The Democratic Committee designated Marc Waldauer as its candidate on May 24. (Update by Nancy Madsen)
For troubled families and children, the upcoming November election will choose an important person: a new Family Court judge.
A Family Court judge will make the decision about such issues as child custody, protective orders, and juvenile crime. The Family Court judge plays an important role in people’s lives, said Minna Buck, a retired Onondaga County Family Court judge.
“People are coming to Family Court because there are issues they can’t solve on their own in family or church that’s child or spouse related,” said Buck. “A judge has to make those decisions. We’re not dealing with money, but it’s a very significant role.”
The new Family Court judge, to be elected on Nov. 6, will succeed retiring Judge Robert Rossi. Rossi had served as a Family Court judge for nearly 20 years.
As of May 2, four Democrats were seeking their party’s nomination for the Family Court bench. They are John Crisafulli, Marc Waldauer, and William Rosbrook of Skaneateles. On May 24, the Onondaga County Democratic Committee will choose its nominee among them. The person who is designated by the Democrats will run against the Republican nominee, Michele Pirro-Bailey.
The Family Court judge handles cases concerning child neglect and support, paternity, juvenile delinquency, adoption and family offenses. A Family Court judge is elected for a ten-year term, with an annual salary of $125, 600.
Here’s an early look at the field of candidates:
Michele Pirro-Bailey (Republican):
For almost 15 years, Michele Pirro-Bailey has been the chief clerk for Anthony Paris, a New York Supreme Court Justice for Onondaga County. Being a Family Court judge is her chance to extend her role of helping and serving others, she said.
“I have spent most of my legal profession in Judge Paris’s office. This is an opportunity for me to help people and to help people help themselves,” said Pirro-Bailey.
For those who know her, her experience in the court system and her dedication to her children and husband, make her unique among the candidates running against her.
Pirro-Bailey is a native of Syracuse and attended LeMoyne College before going to law school at Western New England College School of Law. After law school, she worked as a deputy county attorney and briefly as an assistant district attorney before going into private practice. In 1993, she was the law clerk for then-Family Court Judge Paris. When Judge Paris was elected to the New York Supreme Court in 2000, she became his chief law clerk.
In 2000, Pirro-Bailey lost to Michael Hanuszczak and Walsh Hood in the GOP’s candidate-selection process to be the nominee for Family Court judge. In 2005, she won the Republican Party’s backing to run against Judge Dave Klim but lost in the November election. After Klim died last year, she sought and lost the party’s nomination to Martha Mulroy.
On the issue of her experience in the court system, Pirro-Bailey said she’s learned a great deal from clerking for Justice Paris of the New York Supreme Court. Paris was a Family Court judge for seven years.
“I have spent most of my legal profession in Family Court,” Pirro-Bailey said. Judge Paris has, she said, “taught me how to deal with the practical and the everyday that affects families.”
The practical and everyday in Family Court usually involves dealing with children from troubled homes. A Family Court judge often has to decide which parents get custody based on what’s called the “best interest of the child.”
Those types of decisions are often difficult to make, said Pirro-Bailey. “My first priority is the safety of children and the preservation of the family,” said Pirro-Bailey. But, she said, a Family Court judge has “to be compassionate and willing to put aside social and economic backgrounds and not prejudge.”
To be an effective Family Court judge, a person should be “member of family themselves,” said Pirro-Bailey.
Charles Duprey, of the Onondaga County Republican Committee, says Pirro-Bailey’s legal experience and dedication to her family make her ideal for the Family Court judge bench.
“Family Court is the perfect place for a wife and mother. It involves a lot of personal law,” said Duprey. Family Court is “not just about applying the relevant” law, said Duprey, but about understanding how the law affects the family. “She’s a very strong woman who’s ready for public office,” he said.
Pirro-Bailey is the mother of two children, Kevin, 12, and Claire, 9. That, she says, helps her understand the stresses of family life. Being a mother of a “soon-to-be teenager” has taught her that it’s important to “not rush to judgment and to consider alternatives,” said Pirro-Bailey.
