WHY ARE NEW YORK'S JUDGES COVERING UP FOR KILLERS? WITH HELP FROM GOV. KATHY HOCHUL AND ATTORNEY GENERAL LETITIA JAMES?
GOV. HOCHUL VETOED REFORM TO NEW YORK’S BROKEN FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW, LETITIA JAMES FIGHTS TOOTH AND NAIL TO BLOCK PUBLIC RELEASE OF POLICE DISCIPLINARY RECORDS
Franklin County judge John T. Ellis (left), Sullivan County judge James R. Farrell (center) and Daniel C. Lynch (top right) all ruled against releasing the disciplinary records of the prison guards who murdered Robert Brooks, in lawsuits defended tooth-and-nail by Attorney General Letitia James (lower right). Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a proposed new law to strengthen New York’s broken Freedom of Information Law. Photo credits: unknown, James is AI-generated after her arrest on federal felony charges in Virginia.
MALONE, NEW YORK NOV. 2, 2025 OPINION
New York's judges keep covering up for killers. Why?
Weeks after Robert Brooks—a 43-year-old Black man—was murdered by a gang of white prison guards at the Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9, 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in a news release that all of the guards and employees involved in Brooks' murder would be fired.
Gov. Hochul said “would be fired,” not are fired, because as public employees those workers are legally entitled to due process hearings. But the state agency that runs New York's prisons, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, or DOCCS, holds those hearings in secret. The public is not allowed to witness them. Therefore, the press is not allowed to report on them.
Further, DOCCS treats the records created by the hearings as government secrets as well.
The Free Lance promptly demanded to be allowed to witness the hearings and for copies of any records created by those hearings. DOCCS' commissioner Daniel J. Martuscello regularly touts his agency's alleged transparency, but he denied all our requests.
The Free Lance filed a total of three lawsuits in an attempt to attend those hearings and secure copies of the records. The first lawsuit was filed in Albany County, but a clerk in Albany sent it to a judge in Sullivan County. Judge James R. Farrell was elected as a Republican in 2020. The former Sullivan County District Attorney is likely the only judge in New York State whose father was a state prison guard.
No surprise, Judge Farrell dismissed the suit. Perversely, one of the reasons judge Farrell cited to dismiss the part of the suit asking to attend the hearings was New York's so-called "Freedom of Information Law"—which allows anything but the free-flow of information.
When it came to the records of the hearings, Judge Farrell did what a lot of judges do when deciding lawsuits by citizens demanding copies of government records: he avoided deciding the issue directly and invoked judge-made procedural rules—legal loopholes—to dismiss the case.
To show just how absurd and unfair these rules can be, I'll explain in a little greater detail.
Judge Farrell ruled that because The Free Lance didn't file a second lawsuit after DOCCS denied his request for the records, it ruled the first lawsuit he did file should be dismissed. When he ruled, his decision did not give The Free Lance a chance to file that second lawsuit.
This kind of judicial chicanery is tantamount to a judge-made veto of New York's Freedom of Information Law. It undermines public confidence in both the law and judges. State agencies do whatever they want and courts rubberstamp it.
The Free Lance appealed judge Farrell's decision, and the Appellate Division will hear oral argument for that appeal in Albany on Nov. 13. Alleged "Democrat" Mark L. Powers, a judge on that court, denied a request to expedite the appeal last April, so the hearings for Brooks' killers were conducted in secret.
All that remains for the judges to decide is whether the public has a legal right to attend such hearings in the future and to see the records those hearings created.
Next up was Franklin County judge Republican John T. Ellis.
The Free Lance's original demand to DOCCS dealt only with the guards and nurses who murdered Brooks. But less than three months after Marcy guards killed Brooks, guards at a prison across the road from Marcy killed another prisoner, Messiah Nantwi. The Free Lance demanded access to those hearings and records as well.
After approving this second lawsuit for service on DOCCS and Attorney General Letitia James, who defends DOCCS against lawsuits, judge Ellis gave The Free Lance only 48 hours to serve, in person, the paperwork on James's office and DOCCS' commissioner Martuscello in Albany—a three hour car ride from The Free Lance's homebase in Malone, New York.
The Free Lance does not have a car, and only occasionally can borrow someone else's. The Free Lance served the Attorney General in time, but not Martuscello—by less than 24 hours. Judge Ellis refused Petitioner's request to extend the 48 hours he allowed for service, and dismissed the lawsuit on that ground.
Finally, The Free Lance filed a third lawsuit, under the state's Freedom of Information law, for the records of the hearings held for Brooks' killers.
Because judge Farrell dismissed The Free Lance's first lawsuit that sought access to the records of the guards' hearings under FOIL on procedural grounds, that dismissal was without prejudice. Meaning, The Free Lance could file a second lawsuit seeking access to the paper records.
But Albany-based judge Daniel C. Lynch ruled the lawsuit should be combined and heard with the lawsuit The Free Lance filed in Franklin County. However, by the time Lynch issued his decision, Judge Ellis had already dismissed that lawsuit.
James, the Attorney General, moved to re-argue and again asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit. Last week, Judge Lynch ruled it should be combined with the original lawsuit The Free Lance filed that judge Farrell dismissed—the one on appeal to the Appellate Division in Albany.
Judge Lynch’s decision is the equivalent of a dismissal. That’s because after The Free Lance filed the third lawsuit for the records only based on FOIL in judge Lynch's court, we told the Appellate Division in our opening brief months ago that we were not appealing that part of judge Farrell's decision that dealt with FOIL—we were only appealing based on the common law and federal constitutional right to access public records.
Judge Lynch knew we formally notified the Appellate Division we abandoned that part of the appeal (because we told him so in legal filings), but it didn't matter—to him.
Judge Lynch was elected as a Democrat in 2023. His decision keeping the disciplinary records of Brooks’ killers secret shows there is no difference between the judges mainstream, corporate Democrats help elect, and the right-wing, pro-official secrecy judges Republicans elect.
In sum, to date, every single judge that has been asked to release to the public the disciplinary records of Brooks killers has blocked their release—invoking almost every possible bullshit excuse under the sun.
Meanwhile, "Democrat" Gov. Hochul vetoed legislation passed by the state Assembly and Senate to strengthen New York's weak "Freedom of Information Law" on Oct. 9.
That leaves it up to the Appellate Division judges in Albany who will decide The Free Lance's appeal to fix this mess and re-establish New Yorkers’ right to access public hearings and copies of public records.
In the wake of 9/11, then-Pres. George W. Bush closed federal deportation hearings to the public. A federal appeals court ordered them re-opened. In doing so, the court wrote "selective information is misinformation."
While Gov. Hochul, Attorney General James—now under federal criminal indictment in Virginia—and other New York "Democrats" attack current president Republican Donald J. Trump for allegedly spreading false information, they accomplish the same censorship by refusing to release public records—while misleading the public with selective "news releases."
The public can only hope the Appellate Division judges have more guts and commitment to the Constitution and Democracy than Gov. Hochul, Attorney General James and the three cowardly lower-court judges who twisted the plain meaning of the law to deny the public copies of public records—documenting crimes by killer prison guards.
For tips or corrections, The Free Lance can be reached at jasonbnicholas@gmail.com or, if you prefer, thefreelancenews@proton.me.