New Hartford, N.Y. – A Central New York Supreme Court justice tried to minimize her comments at a graduation party that she admitted showed an appearance of racial bias, her testimony to a state commission shows.
Erin P. Gall, a judge based in Oneida County, was suspended with pay after the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct ruled that she should be removed after an inappropriate 80-minute interaction with police and civilians at the party in 2022. The commission announced its decision last week.
Gall admitted in testimony to the commission that her comments on a group of Black teens’ intelligence and her threat to shoot them if they returned to the property could have the appearance of racial bias, according to the commission.
In testimony, Gall argued that despite the optics she should not be removed because she said she does not have an actual racial bias.
Gall also apologized for repeatedly invoking her position as a judge to police who responded to the party. She also testified when she told the officers this was her “jurisdiction” she meant it was her neighborhood.
She also told officers at the scene that she will always side with police, according to police videos. Before the commission, Gall said she never meant to imply she sided with police as a judge.
The commission said in a news release last week that Gall participated in a “racially offensive, profane, prolonged public diatribe outside a high school graduation party” on July 2, 2022 in New Hartford.
Related Article: Watch videos that break down a Central NY judge’s racially offensive rants: ‘I’ll shoot them’
The incident began when groups of uninvited teens began arriving at a party where Gall was a guest. Fights broke out and police were called. Gall’s son and husband were involved in the fights, a fact she told the commission was the catalyst for her comments at the party.
During her testimony Nov. 15, 2022, Gall tried to avoid admitting that she made disparaging comments about the intelligence of the Black teens.
Body camera footage shows Gall disparaging a group of four Black teens, who were not invited, as they were stranded at the party after losing their car keys somewhere on the property.
“They don’t look like they’re that smart,” Gall is heard saying on police body cameras. “They’re not going to business school, that’s for sure.”
That comment was a reference to her own son attending Boston College’s business school in the fall.
During her testimony, Gall told the commission that she could have been referring to a police officer she believed was being condescending to her.
The testimony was halted as Gall was asked to rewatch the body camera footage. When the questioning resumed, Gall admitted she was referring to the group of Black teens.
When asked if those statements could be considered racist, Gall said no. She went on to defend her position.
“I did not identify them at any point as Black males,” Gall said in her testimony. “I don’t see color. I am not racist. I have numerous family friends we refer to as aunts and uncles that are of color.”
Gall also maintained that a threat to shoot the Black teens if they returned to the property was not racially motivated.
When the commission asked specifically about the optics of a white judge threatening to shoot a group of Black teens if they trespassed on property she did not own, the judge replied it was not “a race thing” in her eyes.
“I don’t see color,” Gall testified. “I can see what the optics are, but I’m not racist.”
Gall also testified about the numerous times that night that she invoked her position as a judge to police and the teens. Gall admitted she never should have mentioned her position but testified that they already knew who she was.
“Why I said, ‘I’m a judge’ was ludicrous, was ridiculous, was inappropriate on every level,” Gall testified. “But they all knew me as a judge anyway.”
Later in her testimony, Gall was asked about telling an officer this was her “jurisdiction.”
Gall told the commission that she was not referencing her judicial district. She did tell the commission she could see how it would appear that she was referencing her judicial district.
“I didn’t mean jurisdiction,” Gall testified. “I meant, this is where I live. This is my residence. I live in New Hartford.”
After the commission ruled that Gall should be removed from office, her attorney filed motions arguing to reduce in punishment.
In the arguments to the commission, her attorney, Robert F. Julian, argued that her conduct would likely have been the same if the teens were of a different race. He also contested that her behavior was a “trauma response” because of an assault she suffered as a freshman in college.
Julian denied that any of the judge’s comments demonstrated an implicit bias.
Out of the 11 commission members, two did not participate in the vote. The remaining nine members unanimously voted for Gall’s removal, according to a spokesperson for the commission.
After the commission made its final determination to recommend Gall’s removal, commission member Nina M. Moore, of Syracuse, wrote a concurring opinion to highlight her concerns with the racially offensive statements.
Moore wrote that the appearance of racial bias is equally damaging to Gall’s credibility as a judge.
Moore, a Colgate University professor and author of a book about systematic racism in the criminal justice system, pushed back on Julian’s defense.
“If there were a therapeutic cure for racialized behavior, the world would likely be a better place,” Moore wrote. “But, until such a cure is available, Judge Erin Gall should not sit on the bench with Black litigants left to cross their fingers and hope for the best.”
Syracuse.com | The Post Standard has called Gall’s chambers and contacted her attorney. Neither have responded.
The judge has 30 days to appeal the commission’s decision or she will be removed from the bench.
Gall, a Republican, was elected to the bench in 2011. Her current 14-year term is set to expire in December 2025. Her salary is $232,600.
In 46 years, the commission has issued 184 determinations of removal. The state Court of Appeals has reduced 10 determinations of removal to either a censure or an admonition, but has never dismissed a sanction that began as a request for removal.
Erin Gall campaigns at an annual Pompey spaghetti lunch in 2011 when she was running for state Supreme Court judge. She was elected to a 14-year term.Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, file photo
Staff writer Anne Hayes covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at ahayes@syracuse.com.