Adolph J. Rodenbeck Award: Frank Geraci’s legal career marked by innovative programs

The spacious office of U.S. District Court Chief Judge Frank P. Geraci is filled with countless mementos of his nearly 40-year career.

On one shelf are souvenirs of his beloved Boston Red Sox and another holds a sign that marked the entrance to the law practice Geraci shared with Magistrate Judge Jonathan W. Feldman.

Geraci has garnered so many accolades for his efforts in education, community service and the law since the late 1970s that he needs a large wooden table to display them all.

He’ll need to make room for one more when he accepts the Monroe County Bar Association’s Adolph J. Rodenbeck Award at the Law Day luncheon on May 2.

“It’s quite an honor,” Geraci said in a recent interview. “I was kind of surprised by receiving the award because I know the people who have received it in the past are very distinguished people in this community.”

Positive contributions

The Rodenbeck Award, the Bar Association’s highest honor, recognizes: Improvements in the administration of justice; encouraging the public understanding of the history and traditions of the law, the courts and the legal profession; promoting the responsiveness of legal institutions and the legal profession; and community service.

“It’s really an honor to be recognized by members of the Bar in receiving such an award,” said Geraci, 65.

Rodenbeck was mayor of Rochester from 1902 until 1904 and also served as a justice of the state Supreme Court from 1916 until 1931.

The first Rodenbeck Award, in 1978, went to E. James Hickey. Last year’s recipient was T. Andrew Brown, managing partner at Brown Hutchinson LLP.

“I have known and worked with Frank Geraci for over 35 years.  He exemplifies what the Rodenbeck award is meant to honor,” Magistrate Judge Feldman said.

“Frank’s involvement and positive contributions to our Bar Association, our court and our community are both numerous and often unrecognized.  I’m so glad the Monroe County Bar Association is acknowledging his contributions to our justice system by giving him this important award at our Law Day celebration.”

Geraci earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Dayton and his law degree at the University of Dayton Law School.

Geraci began his legal career as an assistant Monroe County District Attorney in 1978. In 1983, Geraci was appointed assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of New York.

Geraci and Feldman were partners in a law practice from 1987 to 1992. He was elected in November 1991 to Rochester City Court and served through 1998. He was elected to Monroe County Court in 1998 and re-elected in 2009. He later served as an acting state Supreme Court justice.

Geraci was nominated to the federal bench by President Barack Obama and confirmed in December 2012. Geraci became chief judge in March 2015.

Anything but easy

In almost every stage of his career, Geraci has been involved in various initiatives to make the courts run more efficiently and fairly with a frequent focus on alternatives to incarceration.

“One of the things I’ve always looked at is trying an innovative approach to criminal justice,” he said.

As an assistant DA in charge of the DWI bureau, Geraci was involved in the felony diversion program, which allows second-time offenders to surrender their license and get into a treatment program. If defendants are successful, the charge will be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.

That program, began in 1980, is still in existence today.

“That’s something I’m really proud of. I think it helps take risky people off the road, but treats them, understanding that drinking’s a problem, and addresses that issue,” he said.

As a City Court judge Geraci was involved in the creation of the Day Reporting Center, a program that provides an alternative to low bails of $100 or $200. Defendants check in daily and participate in constructive programs instead of sitting in jail at a significant cost to the public.

Participants take classes, get vocational training, mental health treatment, drug treatment, and substance abuse treatment, Geraci said.

As a City Court judge Geraci also was involved in development of Teen Court and supported the creation of Drug Court, which was started by Judge John Schwartz, who is now retired.

“He was being criticized for it, as some easy program. It turned out to be anything but,” Geraci said.

“You have individuals there who go through long periods of treatment. They have to get jobs, go back to school, and get their degrees. Sometimes they’re in Drug Court for two years.”

A good step

Geraci also was involved in the creation of Mental Health Court with Monroe County Court Judge Patricia Marks, who also is now retired.

“All those types of alternatives that deal with the underlying problems that get people into criminal activity in the beginning, if we deal with those we can prevent them from coming back,” Geraci said.

That’s why Geraci supports the state’s move to take 16- and 17-year-old out of adult courts.

“I think it makes sense. I think we’ve got to deal with the underlying problem. With young people we know that they’re not mature enough to make decisions,” he said.

Putting a 16- or 17-year-old accused of a non-violent crime in an adult jail environment has never made sense, Geraci said.

“It just creates greater criminals. They get educated while they’re in jail. I think to treat them separately is a good step,” he said.

In County Court and federal court, Geraci said, it’s more difficult to create programs that can have an impact of that magnitude.

“I’ve directed my energy and tried to do things that I can to improve the criminal justice system,” Geraci said.

Geraci noticed that the jury pool “did not appear to be sufficiently diverse” so he enlisted the help of state Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle, D-Irondequoit, and state Senator Joe Robach, R-Greece.

They sponsored legislation to expand the source lists for prospective jurors beyond the records of the state Department of Motor Vehicle and voter registration lists to include records available from the state Department of Labor, Department of Social Services, and the Department of Taxation and Finance.

“It’s much broader and we hope to see many more people involved and be selected for juries and hopefully we’ll see a more diverse jury panels. If we don’t have that type of diversity, defendants and or jurors start wondering whether or not we’re a system that’s kind of isolating itself,” he said.