A "historic" fraudulent election of a black woman to the New York Supreme Court bench is cheered on by those who should have reported and disbarred her

On December 31, 2015, Christina Ryba, an attorney who worked for the Chief Judge of Appellate Division 3rd Department and was fired for unethical conduct in her election campaign, was sworn in as a State Supreme Court Justice.

Ryba's election was heralded as a "historic" election of a judge of color.  

The swearing-in ceremony was led by the recently-retired magistrate from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York Randolph Treece (retired to give way to a member of judicial tribe Daniel Stewart, "godson" of a judge, selected through fraudulent selection process, and in an obvious reward for selecting a sitting Chief Magistrate of that same court David Peebles).

Randolph Treece could not have missed the scandal associated with election of Christina Ryba or the stop-gap job for 6 weeks preceding her swearing-in as a judge, offered by Chief Administrative Judge Michael Coccoma to Ryba as a consolation for her firing by the 3rd Department for unethical conduct - a firing that was strategically done so that not to prevent election of Ryba to the bench.

Nor did Judge Peters refer the employee she fired for unethical conduct to the disciplinary panel of her court. 

There were protests earlier in November of 2015 by GOP leaders claiming that

Apparently, for Treece, the most important factor in heralding the fraudulent election of Ryba as a historic event was Ryba's skin color - same color as Treece's. 

And that is - when attorney Treece, licensed in the State of New York, had a duty to report Ryba to disciplinary authorities rather than to herald her elevation to the bench - through fraud and unethical conduct.

At this time, the fraudster Christina Ryba who should have been disbarred instead of sworn to the bench, will "earn" - or rather take from taxpayers $167,700 a year,  with benefits for self and family, which will likely soon be enhanced to $193,000 a year due to the recent judicial pay raises suggested by representatives of business interests sitting as a "judicial pay raise panel".

Christina Ryba's swearing-in to the bench does a disservice to New York black community and to the legal and judicial community, for several reasons:

1) it raises an issue whether the "first black female judge" could be elected without fraud and unethical conduct;

2) it raises an issue whether a democratic judicial candidate can win an election without committing fraud upon voters;

3) it raises a real question about the value of attorney licensing and discipline when Ryba retained her license and her judgeship after what she did - and was fired from the licensing court for what she did, but was not referred to the disciplinary panel and not disbarred;

4) it raises and issue whether Ryba's oath of office is valid, in view of her violation of her oath of office as an attorney for her own personal gain during elections;

5) it raises the issue of Ryba's ability to rule impartially and without corruption or personal gain for the 14 years of her term on the bench, putting validity of each and every decision she makes into question;

6)  it raises the issue whether there is equal protection of laws in New York state where an unethical attorney fired for unethical conduct and fraud upon voters during election campaign is sworn onto the bench - with much fanfare and claims of a "historical" moment.

We do not need such historical moments in New York or in this country.

Judges, whatever their skin color and whatever their gender, should, first and foremost, be honest.

Christina Ryba is not.