A judge from upstate New York, Richard T. Snyder, has stepped down from his position following allegations of misconduct. Snyder, who served as a justice of the Petersburgh Town Court for approximately ten years, was reported to the state judicial commission after he attempted to evade jury duty by asserting that he could not be impartial.
Snyder’s controversial claim was that he believed all individuals who appeared before a court were guilty. This assertion was made during a jury selection process in 2023, where Snyder first identified himself as a judge and then stated that he believed everyone who came before him was guilty, as they wouldn’t be in court otherwise.
Despite his insistence that he could not be impartial, Snyder was dismissed from the jury. The judge overseeing the jury selection process subsequently reported Snyder’s behavior to state officials.
During a judicial commission hearing the following year, Snyder acknowledged the principle of “innocent until proven guilty” but maintained his belief that individuals wouldn’t be in court if they hadn’t committed crimes. He clarified his stance by stating that while individuals may have done something wrong, they are not guilty until proven so in court.
Snyder, who was elected as a justice, is not a lawyer and has agreed not to serve as a judge in the future. Attempts to reach Snyder for comment were unsuccessful, as public records did not list a phone number for him and messages left with the Petersburgh Town Court were not immediately returned.
Petersburgh is a small town located outside Albany, near the New York border with Vermont and Massachusetts. It has a population of approximately 1,400 residents, according to census data.
In response to the incident, Robert H. Tembeckjian, administrator of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, stated that there is no room on the bench for someone who fundamentally misunderstands the role of a judge and the administration of justice. He expressed his astonishment that a judge would not only try to evade a basic civic duty like jury service but also claim an inability to be impartial and assert that the accused must be guilty or they wouldn’t be in court.
In New York, no automatic exemptions from jury duty are granted, even to judges.