DA Singas last week named new successor if she should leave

                                                                                    

Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas (from twitter account)

On the same day last week that Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas was among seven women nominated to fill a vacancy on New York's Court of Appeals, Singas named a successor in the event she leaves office.

According to an April 8  memo submitted to the county clerk's office, Singas named Joyce Smith, an executive assistant district attorney for community relations, to be first in the line of succession for the office of district attorney -- a continuation of government directive required by state and county law.

That means if Singas should leave before her term is up, Smith would become acting district attorney until the next general election for Nassau's DA in 2023 -- much like Singas became the acting district attorney in 2015 through the succession directive when her predecessor Kathleen Rice left to become a U.S. congresswoman. 

Singas, a Democrat,  beat Republican challenger Kate Murray  in 2015 to become Nassau's elected District Attorney. She won her bid for another four-year term in 2019.

Joyce Smith, executive assistant district attorney (from a DA community partnership program video)

Smith has worked for Singas since 2018. Before that,  she spent 15 years in the Queens District Attorney's office, according to a commendation drafted by the state senate at the time honoring Smith for her service.

The commendation says Smith was born and raised in Hollis, Queens, graduated from Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University and received her law degree from Howard University.

After Smith, the next in line to succeed Singas is Daniel Looney, a longtime executive assistant district attorney who recently made news by leading a successful effort to list the Nassau County court complex in Mineola on the National Register of Historic Places.

Newsday reported last week that the state Commission on Judicial Nomination advanced a list of seven candidates, all women, to be considered by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who is then to nominate one of them by May 8 to fill the vacancy created by retiring judge Leslie Stein. His selection would have to be confirmed by the State Senate.

Since then, it appears that two more vacancies will occur on the state's highest court, giving Singas an ever greater chance at being appointed.

Singas also worked in the Queens District Attorney's office before she came to Nassau in mid 2006 and was chief deputy assistant district attorney for Rice.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo could appoint a district attorney, cutting short the period for Smith to be the acting DA if Singas should depart. But like Smith, Cuomo is also from Queens. Is he likely to replace a black female Democrat who earned her stripes in Queens?

Meanwhile some Republicans are talking about Nassau District Court Judge Joy Watson, a former bureau chief in the district attorney's office, as a possible DA candidate should Singas leave.

                                                                           

                                                                          





 


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