New Castle Town Justice Q&A: Stuart Miller

Stuart Miller is the Team New Castle candidate for New Castle Town Justice. He is running on the Republican and Independence ballot lines. This interview was edited for formatting:


Patch: Why are you running?  
Miller: I am running for New Castle Justice to make a difference.  I love this community and believe that if elected to Town Justice, I would be an asset to the Town.   My sense of fairness coupled with my compassion would serve me well as Town Justice.   I am even tempered and measured.  Although the Town Justice position requires the judge to be behind the bench just two nights a month,  I want to be out in front of the bench much more often.  I want to be active in the community and use the position of Town Justice as the catalyst to this endeavor.  I believe that Town Court is analogous to Community Court.  Some of my goals would be to visit classrooms at the elementary and middle schools to discuss the role of a judge and how our government works.  At the high school level, in addition to judicial internships, I would be excited to partner with the school in developing a Student Court where student disputes and school infractions could be submitted for adjudication.  Students would be the judge, lawyer and jurors.  Students could learn first hand how a courtroom trial works and the judicial process. This would be a great learning experience and resume builder for all.   Further, I want to be a resource to the school counselors on the seriousness of the zero tolerance on bullying policies.


Patch: Why should voters pick you over your opponent?
Miller: I have a strong civil litigation and criminal law background.  However, unlike my opponent who works in lower Manhattan at AIG, I work locally at a law firm in White Plains.  This is extremely important because quite often the Town Justice is called at random times of the day to sign warrants and orders of protections.  As time is of the essence in these emergencies, being local is important and I can make to New Castle Town Court in less than 20 minutes.   In addition, unlike my opponent, I proudly do not come from a prosecutorial background where the objective is to ascertain convictions.  I believe that Town Court, the Community Court, is best served by a person with a balanced and judicious background not a one sided prosecutorial mindset.  I have proudly served for over two years on the New York State Character and Fitness Committee for the 9th Judicial District.  One of the responsibilities of this volunteer role is to evaluate and judge the character of disbarred attorneys  who are seeking to be reinstated.   As a neutral fact finder, I conduct hearings where I weigh the evidence submitted and evaluate the credibility of the applicant's testimony.  In making my confidential recommendation to the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, I assess whether the applicant has demonstrated the requisite level of remorse and rehabilitation.  I  assess whether the applicant would be productive attorney if his or her licensed to practice was given back.    If I elected to Town Justice, I would draw upon these same traits I use on the Character and Fitness Committee.  I would be a fair, balanced and a compassionate judge.  This is a small community and its important to understand and appreciate all the surrounding factors and ramifications of court rulings.  Single word, I would exercise good judgment.


Patch: How well is New Castle's court system run now? Would you change anything?
Miller: The New Castle court system runs at the minimum standard as required by the  Unified Court System.  I envision in expanding the court services through ideas such a voluntary mediation program in civil matters.  Prior to the case proceeding to trial, litigants could elect to try a non-binding mediation where the outcome would likely be faster and less adversarial.  This process embodies the concept of community through compromise as often relationships are saved in mediations.  I would urge all members of community, lawyer and non-lawyers, to be trained to be volunteer mediators.  I would even encourage high  school seniors to participate in the  mediation training program.  This would be a great way for community to get involved in our Justice Court and to help reduce the caseload of the court.