Rockland Judge Accused Of Prohibited Political Activity Resigns

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Supreme Court Justice Robert M. Berliner has retired after being served with formal charges by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct over prohibited political activity.

Berliner has served as a Justice of the Supreme Court, 9th Judicial District, since 2008. He previously served as the Rockland County Surrogate from 2006 to 2007. He was re-elected in November and his current term would have expired on Dec. 31, 2028.

Berliner was served with a formal written complaint dated April 25, alleging that in September 2015 and November 2017, he engaged in prohibited political activity on behalf of two candidates for judicial office by accompanying and/or introducing them to three gatherings of community and political leaders in Orange and Rockland counties to promote their candidacies.

The complaint was served after a lengthy investigation with which Berline cooperated, commission officials said. The Commission has not rendered a determination about the complaint.

Berliner, 70, announced his retirement June 7.

"I am writing to inform you that I have decided to retire from my position as a Justice of the Supreme Court Ninth Judicial District effective September 30, 2022," Berliner said in a letter to Judge Lawrence Marks, the chief administrative judge for the State Of New York Unified Court System.

He agreed to leave office and never seek or accept judicial office at any time in the future. The Commission accepted a stipulation to that effect signed by the judge, his attorney, and the Commission’s Administrator.

"Judges must be and appear unswayed by partisan politics. Prohibiting their involvement in political campaigns, except when running for judicial office themselves, is essential to public confidence in the independence and impartiality of the judiciary," said Commission Administrator Robert Tembeckjian in a statement Wednesday. "Promoting someone else’s candidacy with political leaders is inconsistent with this mandate."