New York judge resigns after saying he can’t be on a jury since he thinks all defendants are guilty
Associated PressALBANY, N.Y. — An upstate New York judge has resigned after he got out of jury duty by claiming that he couldn’t be impartial — because he thought everyone brought before a court is guilty. According to court transcripts, Snyder tried to avoid serving on a jury in 2023 by first identifying himself as a judge and then saying, “I know everybody come in front of me. At a judicial commission hearing the following year, Snyder said he understood that defendants are supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty but that he still felt that people wouldn’t be in court if they didn’t commit crimes. In a statement, Robert H. Tembeckjian, administrator of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, said “there is no place on the bench for someone who so deeply misunderstands the role of a judge and the administration of justice.” “It is bad enough that a judge would seek to avoid such a fundamental civic responsibility as jury service.
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