What do you do when a federal district judge retires after an appellate court boots her from a high-profi🧸le case, citing apparent bias, and stays her ruling?
Create an award in her honor, of course.
At least, that’s what the New York Bar Association did: On Monday, it gave its new Shira A. Scheindlin Award for Excellencꦍe in the Courtroom to its first recipient: Carrie Cohen.
Cohen deserves an award: She was le🔜ad prosecutor in the corruption case against ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, which ended in his conviction.
But this prize is a dubious honor.
Scheindlin practically begged plaintiffs to file a 🌼stop-and-frisk case and steered it to her own courtroom. She then conducted an outrageously biased show trial — smearing the NYPD as racist, refusing t🎉o admit evidence to the contrary and eventually ruling its stop-and-frisk practices unconstitutional and ordering reforms.
But then the Second Circuit Court of Appeals stayed her ruling, blasting her for creating an “appearance of impartia💜lity” and kicking her clear off the case.
The Bloomberg crew wa꧟s intent on having the co🐬urt clear the NYPD’s good name. But when Mayor Bill de Blasio took office, he settled the case, Scheindlin “reforms” and all.
By creating an award in Schein🔜dlin’s honor, the Bar As🌠sociation is embracing that ruling, one the higher court rejected. The lawyers are shamelessly endorsing the judge’s bias.
Cohen can’t take much pride in the prize — unless she’s OK witꦯh judges who put their political biases front-and-center on the bench.