardozo School of Law,
where she received her juris doctorate
(J.D), a law degree, Cohen said she is a
senior associate at Crumiller P.C., where
she defends women facing workplace
discrimination.
She said her work has touched
on racial, immigrant and housing
discrimination. Her law firm is set to
open a new practice for women facing
high rates of infant mortality.
“I’m incredibly proud to have such
a wide portfolio of clients,” Cohen
said. “Whether I’m protecting mothers
who were fired after returning from
maternity leave or tenants with gaping
seven-foot holes in their wall, I know
that I’m fighting to ensure that everyone
is treated fairly in our courts.
“I will bring that dedication and
mindset to the bench,” Cohen affirmed.
She claimed that Brooklyn’s judicial
system is “often inefficient and
insufficiently supportive of non-English
speakers.
“Long wait times at courts mean
that New Yorkers are forced to return
to court on multiple different days in
order to be heard by a judge,” Cohen
said. “This is frequently impossible for
workers and the elderly, many of whom
never receive a fair hearing.”
As an attorney, Cohen said she
has “seen this injustice firsthand”,
promising to “maintain an orderly,
efficient courtroom and advocate for
additional funding for interpreters.”
On the campaign trail, Cohen pledged
to not charge minors as adults and to
work to end cash bail.
“While some are skeptical of judicial
elections, I view them as an opportunity
to deeply engage our community on the
issues they care about,” she said. “You’re
much more likely to meet an elected judge
By Nelson A. King
A Grenadian-born court attorney
referee in Brooklyn certainly got the
message out, as she won by a landslide
her bid for a Civil Court judgeship in
New York’s Democratic Party Primary
on Tuesday.
In what was initially characterized
as a “dogfight” with African American
Edward “Ed” King, in a two-way race
in Kings County (Brooklyn), Derafim
Bernadette Neckles resoundingly
trounced King by a massive 44.06
percentage point.
According to the unofficial election
night results by New York City’s Board
of Elections, with 99 percent of polling
precincts reporting, Neckles received
31, 160 votes to King’s 11, 994 votes.
There were 339 write-in ballots,
accounting for a total of 43, 493 votes
cast in the judicial Primary.
“I am humbled and thankful to
everyone who encouraged, supported
and put their trust in me,” Neckles,
whose victory will enable her to serve
a 10-year term as a judge in the Kings
County Civil Court in Brooklyn,
told Caribbean Life, in an exclusive
interview, on Wednesday.
“It was great team work that led
to my success,” she added. “I look
forward to serving in the position as a
Civil Court judge.”
Like small claims and some
landlord-tenant disputes, the Civil
Court in Brooklyn addresses civil
cases involving US$25,000 or less.
Neckles is expected to win the
November general elections in the
overwhelmingly Democratic New
York State.
Just before her Democratic Primary
win, Neckles had expressed strong
confidence of victory.
“As we approach the count down to
the Jun. 25 Primary, we are getting
the message out in the community
that I am the best candidate for the
countywide Civil Court seat,” she told
Caribbean Life then. “We are also
encouraging everyone to exercise
their right to vote.
“I am optimistic about winning
the race,” she added. “I possess
the integrity, experience and legal
scholarship necessary for the
position.”
Neckles said she was vetted by
many screening panels, including the
New York City Bar Association, the
Brooklyn Bar Association and the
Kings County Democratic Screening
Committee, and was “found qualified
to be a Civil Court judge.”
In addition, Neckles said she
was endorsed by many Democratic
district leaders, elected officials and
community organizations.
She said she vied for the position
for two reasons: first, to achieve
her personal dream of becoming
a judge; and, second, “to promote
justice, fairness and equal treatment
under the law for everyone, including
Caribbean-born folks now residing in
Brooklyn.”
Neckles earned her bachelor’s
degree in economics, with honors,
from Brooklyn College and her doctor
of jurisprudence (JD) degree from the
University of Miami School of Law.
She has been admitted to practice law
in New York and Florida.
As a young attorney, Neckles
said she spent the first four years
of her legal career (1998-2001) in
private practice, handling civil rights,
employment discrimination, landlordtenant
and contract matters.
She then spent the next 11 years
of her legal career (2002-2012) in the
Kings County Court system.
Starting as a court attorney in
the Kings County civil and criminal
courts, she said she advanced to a
confidential principal law secretary/
legal adviser to a Kings County
Supreme Court justice and later to
the administrative judge of the Kings
County Supreme Court, Civil Term.
During her tenure as the judge’s
legal advisor, Neckles said she
“counseled and advised” the judge on a
multitude of legal matters, researched
complex issues, drafted hundreds of
decisions and orders, and mediated
and settled cases.
She said she gained “a valuable
insight into, and the working
knowledge of, the powers, duties, and
responsibilities of a trial-level judge.”
In addition, Neckles assisted the
administrative judge in the development
of court policies and procedures, and
the implementation of new programs
for the Kings County Supreme Court,
Civil Term.
Grenadian-born attorney, Derafi m Bernadette Neckles.
Civil rights lawyer defeats three challengers
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