New York State Bar Association Honors Leaders in Criminal Justice at Fall 2022 Awards Dinner

New York State Bar Association Honors Leaders in Criminal Justice at Fall 2022 Awards Dinner

10.24.2022

By David Alexander

The New York State Bar Association Criminal Justice Section honored three distinguished leaders during its Fall 2022 Awards Dinner Friday evening.

Criminal Justice Section Chair David Louis Cohen presented the awards at the Bar Center in Albany.

The three award recipients were:

• The Honorable Shirley Troutman, the Vincent E. Doyle, Jr. Award for Outstanding Judicial Contribution in the Criminal Justice System (to honor outstanding judicial effort to improve the administration of the criminal justice system)
• Marty I. Rosenbaum, for Outstanding Contribution in the Field of Criminal Justice Legislation (for outstanding work in proposing or implementing needed reforms, which  include political action and fundamental research into the operation and effectiveness of the entire criminal justice system)
• Sheila Ellen Shea, the Michele S. Maxian Award for Outstanding Public Defense Practitioner (recognizing an outstanding public defense practitioner)

“This is a night to celebrate our section and all we do, and to honor those who have demonstrated outstanding service in the criminal justice system,” said Sherry Levin Wallach, president of the association during her opening remarks. “As we honor our colleagues, we also take stock of our section, our history, our 50-plus years of service, and our initiatives. Since its beginning, our section has undertaken studies, written reports and spoken out on criminal justice issues, including substantive and procedural criminal law, and concerns involving correctional policies.”

All three honorees have distinguished themselves by using their influence to initiate and expand vital discussion on such critical matters.

Troutman, an associate judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, was nominated to serve on the court by Gov. Kathy Hochul, and was unanimously confirmed by the New York State Senate this past January. She previously served as a trial judge in New York State Supreme Court, assigned to the Eighth Judicial District, where she handled matrimonial and general civil litigation matters.

“This award means a great deal to me because it is named after a good man who made the search for justice his life’s work. And the only reward he sought was justice for others. Thus, as I accept this award please note that it will be placed in my Buffalo office right next to Justice Doyle’s photo as a continued reminder that in every decision I make, the goal must always be justice,“ said Troutman.

Rosembaum, recently retired as a legislative coordinator/team leader for the New York State Assembly’s Program and Counsel Staff, served for more than eight years as a staff attorney with the Public Defense Backup Center of the New York State Defenders Association and wrote, advised, and negotiated legislation on numerous topics.

“Our commitment to our beliefs and to the law is genuine. The prosecution, the defense, and the courts, we owe it to each other to listen to each other on legislative matters carefully. And we owe it to the public, to educate the public on the intricacies of our criminal justice system, and to educate accurately and with facts, not rhetoric,” said Rosenbaum.

Shea, who has been the director, Mental Hygiene Legal Service, Third Judicial Department, since 2007, is the author of several articles and is also the recipient of the association’s 2022 Bernard Carabello Award recognizing advocacy for the rights of people with disabilities. She is also the co-chair on the association’s Task Force on Mental Health and Trauma Impacted Representation.

“I have seen and have actually been quite dispirited over time to see such migration of people with serious illness from hospitals and treatment environments into the criminal justice system. And I think that is where I met so many of you, members of the section who asked me to speak because defenders with increasing regularity see people with serious mental illness charged with crimes and they need to find a way to find better outcomes for them, for all those people, and all those clients that we mutually serve,” said Shea.