The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the basic New York State trial court of general jurisidiction. There is a supreme court in each of New York State's 62 counties, although some of the smaller counties share judges with neighboring counties. All but the most populous counties are grouped into judicial districts from which the justices are elected, with unwritten agreements allotting the justice seats among the counties of the district. Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  Ranked 27th  - Total 54,520 sq mi (141,205 km²)  - Width 285 miles (455 km)  - Length 330 miles (530 km)  - % water 13. ... A trial court or court of first instance is the court in which most civil or criminal cases begin. ... Map of the counties of New York State (click for larger version) There are sixty-two counties in the State of New York. ...

It is important to note that in most states, "Supreme Court" indicates the highest court in the state. In New York, "Supreme Court" means what other states call "Superior Court" or "State Circuit Court." The highest court in New York State is called "Court of Appeals." Likewise, the highest courts in Maryland and the District of Columbia are also called "Court of Appeal," but the basic trial court is not "Supreme" it is for D.C. "Superior Court," and for Maryland "Circuit Court" or "District Court" depending on the amount in controversy or, if criminal, the severity of the charges. The Court of Appeals of New York is the name of the highest court in the state of New York. ... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,417 sq mi (32,160 km²)  - Width 90 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37°53N to 39°43N  - Longitude 75°4W to 79°33... ...

New York County Supreme Court building at 60 Centre Street, from across Foley Square

Image File history File links Photo of NYC Supreme Court at 60 Centre St. ... Image File history File links Photo of NYC Supreme Court at 60 Centre St. ... Foley Square is a city park situated in lower Manhattan on the site of the historic Five Corners neighborhood and named after a prominent Tammany Hall district leader and local saloon owner, Thomas F. “Big Tom” Foley (1852-1925). ...

The Supreme Court Today

The supreme court in New York County is located in several buildings in Manhattan. The civil branch is in several buildings near Foley Square: the main New York County Courthouse building at 60 Centre Street (see photo), and three others at 80 Centre Street (across Worth Street), 111 Centre Street, and 71 Thomas Street. The criminal branch is at 100 Centre Street, shared with the Manhattan Criminal Court, the Office of the District Attorney and other agencies, and at 111 Centre Street, shared with the New York County Civil Court. This is also true of the Supreme Court in Kings County and in Richmond County. In Richmond County several "Parts" of the Supreme Court are located in the former U.S. Navy Home Port (each Part is usually where one Supreme Court judge sits). For other uses, see Manhattan (disambiguation). ... The Borough of Manhattan, highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ... Foley Square is a city park situated in lower Manhattan on the site of the historic Five Corners neighborhood and named after a prominent Tammany Hall district leader and local saloon owner, Thomas F. “Big Tom” Foley (1852-1925). ... The New York City Criminal Court is the begining level trial court of criminal cases in the City of New York. ... The New York City Civil Court is the civil branch of the New York City courts system. ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Staten Island (disambiguation) Staten Island, shown in an enhanced satellite image Staten Island is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located on an island of the same name on the west side of the Narrows at the entrance of New York Harbor. ...

The State Supreme Court handles large civil cases, and also handles felony criminal cases within the five counties that make up New York City. Outside New York City, the County Courts handle felony criminal cases. Smaller civil cases and less serious criminal cases are handled in other courts: the Civil Court and Criminal Court in New York City; County and District Courts in Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island; and County, City, Town and Village Courts in the rest of the state. Certain specialized matters are handled by other courts; for example, probate matters are heard in Surrogate's Court, juvenile delinquency and child custody matters in Family Court, and tort and contract claims against the state for monetary damages in the Court of Claims. Although the New York Supreme Court in theory has unlimited general original jurisdiction over civil litigation, in practice it does not normally hear cases with lower monetary claims that are within the powers of a New York state trial court of limited jurisdiction such as County Court or N.Y.C. Civil Court. By statute, the Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction over three areas: matrimonial actions (such as for divorce or annulment), declaratory judgments, and so-called Article 78 actions, but effectively has exclusive jurisdication over other areas sounding in equity such as specific performance and rescission of contract, which have been defined by applicable caselaw as unsuitable for adjudication by the lower courts. A felony, in many common law legal systems, is the term for a very serious crime, whereas misdemeanors are considered to be less serious offenses. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Big Apple Location Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,214. ... The New York City Civil Court is the civil branch of the New York City courts system. ... The New York City Criminal Court is the begining level trial court of criminal cases in the City of New York. ... Nassau County is a suburban county located to the east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York. ... Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. ... Mercator projection of Long Island Long Island is an island in New York, USA. At 1,377 square miles (3567 km²) and is home to 7. ... Probate is the legal process of settling the estate of a deceased person; specifically, distributing the decedents property. ... The New York State Surrogates Court is the court which handles all probate and estate proceedings in the State of New York. ... Juvenile delinquency refers to antisocial or criminal acts performed by juveniles. ... Child custody and guardianship are legal terms which are sometimes used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and his or her child, such as the right of the parent to make decisions for the child, and the parents duty to care for the child. ... The New York State Court of Claims is the court which handles all claims against the State of New York and affliated state agencies. ... In law, jurisdiction from the Latin jus, juris meaning law and dicere meaning to speak, is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted body or to a person to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility. ...

The Queens County Criminal Courts Building houses justices and courtrooms of the New York Supreme Court.

Appeals from Supreme Court decisions go to the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, which is New York's intermediate appellate court divided into four appellate departments. Notwithstanding the departments, the Appellate Division is one court, and its decisions are binding on all lower courts unless there is a conflict among the appellate departments. New York's highest appellate court is the Court of Appeals; appeals are taken from the four departments to the Court of Appeals; decisions from the Court of Appeals are binding throughout the state. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 896 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): New York Supreme Court Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 896 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): New York Supreme Court Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera... Queens Borough in New York City, in yellow Queens is the largest in area and second most populous of the five boroughs of New York City. ... An appeal is the act or fact of challenging a judicially cognizable and binding judgment to a higher judicial authority. ... The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court is the intermediate appellate court in the U.S. state of New York. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Appeal. ... Stare decisis (Latin: , Anglicisation: , to stand by things decided) (more fully, stare decisis et non quieta movere) is a Latin legal term, used in common law to express the notion that prior court decisions must be recognized as precedents, according to case law. ... The Court of Appeals is New Yorks highest appellate court, created in 1847. ...

New York Supreme Court justices are elected to 14-year terms. In practice, most of the power of selecting judges belongs to local political party organizations. Regardless of the term for which they are elected, justices retire at the end of the year in which they reach the age of seventy years, a replacement being chosen to a fresh 14-year term that November with effect from the start of the following year. Recently, a federal district court in Brooklyn declared the method of electing Supreme Court justices to be unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The Court stated: "A state may decide whether or not voters will be the best choosers of judges. But it may not say one thing – “The justices of the supreme court shall be chosen by the electors,” N.Y. Const. art. VI § 6(c) – and do quite another, as they have here by effectively transferring the power to choose major party leaders. Put simply . . . the state may not pass off the will of the party leaders as the will of the people. Because that is exactly what the New York judicial convention system does, it violates the First Amendment." A political party is an organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. ...

Trivia

• The inscription on the front of the courthouse taken from a letter of George Washington to the Attorney General in 1789: "The true administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good government."

George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was the Commander in Chief of American forces in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and, later, the first President of the United States, an office he held from 1789 to 1797. ... In most common law jurisdictions, the Attorney General is the main legal adviser to the government, and in some jurisdictions may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions. ...

External links

• New York Unified Court System
• New York Supreme Court, New York County, Civil Branch
• New York Supreme Court, New York County, Criminal Branch