John DeSpirito, the chairman of the Onondaga County Republicans, calls Pirro-Bailey a “first-class lady.” Said DeSpirito: “I’ve personally know her for many years and she has always helped people. She’s a typical mom and professional woman. She’s a dedicated mother and spouse.”
Of Pirro-Bailey’s chances for the Family Court judgeship, DeSpirito said, “She’s qualified and can do the job. She’s going to win.”
Marc Waldauer (Democrat)
He was the first person in his family to go to college and the first person in his housing project block in Brooklyn to leave, recalls Marc Waldauer. Now he describes himself as a leader who can provide a voice for the poor.
“I was very independent. My parent’s generation lived the way their parent’s did. My father was a postal office worker, and my mother a housewife. I wanted a lot more,” said Waldauer.
His ability to push himself to succeed and to help others succeed is the reason he’s running for Family Court judge, he said. “I want to ratchet down the fear of people who come in the system,” he said.
He has worked helping people navigate the legal system for over 30 years, he said. After graduating from Stony Brook University, he decided to go to law school because the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement affected his view of the world.
“Law was the avenue to change the world,” said Waldauer.
After law school, he worked as an attorney for the Central New York American Civil Liberties Union. He also served as the president of the Onondaga County Bar Association. The bar association provides lawyers in the county with training and support. In 1999, he was appointed by New York’s highest judge to the Judicial Institute on Professionalism in the Law.
The institute works with lawyers on issues relating to ethics in the law. He now is in private practice helping people with criminal and family law issues.
On how far he’s come from being poor to being upper-middle class, Waldauer says it wasn’t always easy. “Nothing for me has come easy,” said Waldauer. He describes how his Brooklyn neighborhood was often segregated by race. “Back then, you kept to your own because you’re told they weren’t as good as you.”
But it was his poverty-stricken childhood, he said, that helped him become an effective lawyer. “I was always smart. I’m not brilliant, but smart,” said Waldauer. “I knew early on I was sensitive to people’s needs. I have an affinity for people.”
Waldauer says his personal and professional experiences would serve him well as a Family Court judge. “I have been practicing law for 32 years. I’ve made over 9,000 Family Court appearances,” said Waldauer. “I’m a decent lawyer so I’d make a good judge.”
(Below are candidates who had earlier expressed interest in the judge’s position. It is unclear whether they will force a primary with Waldauer.)
John Crisafulli (Democrat)
One of his qualifications for Family Court judge, said John Crisafulli, is his four children — two of them teenagers. Another is his experience as the Supervising Hearing Examiner for Parking Violations, he said.
Family Court “is where people go when they need assistance or because their child needs assistance,” said Crisafulli. He wants to be able to “provide access to the needs of the community and the needs of the children,” he said.
Crisafulli received his undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester and his law degree from Syracuse University.
On the issue of his experience with children, Crisafulli said raising four children has helped him understand what children need. “Raising a teenager can be difficult. But it’s worth it,” said Crisafulli. But, he said, removing a child from a home can be emotional. “No one wants to break up a family,” he said.
On his professional ability to be Family Court judge, Crisafulli said that everything he has done in his life “has prepared” him for the position.
“I’ve been supervising hearing examiners for the last four years. I’ve enjoyed it so much, that I want to be a Family Court judge,” said Crisafulli. “I enjoy helping people and the interplay between judge and people.”
If he is elected as Family Court judge, Crisafulli said, his duty will be to “act responsibly and passionately to render a fair and reasonable decision when necessary.”
William Rosbrook (Democrat)
Rosbrook did not return numerous phone calls for this story. Rosbrook is a private attorney in Skaneateles. He previously was the town justice, according to the Onondaga Bar Association Web site.
(Thuy Le is an ’07 J.D. candidate, SU College of Law.)
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