Family Court marks 50th anniversary

Listen to this article

It has not been all that long that the special needs of children were recognized in court.

In fact, before the Family Court Act of 1962, children did not even receive representation in court and had no legal redress for negative decisions against them.

The Family Court Act not only changed that, but established the New York Family Court system, which was celebrated Tuesday in Monroe County Family Court, 50 years after the court was established.

Five of the six Family Court judges led a packed courtroom on a trip down memory lane during the lunch hour. The only judge missing was Judge Gail A. Donofrio, supervising judge of the Family Courts in the eight-county Seventh Judicial District, who was ill. She was there in spirit, though, with her remarks read by Judge Joan S. Kohout, who has served in the court since 1988.

After welcoming visitors, Judge Kohout turned the program over to Judge Patricia E. Gallaher, who covered the early years, when children and adults were housed in the same penitentiaries. She noted Americans long sensed matters involving children should be handled separately from criminal courts, but that it was not until after the Civil War and rapid industrialization that real change began to occur.

She said Rochester was an early leader in providing for children in need with the establishment of a home for “wayward children” in 1824. The Rochester Female Association for the Relief of Orphans and Destitute Children, today known as the Hillside Family of Agencies, began in 1837 to care for the city’s orphans.

A Children’s Court was established in 1920 and the Western House of Refuge, predecessor to the Industry School, was the first juvenile justice facility in Monroe County set up exclusively for children.

The Monroe County Probation Department, which grew up with the children’s court system, was established in 1901.

Judge Dandrea L. Ruhlmann talked about the ceremony held in the court on Dec. 4, 1962 when it was established with Judges Emmett J. Schnepp, Joseph Fritsch and Leland Yost.

Other changes that coincided with the Family Court Act of 1962 were the appointment of law guardians to represent children; treating Family Court matters as civil, not penal or criminal; and setting the age of juvenile delinquency at 15, which, Judge Ruhlmann noted, is now 16 and still being debated.

“Many of these issues are ongoing throughout the history of Family Court,” she said.

Judge Joseph G. Nesser talked about the years between the Children’s Court, which was governed by criminal law, and Family Court, which became a tribunal to adjudicate family related matters such as abandonment and adoption.

“We’re so used to today’s Family Court running as a well-oiled machine,” Judge Donofrio said in her remarks, which also touched on the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case In re Gault, 387, U.S. 1 [1967], which gave juveniles accused of crimes the same constitutional rights as adults, including the right to counsel.

“The condition of being a boy does not justify a kangaroo court,” Judge Donofrio wrote, quoting the decision.

Judge Kohout talked about the middle years, noting they started about 25 years ago, and how caseloads have “exploded” since then; how the courts had no security; there was but one shared computer and paperwork was done by hand.

She said things changed in the 1990s when the Office of Court Administration began promoting uniformity and children’s rights were championed by then-Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye who established the “Family Justice Plan.”

Wrapping up the program was Judge John B. Gallagher Jr. who started out in the court as a law clerk to Judge Donofrio in 1999 and became a Family Court judge in 2011.

He said the family courts will remain on the cutting edge of social change in the future as the age of criminal responsibility continues to be debated, as well as the changing scope of families.

Judge Gallagher also acknowledged and thanked the vast support staff which includes court clerks, deputy sheriffs and various agencies.

“You make our days easier and results better,” he said.

“Well, we’ve covered about 200 years in 47 minutes,” Judge Kohout said. “The way children have been dealt with by the legal system has evolved.”

In response to a question, she recalled how, before there was a day care facility, deputies sometimes looked after children while their parents were in court or how mothers would even testify with a child sitting in their laps.

History of Monroe County Family Court
• 1962: Monroe County Family Court opens. Legal Aid Society of Rochester starts to represent children in Family Court
• 1964: Hall of Justice opens. Family Court moves there
• 1965: Judge Caroline W. Branch becomes first woman to serve as a Monroe County Family Court judge
• 1978: Part-time Family Court hearing examiners begin hearing child support cases in Family Court. State begins providing full funding for New York court system.
• 1979: Judge Charles L. Willis is first African-American to serve as Monroe County Family Court judge
• 1983: Retired judges preside over certain cases under new Judicial Hearing Officer program
• 1997: Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye focuses on Family Court with “Family Justice Plan”
• 2000: Sixth judgeship added to Monroe County Family Court
• 2001: Judge Kaye announces “One Family, One Judge” policy.
• 2003: Family Court hearing examiners become support magistrates
• 2012: Celebration of 50th anniversary of the New York State Family Court
Source: Monroe County Family Court