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Madeline Singas

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Madeline Singas
Singas in 2015
Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 8, 2021
Appointed byAndrew Cuomo
Preceded byLeslie Stein
District Attorney of Nassau County
In office
January 6, 2015 – June 7, 2021
Appointed byAndrew Cuomo
Preceded byKathleen Rice
Succeeded byAnne Donnelly
Personal details
Born1966 (age 57–58)
Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.[1]
Political partyDemocratic[2]
EducationColumbia University (BA)
Fordham University (JD)

Madeline Singas (born 1966) is an American attorney and judge who serves as an associate judge of the New York Court of Appeals since 2021.

Early life and education

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Singas was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1966 to a family of Greek immigrants.[3] She grew up in Astoria, Queens.[4] She graduated from The Bronx High School of Science in Bronx, New York. She earned degrees at Barnard College at Columbia University in New York City and Fordham University School of Law.[5]

Career

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Before joining the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, Singas was an assistant district attorney in the New York City borough of Queens. She began there in 1991, and worked in the Domestic Violence Bureau. After joining the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, she was appointed chief of the newly created Special Victims Bureau in 2006 by Nassau County district attorney Kathleen Rice. Singas became Chief Assistant District Attorney in Nassau County in 2011.[6]

District attorney of Nassau County

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Singas served as acting Nassau DA starting in January 2015, assuming the role following Rice's election to Congress. Upon taking office, Singas became the first Greek-American and the second woman to become the top law enforcement official of Nassau County. She was elected in November 2015 and took office for a four-year term in January 2016.[7]

During an interview with Bill Ritter in late 2017, referring to crimes committed by MS-13 gang members, Singas stated: "The crimes that we're talking about are brutal. Their weapon of choice is a machete. We end up seeing people with injuries that I've never seen before. You know, limbs hacked off. And that's what the bodies look like that we're recovering. So they're brutal. They're ruthless, and we're gonna be relentless in our attacks against them."[8] On March 27, 2018, Singas announced the establishment of the Nassau County School & Community Safety Task Force to enhance the security of schools, colleges, places of worship, and public buildings. The Task Force is chaired by Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Community Relations, Joyce Smith. Among the Task Force's goals is to "prepare a training curriculum for educators and mental health practitioners regarding the health and safety exceptions to . . . privacy laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), [which] are frequently cited by medical professionals and school officials as obstacles to information-sharing regarding potential threats."[9]

Appointment as special prosecutor

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In May 2018, in the wake of allegations of sexual assault by then-attorney general Eric Schneiderman, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed Singas as special prosecutor to investigate such allegations, as well as any facts "suggesting that the attorney general staff and office resources may have been used to facilitate alleged abusive liaisons."[10]

Public policy advocacy

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As District Attorney, Singas was a vocal advocate for reform in the criminal legal system. Working with the Unified Court System, she volunteered her office to lead a pilot program that served as a precursor to the state's “Raise the Age” law. She was an advocate for eliminating cash bail, and replacing it with a validated risk assessment tool, writing in 2019 with Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini in Newsday, “We need to overhaul New York’s bail system because no one should be in jail awaiting trial simply because they’re poor. We support the transition to cashless bail."[11] As to discovery, they wrote "New York’s discovery laws, which detail how information must be shared before trial, also warrant reform."[11] They continued, " The state legislature is considering other worthy reforms to ensure defendants receive a speedy trial, reduce immigration consequences of minor offenses, and reduce reincarceration for minor technical violations of parole. New Yorkers deserve comprehensive criminal justice reform this year that enhances fairness..."[11] In 2020, she joined fellow District Attorneys Darcel D. Clark, Eric Gonzalez, Melinda Katz, Michael E. McMahon, Anthony A. Scarpino Jr., and Cyrus R. Vance Jr. calling for further reforms, and reiterating the call to eliminate cash bail, in an op-ed in The New York Times.[12] Despite her very public record of advocacy for broad criminal justice reforms, including the complete abolition of cash bail, opponents of her confirmation to the Court of Appeals claimed, falsely, that Singas opposed bail reform.[13][14]

Singas also was among the first prosecutors to support the “Less Is More Act,” which made broad changes to New York's parole system to spare those on parole the draconian consequences of minor, technical violations.[15]

