The reasoned origins of N.Y.’s screening panels

Manhattan: Kudos to the Daily News for its two editorials on the New York County Democrats’ attempts to eviscerate and do away with its screening panel process to select judges for elevation to the state Supreme Court trial bench (“Manhattan Dems take the low road,” Aug. 8; “The night they make the judges,” Aug. 10). The editorials stopped an ill-conceived attempt to obviate the screening panel and its choices.

Along with those mentioned in the pieces, I served with former City Council Member Jane Trichter, chair of the New Democratic Coalition Judiciary Committee, on the Reform Dems negotiating committee to get the regulars to agree to the change in the county party’s rules establishing the panels. That was in 1977. Originally, they were called the Geller Panels after Stanley Geller (photo), the lawyer who spearheaded panel screening in Manhattan. Panelists were submitted by not only bar associations and legal groups, but by community organizations such as the Women’s City Club and the Community Service Society. The County Judiciary Committee made a guideline that we were to have at least one-third lawyers and at least one-third laypeople on the panel, and once it issued its report, it could not re-convene or reconsider. That was it. The panel members’ names were public; their work, confidential, as were the names of the applicants. Only those found “most highly qualified” were reported. Incumbent judges seeking re-election were also screened, but their standard was that they “merit re-election.”

The double blind selection for the panels bears an explanation. Instead of party leaders picking a panelist, the judiciary committee asked the heads of bar associations, legal groups and community organizations to select someone who was not connected with any candidate and had not served in the past three years. Alan Flacks

Benefit revoked

Rochdale Village: To Voicer Virgilio Carballo: Rest assured — according to Eyewitness News, rogue cop Howard Redmond, who’s off to prison, will lose his pension. Saul Rothenberg

Premature publication

Santa Barbara, Calif.: How can a legitimate book (“Fire and Fury: The Story of the 2023 Maui Fire and its Implications for Climate Change” on Amazon) be published while the houses in Maui are still smoking? Dale Lowdermilk

Proper name

Bronx: In your article about a hero firefighter (” ‘Bravest of the brave’ dies at 82,” Aug. 14), you mention the “Congressional Medal of Honor.” There is no such thing. It is only the Medal of Honor. Why give Congress credit for one more thing that they don’t do? Check it out. Steven Scher

Paused storyline

Howard Beach: Please settle this writer’s strike. I can’t wait to find out what will happen on the next episode of “Fatal Attraction.” Jean Novak

We deserve better

Manhattan: As a recent NYC retiree, I applaud the ruling to uphold Administrative Code 12-126. Original Medicare, for when we or our spouses turn 65, is a known quantity. City workers earn this by paycheck deductions. Anything else promoted by a private insurer is a slippery slope toward denial of comprehensive care, even if your Editorial Board (looking in from the outside) can not recognize immediate “ominous” outcomes (“Final nail in the coffin,” Aug. 12). I have faith that the Municipal Labor Committee can work out a better approach. Most of its member unions actually voted no on Aetna months ago, and some have proposals for where to find the $600 million that you cited. Sara Catalinotto

Indefensible

Bronx: I am a retired teacher and I found your editorial on the proposal by the mayor to shift our health care coverage from Medicare to Medicare Advantage very condescending. The Medicare Advantage plan has a profit motive, and denial of care is how it is achieved. We have bailed out the city twice, and our health care was fought for and won through collective bargaining. Prior authorizations turn off a lot of providers. Appeals and denials of coverage can result in poor health outcomes. Pitting active workers against retirees for wages is outrageous. Debbi Dolan

Continual crises

Bayside: While the useless mayor and governor continue to do nothing about the mental health issue this state is facing, they continue accepting migrants into the city that we can not afford, thus pushing off the mental health crisis to “never.” Perhaps the solution is to put a moratorium on accepting migrants here and open up both the governor’s and mayor’s mansions as mental institutions. Furthermore, house the governor, mayor and all their staff in the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center parking lot until something — anything — is done to alleviate the aforementioned issues. I am not a religious person, but Jesus, Mohammed or Buddha, please take the wheel! Karen Sabatini

Follow the money

Bronx: To Voicer M. Ortiz: It’s not an either/or thing. There is plenty of money to take care of migrants, veterans and everyone. Just take it from the super-bloated defense budget. It seems the government has plenty of money to enrich the already rich war profiteers but nothing to help the common people. Richie Nagan

Intrusive insights

Yorktown Heights, N.Y.: Re “Albany data privacy law hits startups like mine” (op-ed, June 6): Although I sympathize with new small businesses, the collection and analysis of our personal data is predominately used against consumers, not for them. It is an invasion of privacy! Legislating an opt-in or -out clause is a possibility. All constituents must be notified in writing before data is used, which they can allow if they choose. Making this a federal law is fine but not if it takes years to implement. Consumers need protection now! Tani Chambers is naive to think our data will be used for good. Eve Weiss

Thank you

Bellerose: EMTs need to be praised for what they do to save lives. I have various physical ailments as a 74-year-old man suffering from severe osteoarthritis and detected cancer cells. On Aug. 4, I fell in the shower and I could not get up. I yelled for my wife Eva, who tried to get me up but could not. She called 911 and three EMTs showed up. They came from Northwell Health Hospital in Floral Park. They got me out of the tub and showed much kindness. They took my vitals and checked for anything broken. I found the experience embarrassing because I was naked, but I was thankful for their concern for my well-being. Thank you to those three EMTs who helped me when I was in need. Frederick Robert Bedell Jr.

Just in case

Staten Island: Just a reminder to all the parents and guardians who are shopping for back-to-school supplies for this coming school year: Along with the pencils, pens, markers, notebooks, so on and so forth, let’s not forget the ever-important Naloxone and fentanyl test strips. Better safe than sorry! Myra B. Goodman

Unruly horde

Scranton, Pa.: I’m old enough to remember when judges and juries were threatened with violence in Mexico, where drug cartels are in a perpetual war with society, the legal system and each other. And I’m not that old. The previous president was so concerned about the bloodshed spilling over onto our soil that he promised to build a wall. It’s about as close to finished as my hometown Pittsburgh Pirates are to being a World Series contender. Now, as the indictments pile up on Donald Trump and his enemies of democracy co-conspirators faster than a stack of folding metal chairs at an Alabama dock brawl, jurors and judges tasked with deciding their fates and preserving our republic are targets of fiery death threats fanned by the internet. Trump’s warnings of bloodthirsty thugs spilling into our streets have proved prophetic. He only got the side of the border they’re from wrong. Vin Morabito

Transparency

Jamaica: If Donald Trump is innocent, he and the Republicans should want all four of his criminal trials televised. How innocent can Trump be with all that is happening around the world? God bless America! Charlene Black

Lousy choice

Palm Coast, Fla.: Which president is Voicer Victor Stanwick talking about? All that he says applies to both of them! Is there really no one other than these two old fools/crooks to run again? Douglas Weinberg