Justice will be served for Manhattan Judge Doris Ling-Cohan.
In an extraordinary reversal of a decision made by its own screening panel, the Manhattan Democratic Party will nominate Ling-Cohan to be put on the ballot for re-election as a state Supreme Court justice this fall at the party’s Sept. 22 convention, sources said.
The screening panel had found Ling-Cohan not qualified for re-election — setting off a firestorm within the Democratic Party.
Ling-Cohan, who in 2002 became the first Asian woman elected to the state Supreme Court, is hailed as a hero in the LGBT community for her ruling upholding same-sex marriage in 2005 — six years before the state legalized same-sex marriage and 10 years before the US Supreme Court deemed it constitutional.
In a stunning admission, a top official of the Manhattan Democrats said the 22-member screening panel had committed an injustice against Ling-Cohan.
“The panel did not follow its rules in regards to considering incumbents,” Curtis Arluck, chairman of the party’s judicial committee, told The Post on Sunday.
He said a sitting judge being considered for re-election should get deference or the benefit of the doubt unless there are documented instances of egregious ethical or professional conduct.
“The panel did not apply that standard,” Arluck said. “There was no obvious issue. There was nothing even non-egregious.”
A source familiar with the selection process said the reasons given to reject Ling-Cohan bordered on the trivial.
Arluck confirmed that he had received a letter from Ling-Cohan suggesting that there were a few members on the panel who had a personal ax to grind because of her unfavorable rulings toward them. Questions have been raised about why those panel members did not recuse themselves.
The vote not to renominate her was a razor-thin 12- 10.
“The fact that there were people with clear conflicts of interest surely influenced the process and a revote should be taken,” Ling-Cohan told Arluck.
Arluck confirmed that five members of the screening panel sent him a formal letter requesting that the panel reconvene to reconsider its decision. But the point became moot when the executive committee voted to allow Ling-Cohan’s name to be put in nomination at the party convention — which means her name will almost certainly be on the ballot in November.