Singas served on the Board of Directors of Prosecutors Against Gun Violence[16] and was a vocal advocate of comprehensive gun reform. On April 3, 2018, Singas appeared at a rally and spoke before an audience of about 200 people at Temple Beth Israel, a synagogue in Port Washington, New York, advocating in favor of what she described as common sense gun legislation. She was quoted as having said: "Why is legislation so difficult to get passed? I don’t know the answer to that question."[17]

Singas was the defendant in a federal constitutional case, Maloney v. Singas (formerly Maloney v. Rice[18]), in which the plaintiff is seeking a declaration that he has a constitutional right to possess nunchaku, a martial-arts weapon, in his home for peaceful martial-arts practice and home defense. In that case, through counsel, Singas has argued that nunchaku are "dangerous and unusual"[19] weapons that may be banned totally even for such use.[20]

New York court of appeals service

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On May 25, 2021, governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he would nominate Singas to serve as an associate judge of the New York Court of Appeals, replacing Leslie Stein.[21] She was confirmed by the New York State Senate on June 8, 2021, and took office that same day.[22][23] Her formal investiture ceremony took place on April 5, 2022.[24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Nassau Chief ADA Madeline Singas Running for District Attorney". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 3 Dec 2022.
  2. ^ Bolger, Timothy (November 5, 2019). "Nassau County DA Madeline Singas Declares Victory in Re-Election Bid". Long Island Press. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  3. ^ "Nassau County DA Madeline Singas: "It's Not About Being a Man or a Woman; It's about the Work that You Do"". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 7 Oct 2022.
  4. ^ Sakellis, Eleni (2021-06-15). "Greek-American Madeline Singas Sworn in to Serve on New York's Highest Court". The National Herald. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  5. ^ "Honorable Madeline Singas". www.nycourts.gov. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  6. ^ "Biography of District Attorney Madeline Singas". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Biography - Nassau County, NY - Official Website". www.nassaucountyny.gov.
  8. ^ "Interview with Madeline Singas". YouTube. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Following Shootings, Singas Creates School & Community Safety Task Force". Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  10. ^ "Counsel to the Governor Alphonso David Issues Letter to Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance". Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  11. ^ a b c Singas, Madeline; Sini, Timothy (2019-03-12). "Singas, Sini have a message for Albany". Newsday. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  12. ^ Clark, Darcel D.; Gonzalez, Eric; Katz, Melinda; McMahon, Michael E.; Jr, Anthony A. Scarpino; Singas, Madeline; Jr, Cyrus R. Vance (2020-02-25). "Opinion | Why We Need to Reform New York's Criminal Justice Reforms". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  13. ^ Adams, Rose; Sirota, Sara (2021-06-09). "New York Senate Confirms Pro-Cop District Attorney to Highest Court". The Intercept. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  14. ^ "Progressives Mobilize to Block Cuomo's Tough-on-Crime Pick For…". New York Focus. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  15. ^ "Sign On". #Less Is More NY. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  16. ^ "Acting DA Singas Attends National Conference for Prosecutors Fighting Gun Violence". Nassau County DA, NY. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  17. ^ Genn, Adina (April 4, 2018). "Panel pushes to prevent gun violence". Long Island Business News. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  18. ^ "Docket Sheet, No. 08-1592". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  19. ^ "Maloney v. Singas, Case No. 03 CV 786 (PKC), 106 F.Supp.3d 300, 313 (2015)". www.leagle.com. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  20. ^ "Court file in Maloney v. Rice (03-cv-786) (EDNY)". 28 January 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  21. ^ "Governor Cuomo Announces Nominations for Court of Appeals and Court of Claims and First Round of Appointments to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court". www.governor.ny.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  22. ^ "Singas, Cannataro confirmed for New York's top court". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  23. ^ "New York State Court of Appeals". www.nycourts.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  24. ^ Cabrera, Devin; Divelbiss, Timothy; Preston, Evelyn (April 13, 2022). "Newest Court of Appeals judges formally seated during investiture ceremony". The Legislative Gazette. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
Legal offices
Preceded by Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
2021–present 		Incumbent
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