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Politics & Government

The Race for Judge: Surrogate Court and Family Court

A look at the candidates.

Among Tuesday's election will be contests between incumbent Surrogate John B. Riordan and Justice Edward W. McCarty III for Nassau County Surrogate Court Judge. Running for Nassau County Family Court Judge are Adam Small who faces incumbent Merik Aaron.  

For Surrogate Court Judge

Interesting fact: New York State requires a mandatory retirement age of 70.  McCarty is 67 and Riordan is 64, so neither of them would be able to complete their 10-year term of office.

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Riordan  is the Democratic candidate who is also on the Working Families party line. He worked as an accountant, practiced private law for 25 years, served as a District Court Judge for seven years, and was elected as surrogate in 2000.

He "wants to continue serving the citizens of Nassau County when it comes to important times in their lives such," he said.

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Riordan is a director of the Nassau County Chapter of the St. John's University School of Law Alumni Association and is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Nassau County Bar Association, the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Nassau County, the New York State Surrogates' Association, and the Nassau County Women's Bar Association. 

"Our courts must provide a fair, impartial, and accessible forum for people to exercise the rights they have under our democratic system of government," he said.

As Nassau's Surrogate's Court Judge, Riordan has overseen the administration of over 1,200 adoptions, 35,000 wills, and countless other Surrogate's Court proceedings including the issuance of over 9,000 written decisions, 314 of which have been published online or in bound volumes in the New York Official Reports as significant contributions to the common law of this State. 

McCarty is the Republican candidate who is also running on the Conservative and Tax Revolt party lines. He declined to provide information about himself or his campaign personally to Patch, instead pointing to a Nov. 1 New York Law Journal article, "Incumbent Nassau Surrogate Faces Challenge From Justice." 

McCarty was elected to the Supreme Court in 1992 and was then re-elected in 2006.  He specializes in litigation cases and medical malpractice. McCarty believes that important questions have been raised in the court system, as well as the general public, regarding scientific advances and health care. Such advances are extending the lifespan of individuals suffering with autism and Alzheimer's disease, thus creating new concerns. One of his plans is to establish a help center that operates within the court system to aid in "sensitizing people in need to options when they go and speak with their lawyer," as he told New York Law Journal. He went on to elaborate on this plan, saying, "clearly the McCarty court will be a mecca for making sure long-term care needs are met."

For Family Court Judge

Small is the Democratic candidate who is also running on the Working Families party line. He works in both the Nassau County Family Court and the Suffolk County Against Domestic Violence Coalition. He participated in the "Candidates Night," held at Merrick Library on October 19.

According to Suffolk County's website, Small has "has assisted hundreds of victims of domestic violence in the Family Court obtain orders of protection, custody and visitation, and child support orders. He has also lectured on the issue of domestic violence and the court system from community groups to judicial trainings and has published numerous scholarly articles on the topic." He also gradated from the SUNY Buffalo Law School with honors. He represents children in cases involving custody, visitation, juvenile delinquency and child abuses and neglect.

His opponent, Aaron, is the Republican candidate who is also running on the Conservative party line. currently serves as Family Court Judge for Nassau County and is the Principal Deputy Town Attorney for the Town of Hempstead.  Aaron is a republican, has served as a Village attorney, president of Nassau Lawyers' Association and is a member of American Bar Association as well as NYSB, and NCBA, among other law related organizations. Aaron describes his experience of "tenure as a teacher, guidance counselor, assistant principal, and professor," as being "well-suited" for the position of Family Court Judge. He obtained his J.D. degree from Touro College and his doctorate in Educational Administration from Nova Southeastern University.

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