The Dominican Bar Association (DBA) submits this statement in support of efforts to reform judicial district boundaries in the Fourth Judicial Department to ensure that the composition of the bench reflects the communities it serves.
As currently constituted, the Fourth Judicial Department combines both large rural regions and significant urban centers. We believe this structure dilutes the electoral influence of the Department’s urban communities—particularly communities of color—making it more difficult to achieve a judiciary reflective of local demographics.
Erie, Monroe, and Onondaga Counties alone account for approximately 57% of the Department’s total population, and each contains over 25% residents of color, including the vast majority of Black, Latino, and Asian residents in the Fourth Department. Despite this concentration, the demographics of the bench remain starkly misaligned: according to a 2024 OCA demographic survey, of the 42 responding Supreme Court Justices in the Department, only one identified as Black, and none identified as Latino or Asian.
These findings mirror statewide data demonstrating that judicial representation does not reflect population diversity. The 2025 Puerto Rican Bar Association’s Judicial Diversity & Reform Report documents persistent underrepresentation of Hispanic and Latino judges across New York State, noting that Latinos comprise nearly 20% of New York’s population but only 8.9% of state-paid judges, and less than 1% of Town and Village justices statewide. The report further highlights that the Fourth Department has never had a Latino Appellate Justice and that Latino representation remains disproportionately low in trial courts across upstate counties.
This underrepresentation produces consequences beyond statistical disparity. A judiciary that does not reflect the communities appearing before it undermines public trust, diminishes confidence in outcomes, and reduces the diversity of thought and lived experience brought to judicial decision-making. Ensuring that every voice is heard and seen in a courtroom strengthens judicial deliberation and the legitimacy of the courts.
Adjusting judicial district lines to better align with demographic and population realities offers a practical means of ensuring equal access to meaningful pathways to the bench. Realignment would help enable communities of color—particularly those in Erie, Monroe, and Onondaga Counties—to elect candidates who reflect their lived experiences and legal needs. This structural reform would address longstanding inequities that have prevented diverse candidates from attaining judicial office, especially where electoral pathways have historically proven the most promising route for Latino representation.
The Dominican Bar Association supports judicial redistricting measures designed to correct historical disparities in ethnic representation within the judiciary. Such reforms advance opportunity, representation, and public confidence in the courts throughout the Fourth Judicial Department. The efforts promise a more equitable and representative process—one that strengthens public trust and responds to the constitutional imperative that justice be administered by a judiciary reflective of the people it serves.
