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Rockland County Dems Debate Lack Of Process/Screening For Choosing Judicial Recommendations
By Tina Traster
Rockland County’s Democratic party leaders met on Monday to discuss a successor for Sherri L. Eisenpress, the disgraced justice who is vacating her Rockland County Supreme Court seat on April 28. Eisenpress’s term on the Supreme Court was scheduled to run through Dec. 31, 2036.
But the so-called “discussion” was mostly an existential exercise because Party Chairman Laurence O. Toole made it clear it was his prerogative to make the decision and his choice for Eisenpress’s replacement will be Alden H. Wolfe, a private practice attorney who serves as the Rockland County Legislature’s former Majority Leader. Alden’s New City legal practice specializes in estate planning, probate and estate administration, elder law, disability and guardianship law, business law and real estate.
Toole is Clerk for Rockland County Legislature.
Toole said he’s known Wolfe for 25 years, and “that means something to me,” according to sources.
Last Friday, Toole invited Town Chairs to attend a meeting in Haverstraw. Monday’s gathering included Ramapo’s Mona Montal, Stony Point’s Peter Reilly, Haverstraw’s Town Supervisor Howard Phillips and O. Fred Miller, Clarkstown’s Greg Sheehan and David Bruen, and Liza Barrie from Orangetown.
During Monday’s meeting, two other names for the judgeship were floated: Rockland County Legislator Itamar Yeger and Stephanie A. Small, a New City-based attorney who focuses on family law. She ran an unsuccessful campaign for Family Court Judge in 2025. Small a Principal Court Attorney for the Hon. Rolf M. Thorsen, Justice of the Supreme Court, Westchester County, Matrimonial Part. Yeger’s name was quickly dismissed by all members, but one arm of the fractious Democratic Committee argued for Small to be seriously considered.
Party Chairman Toole said Yeger “wouldn’t be supported.” He said Small is an unknown.
Most significantly, what emerged from the meeting was the notion that Rockland County Democrats lack a specific and rigorous process for screening and recommending judges for the judicial convention in August. Some members say the party should look to Westchester County’s Democrats for guidance, who use a systematic vetting process that creates a list of potential candidates for judgeships, and that the list serves as a resource to cull future candidates. The importance of having a list at the ready is apparent because Toole says he’s under pressure to choose a successor with little time to ponder the issue.
Eisenpress, a Justice of the Supreme Court, Ninth Judicial District was charged with misconduct by the Commission on Judicial Conduct for failing to disclose personal relationships and other conflicts with numerous attorneys who appeared before her. She agreed to retire and never return to the bench, according to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. However, sources say she is planning to practice law.
Her resignation stipulation, executed on January 28, 2026, was accepted by the Commission on January 29. Eisenpress submitted a formal resignation letter on January 29, 2026, to the Chief Administrative Judge, as required by law. Eisenpress agreed to never seek or accept judicial office in the future. The agreement is not a “determination on the merits,” and contains “no admission of misconduct.”
It is no secret that there is division among the Democratic County Party, with representatives from Ramapo and Haverstraw on one side, and Stony Point, Clarkstown and Orangetown generally on the other. Members of the latter pressed their case with Toole to seriously consider Small, who they said may be more qualified than Wolfe to assume the Rockland County Supreme post.
Toole argued Small had not reached out directly to him to express her interest in the judgeship, saying many times during the 90-minute meeting that prospective candidates should know that’s what they must do if they want to be in the mix, according to sources. Members of the Stony Point, Clarkstown, and Orangetown faction said Small had reached out to them to put herself in the ring. They urged Toole to at least meet with her to consider her credentials, but he was unrelenting.
The faction also raised questions about the process, saying no one had received curriculum vitae (CVs) for any of the candidates and that Rockland Dems lack a screening process. Nobody at the committee meeting was an attorney.
The choice is especially fraught because Eisenpress is leaving the bench under a cloud of shame. Committee members voiced concern that picking a candidate without a formal process will have “bad optics” with the public, according to sources.
“It will look like, ‘there we go again, another backroom deal,’ at a time when we want to build back trust,” one member said, according to sources.
But Toole was undeterred, saying he was comfortable moving forward with Wolfe.
Westchester County’s Democratic Committee has a special committee of 15 members, 12 of whom are attorneys, who annually interview prospective justices for the 9th Judicial District. The committee members find potential candidates through an outreach program, then they compile a list of recommendations based on a review of their professional record. The screening committee boils down the list to three candidates when there is an opening. The three are referred to an executive committee of roughly 60 members.
The committee generally chooses a candidate by consensus, said Suzanne Berger, Chair of the Westchester County Democratic Committee. “Only once did we have a strong dispute,” she said, adding that the process “is an animated discussion.” But “ultimately it’s the delegates’ choices,” said Berger. “We don’t make an endorsement. We put a candidate forward.”
Supreme Court justices in New York are elected to 14-year terms. When a seat is vacated before the term expires it must be filled at the next general election that is held at least three months after the vacancy occurs. Until that election, the Governor may appoint someone to fill the vacancy with the advice and consent of the State Senate (if the Senate is in session).
That appointment lasts only until the next election where voters choose someone to complete the original term.
In recent elections, Republicans fielded candidates for Supreme Court seats in the 9th Judicial District. In 2024, Republicans ran five candidates for Supreme Court Justice — Thomas Humbach, Edward Mevec, Karen Ostberg, Mark Starkman, and Leslie Kahn — though they ran against five cross-endorsed Democratic/Conservative candidates and didn’t win any of those seats. It is unclear whether Republicans will run a single vacancy candidate mid-cycle.
The 9th Judicial District will hold its 2026 Judicial Conventions Meeting in August.
