Author Archives: Ed Kowalski

A judge who tells a city agency, “I am a Supreme Court justice,” should understand exactly how that sounds to the people waiting in line. Justice Katherine A. Levine invoked her judicial position repeatedly while dealing with three sanitation summonses. She cited her trial schedule as a reason she could not spend hours waiting forContinue reading “The Robe Is Not a Get-Out-of-Ticket Card”

The morning after a bruising election, the message from Washington was unmistakable: Democrats were preparing to use their new power to investigate the Trump administration. Rep. Robert Garcia, expected to lead the House Oversight Committee, offered Republicans a blunt warning: “Lawyer up.” Senator Ron Wyden, poised to lead the Senate Finance Committee, had his ownContinue reading ““Lawyer Up”: Oversight or Payback?”

Slide that drink over here. Loosen the tie. We can argue about the policies tomorrow. Tonight, let’s talk about what the voters just did. Democrats won control of both the House and Senate. They flipped seats in places Republicans expected to hold, including New Jersey and Virginia. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul won anotherContinue reading “Pull Up a Stool — Voters Sent a Message”

Election nights have a way of turning political confidence into a very quiet room. The results described by the New York Post were not just a setback for Republicans. Democrats captured Senate seats in states that had been treated as dependable red territory, including South Carolina, Kansas, Iowa and Texas. In Texas, James Talarico defeatedContinue reading “A Senate Shock the GOP Should Have Seen Coming”

By Ed Kowalski | The Valley Viewpoint There is a growing sense of frustration across New York State, and particularly here in the Hudson Valley, that government has become increasingly expensive while everyday life has become increasingly difficult. A recent New York Post editorial takes direct aim at Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James,Continue reading “New York’s Crisis of Affordability, Accountability, and Confidence”

There comes a time, in everyone’s life, when they first encounter our legal system. Usually happens right around the time when they are buying their first house, dealing with small claims situations, work related matters or maybe even family issues. Most folks approach their ‘day in court’ with the expectation that ‘justice is blind’, fairnessContinue reading “What’s a 1000 Lawyers at the bottom of the ocean called? A Good Start.”

A Valley Viewpoint Narrative You can learn a lot about a community by watching who shows up to vote when the national spotlight moves on. Here in the Hudson Valley, we like to think of ourselves as engaged. We care about our towns, our schools, our neighborhoods and the future of the place we callContinue reading “When Democracy Becomes Optional”

New Yorkers don’t need another poll to tell them what they already feel when they open a utility bill, pay their property taxes, buy groceries, or try to keep a family afloat. Life here is getting harder to afford. A new Marist poll cited by the New York Post found that nearly half of likelyContinue reading “Can New York Voters Connect the Dots?”

You almost have to read this twice. A federal judge in Texas is accused of making racially charged remarks to a lawyer appearing before her. Now she has been temporarily barred from handling cases, and a Fifth Circuit committee has ordered her to undergo an independent psychiatric evaluation after concluding there was a reasonable basisContinue reading “When the Judge Becomes the Story”

Public trust rarely disappears all at once. More often, it wears away a little at a time—when decisions made behind closed doors leave the public wondering whether the rules apply equally to everyone. A recent report about appointments in Brooklyn raises exactly that concern. It says that Judge Lawrence Knipel, formerly the administrative judge ofContinue reading “When Judicial Appointments Start to Look Like a Family Business”

Judge Kristina Karle may have been worried about a young woman’s life. That concern does not excuse what she did. After learning that a friend’s daughter was facing arraignment, Karle contacted the court and then texted the judge handling the case. She identified herself as a judge and asked that bail be set so theContinue reading “A Judge Has No Business Making That Call”

A Valley Viewpoint Narrative The New York Post makes a useful point about this year’s midterms: national frustration with Washington does not automatically translate into a Democratic victory everywhere. In a state where Democrats hold power in Albany, voters have their own record to judge—on affordability, public safety, energy costs and the way government respondsContinue reading “The Blue Wave Has to Earn Its Name”